Epidemiology of Eating Disorders in the Middle East: Egypt

Introduction The prevalence of eating disorders has been thought to be low in the Arab world, due to the alleged absence of the “thin ideal.” However, the Arab worldArab world is undergoing rapid sociocultural changes, and there are reports of an increasing pressure to conform to Western body image ideals. This literature review aims to investigate the prevalence of eating disorders in Egypt, the distribution of clinical, subclinical, and atypical forms of eating disorders among the Egyptian population, and to identify high-risk groups for eating disorders to aid development of early intervention strategies. Method Electronic databasesElectronic databases were searched for peer-reviewedMiddle EastEgypt, eating disorders studies published between 2000 and 2022. From all screened studies, 11, mainly cross-sectional studies, were included. The PRISMA system (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-AnalysesPreferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) system) was used, and only studies done on sufficiently powered samples and those using the EAT-40 were included. Results In studies of adolescentsAdolescents all the studies except one reported an eating disorder prevalence between 9% and 12%. Subclinical forms of an eating disorder were found to be more prevalent than typical cases. There were also high rates of comorbidity with anxiety, depression, and other psychiatric disorders. Among adults, no diagnostic interviews were reported, and the proportion of participants with screening scores above the eating disorder threshold was 39.5%. Overweight or obesity was found in 38% of adults, and that group had a higher eating disorder risk. Discussion The studies done on prevalenceEgypt, eating disordersprevalence of eating disorders, especially atypical and subclinical forms in Egypt, were scarce, and much research is still needed to investigate at-risk groups and identify them at earlier stages. Further research is necessary also on the development and validation of a culturally sensitive assessment tool. However, these studies suggest that eating disorders, especially in the atypical group, are common among adolescents Adolescentsin Egypt, and the eating disorder risk is high in adults.