Eating Disorders in Eastern Europe

In the epidemiology of eating disorders, Eastern Europe may be regarded as a region distinctive of a result of four decades of socialist dictatorship which wielded a strong sociocultural influence. Our review of the epidemiology of eating disorders in the region finds considerable variance in the data. One explanation for this variance is methodological: The surveys were performed with different measures and in many cases used nonrepresentative and relatively small samples. Very few of the studies are concerned with the additional eating disorder or body image disorder phenotypes described in the last three decades, e.g., binge eating disorder, muscle dysmorphia, or orthorexia nervosa. Another explanation is the influence of the region’s cultural background. Overall, eating disorders are well known in Eastern Europe and the data in many countries correspond well with “Western” data. Several studies, however, found higher prevalence in Eastern Europe than in societies in the West. Some data demonstrated a temporal increase in the morbidity, which may relate to the changing socioeconomic environment. The countries of this region have assimilated “Western” cultural ideals. Cultural differences in Europe thus seem to be diminishing at least in relation to human beauty ideals, and the explanation of eating disorder morbidity in terms of a “West-East” dichotomy is now an oversimplification. Further representative and longitudinal studies of the general population in Eastern European countries are indicated.