Bulimic Pathology in Black Students in South Africa: Some Unexpected Findings

A high frequency of behaviours and attitudes associated with bulimia nervosa among black respondents, including males, has recently been reported in South Africa. The aims of the present study were to replicate these findings using a sampling procedure which would yield few refusals or dropouts, and to interview black males with bulimic symptoms to gain an understanding of their behaviour and motivation. In total, 40 black females, 39 black males, 40 white females and 42 white males who were students in residence at Rhodes University completed the Bulimia Test (BULIT). The criterion for marked bulimic pathology was exceeded by 25% of white females, 10% of black females and 5% of black males. The mean BULIT score for white females was significantly greater than that of the other groups and the other three groups did not differ significantly among themselves. Interviews revealed marked variability in understanding technical terms related to eating disordered behaviour, particularly among black males. When respondents who answered inconsistently were identified and removed from the analysis, the main conclusions from the analysis of variance were unaltered although the mean BULIT for black males was reduced by 3.7 and only one (2.5%) black male remained above the cut-off. It is concluded that subgroups of educated blacks may show relatively little bulimic pathology, and that the previous finding of significant bulimic pathology among black males might be artifactual and needs to be replicated under carefully controlled conditions.