Skip to main content

Lund University Publications

LUND UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

Risk of eating disorders in immigrant populations

Mustelin, L. ; Hedman, A. M. ; Thornton, Laura M. ; Kuja-Halkola, R. ; Keski-Rahkonen, A. ; Cantor-Graae, E. LU ; Almqvist, Catarina ; Birgegård, Andreas ; Lichtenstein, P and Mortensen, P. B. , et al. (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)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; and , et al. (More)
; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; and (Less)
organization
publishing date
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
2024-09-02 04:17:24
@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}},
}