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A Psychiatric Study of Deviant Eating Behaviour among Mentally Handicapped Adults

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

G. O'Brien  and
A. M. Whitehouse
G. O'Brien*
Affiliation:
Ida Darwin Hospital, Fulbourn, Cambridge CB1 SEE
A. M. Whitehouse
Affiliation:
Carlton Hayes Hospital, Leicester, University Department of Psychiatry, Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge
*
∗Correspondence
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Extract

A study of deviant eating behaviour among mentally handicapped adults in community placements is reported. Those individuals with a psychiatric disorder showed more deviant eating behaviour. Depressed subjects, in particular, showed an excess of the amount eaten and time spent searching for food, as well as the tendency to eat all sweet food presented to them. Non-food pica was uncommon, even among the autistic subjects.

Type
Brief Reports
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 157 , Issue 2 , August 1990 , pp. 281 - 284
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 1990 

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