Bulimic disorders and sociocentric values in north India

Background: Previous studies have shown low rates of eating disorders in so me developing countries. We set out to investigate the prevalence of bulimi a in an all-female college population in north India and relate it to socio centrism of the culture. Methods: A total of 504 students in an all-girls p rivate college in an industrial town in north India completed the Hindi tra nslation of the Bulimia Investigatory Test, Edinburgh (BITE). A random samp le of 50 students, irrespective of their scores, were interviewed using the DSM-III-R interview for eating disorders, they were also asked about quali tative aspects of their relationship with the family and their own views of their identity. Results: There was no effect of age, social class, religio n or height on the distribution of BITE scores. Three key factors emerged, these were related to the constructs of compulsive activity, impulsivity/so ciocentric avoidance and associated attitudinal responses and depressive th inking with features of helplessness and feelings of failure, Acculturation was not related to BITE scores. Virtually all interviewees had sociocentri c views of theirselves. Conclusions: Sociocentrism and impulsivity account for a significant amount of the variance. The role of sociocentrism in infl uencing patterns of eating deserves ro be studied further.