Abnormal eating attitudes among a group of Nigerian youths: I. Bulimic behaviour

The prevalence of bulimic behaviour, a form of abnormal attitude to eating, was investigated among three different samples of Nigerian youths. Using the Binge-Eating questionnaire, a total of 649 females comprising high-school (n = 196), university undergraduate (n = 333) and college of education (n = 120) students were surveyed. A significant proportion of the total student population engaged in bulimic behaviours of bingle-eating (21.16%) and vomiting (22.20%). The various weight control methods they used include diet pills (4.70%), diuretics (6.60%), laxatives (19.50%) and vomiting (26.20%). These findings suggested that bulimic behaviour may be as much a non-western phenomenon as it is a western phenomenon.