National and international epidemiological studies discuss an increase in pathological eating behaviour as well as a shift towards increasingly younger children. In order to study its frequency in Germany a large random sample, 2844 pupils of the 10th class level were contacted as a part of a school medical examination to take part in a questionnaire study using the Eating Disorder Inventory. Age, gender, BMI and type of school were also recorded. From the statistical description of healthy matching samples, gender specific cutoff values were established and this methodical approach was discussed critically. Of the predominantly 15/16-year-old schoolchildren, 83% took part in the study. Regardless of gender and type of school, more than 7-8% were underweight. Bulimic eating behaviour showed 10% of female and 2% of male school-children. These results are similar to other epidemiological studies and they underline the need to further studies and prevention. |