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Concerns about weight, shape and eating and attempts at dietary restraint are prevalent among young girls, but may increase the risk of the development of eating disorders, especially if low self-esteem or symptoms of depression are also present. The literature suggests that there may be links between mothers and daughters attitudes towards weight, shape and dietary restraint. The aim of the study was to investigate whether concerns about weight, shape and eating and attempts at dietary restraint differed between overweight and average-weight girls; and whether overweight girls had lower self-esteem, and/or more symptoms of depression than average-weight girls. Possible links between mothers' and daughters' attitudes towards weight and shape and dietary restraint were also investigated. Results showed that overweight girls had more concerns about weight, shape and eating and attempted dietary restraint more than average weight girls. Overweight girls had more negative perception of their athletic competence, physical appearance and global self-worth, and more symptoms of depression than average-weight girls. Mothers of overweight girls, who themselves had higher BMIs than the mothers of average-weight girls, had more concerns and negative beliefs about weight, shape and eating and attempted more dietary restraint, than the mothers of average-weight girls. Although there was some association between mothers' and daughters' concerns in the average-weight group these associations were not present in the overweight group. The conclusions were that overweight girls may be particularly vulnerable to the development of eating disorders, but that the links between mothers' and daughters' concerns are not straightforward.

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Although recent data suggest the existence of anti-fat attitudes, fear of fatness, and maladaptive eating attitudes among Indian women, few researchers have examined the cross-cultural validity of their instruments before assessing Indian samples. The present study assessed the measurement equivalence of three related measures, the Anti-Fat Attitudes Scale, the Goldfarb Fear of Fat Scale, and the Eating Attitudes Test-26, and tested the invariance of latent means among Indian (n = 226) and Euro-American (n = 211) female college students. Multi-group confirmatory factor analyses using maximum likelihood estimation with robust standard errors demonstrated reasonable measurement equivalence of the instruments across Indian and Euro-American groups. Confidence interval comparisons of latent means suggested that the Indians and Euro-Americans did not differ significantly in levels of fear of fatness or eating attitudes, but there were some group differences in anti-fat attitudes. Structural equation modeling suggested that fear of fatness and anti-fat attitudes predict about 66% of the variance in Indian eating attitudes; however, these results must be interpreted cautiously due to a poorly fitting measurement model. Results of multiple regression analyses suggested that the eating attitudes of the Indian respondents were not significantly predicted by theirsocioeconomic status or degree of Westernization. In conclusion, these data suggest that there are some similarities, but also some important differences, in the eating-related attitudes and behaviors of Euro-American and Indian women.

For years, eating disorders, particularly anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa, have been studied extensively among adolescent girls and young women. However, despite recent research revealing a significant percentage of men display behaviours related to eating disorders, their individual experiences remain relatively unstudied. Additionally, given the reality that many males usually conceal or deny having the disorder, few studies yielding in-depth accounts of their lived experiences have also not been completed. This study, however, examined, through narrative inquiry, the experiences of two young adult males who were medically diagnosed with and treated, or were presently being treated, for disordered eating. Though each was not impervious to societal and familial pressures to look and be perfect, such pressures, tragically, were exacerbated by the pronounced fear, and actual experience, of being stigmatized by helping professionals. These findings provide a preliminary understanding of the threat that disordered eating poses for males, irrespective of background and lifestyle. Aside from having implications for theory, these findings are also expected to contribute in ways that will help to inform the practices of counsellors and therapists in the field of psychology.