[Is anorexia nervosa a cultural disorder?].

Several epidemiological studies as well as clinicians' experience indicate that during the last four decades anorexia nervosa, perfectly described in the 19th century, has become increasingly frequent in industrial societies. In contrast, the disease is said to be extremely rare in traditional societies where it appears only when the life style has been "occidentalized". As a pathology of starvation in a society of abundance, anorexia nervosa lies at the cross-roads of biology and society by referring to two sectors with strong cultural determinations: the ideal body shape and the moral value of food. In a more subtle way, the ever growing incidence of the disease might also coincide with the expansion of such occidental moral values as self-control and individualism and with changes in family structure. Anorexia nervosa may be regarded as a culturally determined illness that "shapes" in a stereotyped mould psychological or even neuroendocrine disorders which vary from one patient to another. This brings it very close to the "culture-bound syndromes" or "ethnic disorders" described by ethnopsychiatrists.