[EN] Eating disorders (EDs) are an
important public health problem in developed countries.
Despite the amount of epidemiological studies
and causal theories, there is a great disparity of estimates
and many questions remain still unclear. The
aim of this study was to estimate the prevalence of
the population at risk of developing EDs and describe
the risk profiles among adolescents and young
people. Methods A transversal design using a twostage
cluster sample of secondary education students
aged between 12 and 18 years was used. The survey
consisted of a socio-demographic questionnaire along
with the Eating Attitudes Test (EAT)-40 index and was
carried out between May and June 1999. Results Results
showed that 7.8% of the secondary school population
had a high risk of developing eating disorders (EAT-40
higher than 30). Females presented a higher percentage
[12.3%; 95% confidence limits (CL) 10.4–14.3%] than
males (3.2%; 95% CL 2.1–4.2%) at the highest risk
levels. A decreasing risk gradient was observed with
age. Conclusions The estimates show an important
difference between the risk in females and in males and
suggests that the risk is incremented above all in the
last few years of infancy and the first years of adolescence,
when these boys and girls are more vulnerable
to socio-cultural influences and do not yet have
defined image and “behaviour models.”
