The cultural pressures on women to be thin and diet have been linked to the expression of serious eating disorders such as anorexia nervosa. The current study attempts to document and quantify the shift toward a thinner ideal shape for females in our culture over the last 20 years. Data from Playboy centerfolds and Miss America Pageant contestants indicated a significant trend toward a thinner standard. Over the same period there was a significant increase in diet articles in six popular women's magazines. These changes occurred within the context of increasing population weight norms for young women. Biosocial implications including the apparent recent increase in anorexia nervosa are discussed.

A survey of 376 women who met the DSM III criteria for bulimia is presented. The purpose of the survey is to provide information regarding the demographics of this population, the total extent of food‐related behavior and basic indices of psychiatric symptoms. The results indicate that the typical bulimic surveyed was a single,Caucasian woman in her early 20's who was well educated and of average weight for her height. Most of the women were binge eating and using evacuation techniques such as self‐induced vomiting on a daily to more than daily basis and had engaged in this behavior for 51/2 years. Despite the severity of the disturbed eating behavior, the sample was relatively symptom free on standard indices of psychiatric symptoms when compared to other psychiatric populations.

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The apparent increase in the incidence of anorexia nervosa and associated disorders prompted the present investigation of the relative impact of varying levels of anorexia on life adjustment of late adolescent women. Three groups of women were compared on measures of social adjustment and symptomatic distress; these groups were: primary anorexics, college women manifesting high levels of “anorexic‐like” behavior, and asymptomatic college controls. Despite the prevalence of “anorexic‐like” behaviors among college women, such behaviors did not seriously affect the academic performance, social‐leisure adjustment or family relations of these women. The lives of outpatient primary anorexics were seriously impaired in all areas.

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