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Anorexia Nervosa in Hong Kong

Why not More in Chinese?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Sing Lee ,
Helen F. K. Chiu  and
Char-Nie Chen
Sing Lee*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, NT
Helen F. K. Chiu
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, NT
Char-Nie Chen
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, NT
*
∗Department of Psychiatry, 11/F Prince of Wales Hospital, Shatin, NT, Hong Kong
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Abstract

Anorexia nervosa is a geographically distinct psychiatric disorder; it is rapidly increasing in incidence in Western countries, while being virtually unreported in China, or in the Chinese community of Hong Kong. This is surprising when the Chinese preoccupation with food and their reported readiness to somatise dysphoria are considered. Three Chinese anorectics born and living in Hong Kong and exhibiting mostly typical clinical features are reported. The rarity of the disorder in the East could be related to protective biological and sociocultural factors specific to the Chinese, and while it may become more common, anorexia nervosa is unlikely to reach Western proportions.

Type
Papers
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 154 , Issue 5 , May 1989 , pp. 683 - 688
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 1989 

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