Acculturation and eating disorder symptomatology in Black men and women

We assessed the prevalence of eating disorder symptoms in Black South African men and also explored their possible links with acculturation.

The Eating Disorders Inventory (EDI) and the South African Acculturation Scale (SAAS) were administered to a sample of undergraduate students consisting of 50 Black women, 50 Black men and 50 White men.

The Black men had significantly higher scores than the White men on the psychological subscales of the EDI and higher than cut-off scores on perfectionism, interpersonal distrust and maturity fears subscales. There were marginal racial differences in the average acculturation scores, whereas gender appeared to have a variable effect on acculturation attitudes. Specific acculturation strategies were found to be differentially associated with the EDI subscales. The association between acculturation and eating disorder symptoms in Black men was significantly higher than that in White men.

Our results indicate that there is a higher prevalence of eating disorder pathology in Black men than in White men. This lends support to the possible association between acculturation and eating disorders, and challenges the assumption that non-Western individuals--and Black men in particular--are protected from body image disturbances and disordered eating patterns.