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The Meaning of ‘Self-Starvation’ in Impoverished Black Adolescents in South Africa

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Abstract

Recent surveys in South Africa have demonstrated that disordered eating is equally common among black and white female students. Self-report measures have been used in these surveys to establish levels of disordered eating. One study in Tanzania, where a two-stage design was implemented, showed that upon interview the majority of participants did not present with disordered eating. The absence of two-stage studies in South Africa brings into question some of the findings from these surveys. In the present study, we surveyed a sample of black and white high school students in South Africa to establish the prevalence of disordered eating. In the second phase of this study, we attempted to interview those black students from one particular school who scored high on the eating disorder measures. This process proved both challenging and elucidating. While a significant number of young black females endorsed eating disorder symptoms on self-report, interviews with some participants showed that self-starvation and related symptoms had a different meaning from what we would typically expect from someone with an eating disorder. Consequently, this study highlights the need to revisit the methods typically employed in cross-cultural research in eating disorders. Careful consideration of a variety of cultural factors that may alter the meaning of standard measures is called for.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry, Section of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, The University of Chicago, 5841 S. Maryland Ave., MC 3077, Chicago, IL, 60637, USA

    Daniel Le Grange PhD

  2. Department of Psychology, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch, 7701, South Africa

    Johann Louw PhD & Alison Breen BA (Hons.)

  3. Department of Psychiatry, Weill Cornell Medical Center, 525 East 68th St., New York, NY, 10021, USA

    Melanie A Katzman PhD

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  1. Daniel Le Grange PhD
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  2. Johann Louw PhD
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  3. Alison Breen BA (Hons.)
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  4. Melanie A Katzman PhD
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Correspondence to Daniel Le Grange PhD.

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Le Grange, D., Louw, J., Breen, A. et al. The Meaning of ‘Self-Starvation’ in Impoverished Black Adolescents in South Africa. Cult Med Psychiatry 28, 439–461 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11013-004-1064-8

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