The epidemiology of anorexia nervosa in South Australia

Abstract

A survey of 5,705 pupils in girls' schools in South Australia revealed that the one year prevalence of cases of anorexia nervosa, diagnosed according to DSM-III criteria, was 1.05 cases per thousand of the population studied. This study has a number of advantages in comparison to the majority of other school-based surveys, and confirms that descriptions of anorexia nervosa as a disorder of epidemic proportions may be premature.