DIETING BEHAVIOR OF ASIAN COLLEGE-WOMEN ATTENDING A US UNIVERSITY

Dieting behavior, body dissatisfaction, self-esteem, and food intake o f 73 Asian women attending a US university were investigated and compa red retrospectively with attitudes of 247 US-born female students at t he same university. The Asian women reported restrained eating and bod y dissatisfaction only about half as often as the US women did. In bot h the Asian and US college women, body dissatisfaction scores were sig nificantly correlated to body mass index and self-esteem scores. Fourt een percent of the Asian women in the restrained eating/body dissatisf ied group, and 40% of the US students in that group reported intention al vomiting for weight control. Some of the Asian international studen ts practiced undesirable dieting behaviors and reported body dissatisf action levels similar to those of many US college women. College healt h professionals should recognize that disordered eating among Asian wo men must not be overlooked because of stereotypical perceptions about Asian women's body size and type.