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Abstract

Introduction: Existing psychiatric nomenclature has dwelled on the view that cardinal distress among youngsters with deliberate food restriction is termed “fatphobia”. As per international psychiatric classifications, deliberate selfharm is often conceived as being an integral part of anorexia nervosa. Follow-up data from non-western populations have minimized the centrality of this condition.

Aims: To compare the performance on indices of deliberate food restriction, fatphobia and psychosomatically expressed psychological distress among Euro-American and Omani children living in Oman, an Arabian Gulf country.

Methods: The presence of eating disorders was tapped into using the Eating Attitude Test. Eating Disorder Inventory and Bradford Somatic Inventory solicited the presence of psychosomatically expressed psychological distress among Euro-American and Omani children living in the urban areas of Oman.

Results: The data suggest dichotomous performance with nonwestern children showing higher endorsement on indices of psychosomatically expressed psychological distress than western counterpart who showed more propensity toward fatphobia.

Conclusion: If the present finding withstands further scrutiny, existing psychiatric nomenclatures need to incorporate data from non-western societies that comprise of 80% of the global population. The present finding has significant implications for unearthing what is universal, versus what is cultural in order to lay the groundwork for understanding the emerging epidemic of deliberate food restriction around the world.

Biography

Harith Hamood Said Al Aamri, MD, graduated from College of Medicine at Sultan Qaboos University in Oman. Currently he is in the third year of Psychiatry residency in Oman Medical Speciality Board. He is interested in eating disorders and somatoform disorders and participant in community psychiatry awareness programs and campaigns.

E-mail: h.alaamri111@gmail.com