Lack of Relation between Culture and Anorexia Nervosa — Results of an Incidence Study on Curaçao

Abstract

Since anorexia nervosa (AN) is considered to be a Western-culture-bound syndrome, the authors hypothesized that they would find no or very few cases of AN in a population-based study on the Caribbean island of Curaçao where overweight is socially acceptable. They reviewed the medical records of all inpatients of the Curaçao General Hospital for 1987–1989 for cases of eating disorder and screened the Curaçao Psychiatric Case Register for records of all patients treated in mental health care facilities from 1987–1989. Six incident cases of AN were identified. The yearly incidence of AN on Curaçao was 2.6 per 100,000 women, which is within the range of rates reported in Western countries. Results challenge the ideas that sociocultural pressure to diet is a crucial factor in the cause of AN and that it occurs only in Western societies.