LAUSR

Background The prevalence of disordered eating is increasing among adolescents in Asia. The prevalence and predictors of disordered eating in boys have often gone unrecognized. This study examined gender-specific responses to multifaceted factors associated with disordered eating, including personal, behavioral, family, and school-related characteristics. Methods After excluding responses with incomplete information, a sample of 729 adolescents (48.97% boys) between the ages of 13 and 16 were surveyed through convenience sampling from 37 classrooms in three junior high schools in New Taipei City of Taiwan were analyzed. The Eating Attitudes Test-26 questionnaire was used to identify disordered eating. Results No difference in the prevalence of disordered eating between the genders was found. Adolescent girls exhibit a preoccupation with fatness and a desire to be thinner, whereas boys are more likely to engage in extreme dieting behaviors such as vomiting, keeping the stomach empty, and avoiding sweets. Girls engaging in disordered eating reported relatively high levels of interpersonal stress involving family member weight-teasing, low peer acceptance, and high peer pressure to control weight. High intensity of regular exercise was found in girls with disordered eating. The perception of body weight is a more critical factor of engaging in disordered eating for boys than girls. Adolescents with immigrant parents were associated with disordered eating among both genders. Conclusions Changing gender-specific weight-related norms in schools and families is essential to reduce the prevalence of disordered eating, particularly among girls. Future studies using representative samples to confirm this study’s findings are warranted. This study examined gender-specific responses to multifaceted factors associated with disordered eating, including personal, behavioral, family, and school-related characteristics. This study did not discover a significant difference in the prevalence rate of disordered eating between the genders. However, adolescent girls appeared preoccupied with fatness and a desire to be thinner. Boys tended to engage in extreme dieting behaviors such as vomiting after meals, keeping their stomach empty, and avoiding sweets. Relative to adolescent boys, adolescent girls who engaged in disordered eating reported more interpersonal stress from family members’ weight-related teasing, friend pressure to control their weight, low peer acceptance, and being in an extended family. A high frequency of regular exercise was found in girls engaging in disordered eating. The self-perception of body weight seems to be a more critical factor for boys than girls. Boys with fathers of high education and boys who perceived more peer support tended to engage in disordered eating. More attention should be directed to exploring male-specific factors related to disordered eating. The background of immigration is associated with disordered eating among both genders. As the number of mixed-culture marriages increases in Taiwan, this finding highlights the need to explore the health of immigrant parents' children. This study’s strengths and limitations must be considered in interpreting the results. The study’s key strength is its assessment of various personal, behavioral, family, and school environmental variables of potential relevance to disordered eating among the genders in Taiwan. However, the measures adopted in the current study were brief and based on self-reporting, suggesting a need for further exploration of gender differences in disordered eating in a more extensive and comprehensive population-based study.