Symptoms of disordered eating among adult international adoptees: A population-based cohort study

There is a paucity of data on disordered eating among adoptees. The aim of the present study was to explore the prevalence of symptoms of disordered eating and body image concerns among international adoptees in a large representative community survey on health-related behaviours.

Combining survey data from the Stockholm Public Health Cohort and Swedish population data, adult international adoptees were compared with total participant data to assess differences in disordered eating and body dissatisfaction.

International adoptee women displayed significantly higher levels of self-induced vomiting, loss-of-control eating, food preoccupation, underweight, and wish for thinness compared with nonadoptee women, albeit with small or very small effect sizes. No significant differences were found in terms of mean body mass index, cognitive restraint, or emotional eating.

International adoptee women were disproportionally affected on several measures of disordered eating, although the magnitude of these differences were generally small in absolute terms.