Objective The current study describes detailed eating behaviors, dieting behaviors, and attitudes about shape and weight in 4,023 women ages 25 to 45. Method The survey was delivered on-line and participants were identified using a national quota-sampling procedure. Results Disordered eating behaviors, extreme weight loss measures, and negative cognitions about shape and weight were widely endorsed by women in this age group and were not limited to White participants. Thirty-one percent of women without a history of anorexia or binge eating reported having purged to control weight, and 74.5% of women reported that their concerns about shape and weight interfered with their happiness. Discussion Unhealthy approaches to weight control and negative attitudes about shape and weight are pervasive even among women without eating disorders. The development of effective approaches to address the impact of these unhealthy behaviors and attitudes on the general well-being and functioning of women is required.

Objective-To explore attitudes toward weight gain during pregnancy in women with and without eating disorders and across eating disorder subtypes, and to examine associations among weight-gain attitudes and actual gestational weight gain, infant birth weight, and infant size-forgestational-age. (35,929) enrolled in the prospective population-based Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study (MoBa) provided information at approximately week 18 of gestation regarding eating disorders and weight gain attitudes. We explored these variables in women with anorexia nervosa (AN), bulimia nervosa (BN), eating disorder not otherwise specified, purging type (EDNOS-P), and binge eating disorder (BED). Method-Pregnant womenResults-The presence of an eating disorder as associated with greater worry over gestational weight gain. In women without eating disorders, greater worry was associated with higher gestational weight gain, higher infant weights, greater likelihood of a large-for-gestational-age infant, and reduced likelihood of a small-for-gestational-age infant. Women with BED who reported greater worry also experienced higher weight gains during pregnancy.Conclusion-Women with eating disorders tend to experience weight-gain-related worry during pregnancy. Early worry about gestational weight-gain may be a harbinger of high gestational gain. Keywordsgestational weight gain; anorexia nervosa; bulimia nervosa; binge eating disorderThe past decade has witnessed a growing literature on pregnancy and birth outcomes in women with eating disorders.1 -9 This interest is well founded, since both insufficient and NIH Public Access Author ManuscriptInt J Eat Disord. Author manuscript; available in PMC 2010 July 1. NIH-PA Author ManuscriptNIH-PA Author Manuscript NIH-PA Author Manuscript excessive gestational weight gain can adversely affect maternal and infant well-being.10 -12 Pregnant women with either a history of an eating disorder or an active eating disorder during pregnancy have been reported to be at increased risk of miscarriage, preterm birth, cesarean-section delivery, postpartum depression, and having a low birth weight infant,1 -7 although findings do vary depending on the sample studied.8 , 9 The increased risk of adverse outcomes in women with eating disorders may be partially explained by low prepregnancy body mass index (BMI)5 or by active or sub-threshold symptomatology during pregnancy.2 , 6Although attention has been paid to actual weight gain during pregnancy, less is known about women's attitudes toward weight gain during pregnancy, and the relation between these attitudes and pregnancy outcomes, both in healthy women and in women with eating disorders. No association has been found between attitudes toward weight gain as measured by scores on the Pregnancy and Attitude to Weight Gain Scale,13 and the actual amount of weight gain during pregnancy in samples of healthy adolescents13 and in adult women.14 Healthy pregnant women have been observed to have lower body dissatisfaction scores, fewer weight con...

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