# Developing a Culturally-Sensitive Eating Disorders Measure for South Asian American Women

> **NIH NIH F31** · VIRGINIA COMMONWEALTH UNIVERSITY · 2021 · $37,759

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
Eating disorders (EDs) are serious psychiatric illnesses that are associated with high physical and
psychological impairment, morbidity and mortality, and comorbid psychopathology. Despite similar ED
prevalence estimates, South Asians (SAs), individuals descending from the subcontinent of India, including
Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, and the Maldives, are less likely to be assessed, referred, or
treated for an ED relative to their White counterparts. Additionally, when SA women do present for treatment,
they usually wait until their symptoms are severe enough to cause physical complications, and they are more
likely to be dismissed by health providers relative to their White peers. These disparities can be attributed, in
part, to methodological challenges related to ED assessment in SAs. The few studies conducted with SAs
have primarily utilized Western diagnostic tools that were normed and validated with White, European women,
limiting generalizability to SA communities. Because these instruments do not capture symptoms and
constructs relevant to SA women's experiences of EDs, our current understanding of the manifestations and
prevalence of these conditions within this population is potentially inaccurate. To remedy this issue, this
application will culturally-adapt and modify the Eating Disorder Examination-Questionnaire (EDE-Q) for SA
women living in the United States. This work will improve identification of EDs in this underserved group, and,
in the long-term, could be used to facilitate health providers' assessment of SA women. In sum, the proposed
tool will serve as the necessary steppingstone for advancing understanding of the classification of ED
presentations among SAs.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10246853
- **Project number:** 5F31MD015679-02
- **Recipient organization:** VIRGINIA COMMONWEALTH UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Neha Jain Goel
- **Activity code:** F31 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $37,759
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2020-08-25 → 2023-07-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10246853

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10246853, Developing a Culturally-Sensitive Eating Disorders Measure for South Asian American Women (5F31MD015679-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10246853. Licensed CC0.

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