Abstract:
Background:  Overweight and obesity are now so common that are replacing the more traditional public health concerns. Eating disorders are serious illnesses that affect both the physical and socio-emotional health of people; they have significant impact on families and cause significant mortality and morbidity. Objectives: The study aimed to examine the magnitude of eating disorders among obese and overweight patients. It aimed also, to assess the impact of eating disorders on adherence for therapeutic lifestyle modifications. Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted on 100 patients in the obesity outpatient clinic located in the Diabetes and Endocrinology Clinic at Kasr El Ainy Hospital, Cairo University. The study included a questionnaire, eating attitudes test (EAT-26) that has been translated to Arabic. Then it was pilot tested for validation before using. Open ended questions were designed and added by researcher for assessment of nutrition knowledge related to healthy nutrition and therapeutic life style changes related to management of overweight and obesity. Results: Eight percent of the studied patients reported binge eating disorder; moreover, 2 % were Eating Disorder Not Otherwise Specified (EDNOS). Only one patient had bulimia nervosa. A total of 11 patients (11%) displayed an eating disorder. More than seventy percent (72.7%) of females suffered from an eating disorder. The most common co-morbidity among overweight and obese patients was dyslipidemia (58%) followed by sleep apnea and arthritis (33%) and depression (31%). Conclusion: Data indicated that eating disorders are significantly higher in obese group (p=0.00).