Risk of eating disorders in immigrant populations
(2017) In Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica 136(2). p.156-165- Abstract
Objective: The risk of certain psychiatric disorders is elevated among immigrants. To date, no population studies on immigrant health have addressed eating disorders. We examined whether risk of eating disorders in first- and second-generation immigrants differs from native-born Danes and Swedes. Method: All individuals born 1984–2002 (Danish cohort) and 1989–1999 (Swedish cohort) and residing in the respective country on their 10th birthday were included. They were followed up for the development of eating disorders based on out-patient and in-patient data. Results: The risks of all eating disorder types were lower among first-generation immigrants compared to the native populations: Incidence-rate ratio (95% confidence interval) was... (More)
Objective: The risk of certain psychiatric disorders is elevated among immigrants. To date, no population studies on immigrant health have addressed eating disorders. We examined whether risk of eating disorders in first- and second-generation immigrants differs from native-born Danes and Swedes. Method: All individuals born 1984–2002 (Danish cohort) and 1989–1999 (Swedish cohort) and residing in the respective country on their 10th birthday were included. They were followed up for the development of eating disorders based on out-patient and in-patient data. Results: The risks of all eating disorder types were lower among first-generation immigrants compared to the native populations: Incidence-rate ratio (95% confidence interval) was 0.39 (0.29, 0.51) for anorexia nervosa, 0.60 (0.42, 0.83) for bulimia nervosa, and 0.62 (0.47, 0.79) for other eating disorders in Denmark and 0.27 (0.21, 0.34) for anorexia nervosa, 0.30 (0.18, 0.51) for bulimia nervosa, and 0.39 (0.32, 0.47) for other eating disorders in Sweden. Likewise, second-generation immigrants by both parents were at lower risk, whereas those with only one foreign-born parent were not. Conclusion: The decreased risk of eating disorders among immigrants is opposite to what has been observed for other psychiatric disorders, particularly schizophrenia. Possible explanations include buffering sociocultural factors and underdetection in health care.
(Less)
- author
- organization
- publishing date
- 2017-08-01
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, eating disorders, epidemiology, immigrants
- in
- Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica
- volume
- 136
- issue
- 2
- pages
- 10 pages
- publisher
- Wiley-Blackwell
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:85022043524
- pmid:28542783
- wos:000404979900003
- ISSN
- 0001-690X
- DOI
- 10.1111/acps.12750
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- 220cd596-df77-42f9-b22b-e1a00b0defdc
- date added to LUP
- 2017-07-26 12:14:58
- date last changed
- 2024-04-14 15:26:08
@article{220cd596-df77-42f9-b22b-e1a00b0defdc,
abstract = {{<p>Objective: The risk of certain psychiatric disorders is elevated among immigrants. To date, no population studies on immigrant health have addressed eating disorders. We examined whether risk of eating disorders in first- and second-generation immigrants differs from native-born Danes and Swedes. Method: All individuals born 1984–2002 (Danish cohort) and 1989–1999 (Swedish cohort) and residing in the respective country on their 10th birthday were included. They were followed up for the development of eating disorders based on out-patient and in-patient data. Results: The risks of all eating disorder types were lower among first-generation immigrants compared to the native populations: Incidence-rate ratio (95% confidence interval) was 0.39 (0.29, 0.51) for anorexia nervosa, 0.60 (0.42, 0.83) for bulimia nervosa, and 0.62 (0.47, 0.79) for other eating disorders in Denmark and 0.27 (0.21, 0.34) for anorexia nervosa, 0.30 (0.18, 0.51) for bulimia nervosa, and 0.39 (0.32, 0.47) for other eating disorders in Sweden. Likewise, second-generation immigrants by both parents were at lower risk, whereas those with only one foreign-born parent were not. Conclusion: The decreased risk of eating disorders among immigrants is opposite to what has been observed for other psychiatric disorders, particularly schizophrenia. Possible explanations include buffering sociocultural factors and underdetection in health care.</p>}},
author = {{Mustelin, L. and Hedman, A. M. and Thornton, Laura M. and Kuja-Halkola, R. and Keski-Rahkonen, A. and Cantor-Graae, E. and Almqvist, Catarina and Birgegård, Andreas and Lichtenstein, P and Mortensen, P. B. and Pedersen, C. B. and Bulik, Cynthia M}},
issn = {{0001-690X}},
keywords = {{anorexia nervosa; bulimia nervosa; eating disorders; epidemiology; immigrants}},
language = {{eng}},
month = {{08}},
number = {{2}},
pages = {{156--165}},
publisher = {{Wiley-Blackwell}},
series = {{Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica}},
title = {{Risk of eating disorders in immigrant populations}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/acps.12750}},
doi = {{10.1111/acps.12750}},
volume = {{136}},
year = {{2017}},
}