Eating disorders in South African schools: a public health crisis that needs immediate intervention

Abstract

This South African Journal of Clinical Nutrition issue opens another window of opportunity for targeted interventions to be urgently implemented that will encourage a positive body image in young South African women of diverse ethnicities. South Africa is a unique multicultural society which comprises various cultural and religious groups. These groups contend with body image dissatisfaction due to the influences of Western culture that stretch far beyond the communities that are traditionally considered to be “Western”.^1-4