Eating attitudes and their correlates among Canadian women concerned about their weight

This article examines the components of the Eating Attitudes Test-26 (EAT-26) and their association with selected demographic, psychosocial and health measures among women aged 15 years or older identified as concerned about their weight and who were part of a representative sample of the Canadian population in 2002.

An exploratory factor analysis was used to identify the factor structure of the EAT-26 and logistic regression models were constructed to examine the correlates of its first four dimensions.

Underweight women were more likely to report food and body image preoccupation and external pressure to eat while overweight women were less likely to do so. Being young was not associated with poor eating attitudes but self-esteem was negatively related to them. Self-esteem was, however, positively associated with self-imposed dieting.

The promotion of self-esteem may reduce the prevalence of poor eating attitudes and prevent their immediate and long-term negative consequences.