Anorexia nervosa among teenage girls: Emerging or prevalent?

OBJECTIVES To find out frequency of anorexia nervosa (AN) among teenage girls (TG) and to find out the knowledge and practice regarding anorexia nervosa among teenage girls. METHODS A cross sectional study was conducted at higher secondary public school, Rawalpindi from June 2013 till December 2013. A sample of 100 female students of the age group 13-19 years were inducted by systematic sampling technique. Mixed pretested questionnaire was filled after informed verbal consent. Data was entered and analysed using SPSS version 20. RESULTS Participants mean age was 15.81 ± 1.323 years. Mean weight, mean height and mean body mass index were found to be 50.34 ± 10.445 kg, 160.14 ± 7.846 cm and 19.675 ± 4.1477 kg/m(2) respectively. Anorexia nervosa was found in 42 (42%) teenage girls while 58 (58%) were not having anorexia nervosa. Sufficient knowledge and positive practice were found to be present in 57 (57%) and 49 (49%) respectively. Statistically no significant association was found between KP and AN (p=0.73). CONCLUSION Anorexia nervosa is an emerging health concern in Pakistan. Anorexia prevalent behaviour was observed in almost half of the teenage girls.