Monetary costs associated with bulimia.

OBJECTIVE

The direct monetary costs for food and laxatives, diet pills, and diuretics used by individuals with bulimia nervosa (BN) have not been studied.

METHOD: Ten participants with a presenting clinical diagnosis of BN completed a 7-day food record at the outset of treatment in order to provide estimates of weekly and yearly monetary costs for food and associated symptoms.

RESULTS

Participants reported means of 3.6 purge episodes, 2.5 objective binge episodes, and 2.4 subjective binge eating episodes per week. Mean total food costs were $106.98/week (SD = $53.88) or $5,581.79/year (SD = $2,811.58). Costs associated with binge eating and purging were 32.7% of all food costs (average: $1,599.45/year).

CONCLUSION

Financial costs of bulimia symptoms are significant, and appear to constitute a substantial minority of all food spending by individuals with BN.