Eating disorder symptomatology among Alaska Native/American Indian and caucasian female university students in the extreme North

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to explore differences in eating disorder symptomatology among a matched sample of 100 Alaska Native/American Indian and Caucasian female university students, using a demographic instrument and the Eating Attitudes Test (EAT-26). Four (8.0%) Native participants and ten (20.0%) Caucasian participants met or exceeded the EAT-26 cutoff score indicative of clinically significant eating disorder symptomatology. There were no significant differences found among the Native and Caucasian participants with regard to eating disorder symptomatology. Rather, eating disorder symptomatology was present in both Native and Caucasian female college students at rates similar to that of previous studies.