FOOD PREFERENCES IN ANORECTIC GIRLS AT TH E BEGINNING OF THERAPY

Food preferences in anorectic girls at the beginning of therapy. To de termine the eating habits of patients with anorexia nervosa, we compar ed a group of 21 anorectic girls satisfying DSM-III-R criteria (A: 19 +/- 6.6 years; 14.2 +/- 2 kg/m(2)) with 30 control girls (C: 19.8 +/- 3.3 years; 20.9 +/- 4.4 kg/m(2)). A standardised form listing 226 food items was used to assess their food preferences. For each food catego ry except vegetables and fish, the medium rate of positive appreciatio n was lower in group A than in group C. However, a positive correlatio n was found between the two groups (except for dairy and diet products ), showing no major distortion of taste in group A. Anorectic girls ge nerally discarded the sweetest fruit and the fattest meats, but someti mes chose to eat high-calorie food, possibly because of its supposed n utritional value. Their dislike for so-called ''light'' products was a lso apparent Moreover, no regressive tendency to childish choices was found in their eating habits. It is concluded that group A displayed a narrowed food field, but without distortions of taste.