What is diabulimia and what are the implications for practice?

Diabulimia has become a common term used to describe a condition when a person with type 1 diabetes has an eating disorder. The individual may omit or restrict their insulin dose to lose/control weight. Evidence suggests that as many as 20% of women with type 1 diabetes may have this condition. The serious acute and long-term complications of hyperglycaemia are well documented. Detection of this condition is challenging and health professionals need to be vigilant in assessing reasons for variable glycaemic control and weight changes. Management requires a collaborative response from the specialist diabetes team in conjunction with the mental health team. Nurses must ensure that they are aware that the condition may be possible in all patients with type 1 diabetes but especially younger female patients. These patients require timely intervention to prevent any severe acute or long-term complications

Body size perception and ideal body size in overweight and obese young adult women

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to examine the differences among actual body size, perceived body size and ideal body size in overweight and obese young adult women. METHODS: Actual body size was assessed by body mass index (BMI) while self-perceived and ideal body sizes were assessed by the Body Image Assessment Tool-Body Dimension (BIAS-BD). Descriptive statistics were calculated and analysis of variance (ANOVA) was performed on actual BMI as a function of perceived BMI. RESULTS: Of the 42 participants included in the study, 12 were overweight (25≤BMI<30), 18 were obese 1 (30≤BMI<35), and 12 were obese 2 (35≤BMI≤39.48). The mean ideal body size of participants was 25.34±1.33. Participants in general perceived their body size (BMI: 35.82±1.06) to be higher than their actual body size (32.84±0.95). Overweight participants had a significantly higher mean body size misperception than obese 2 individuals (μ(dif) = −6.68, p<.001). CONCLUSION: Perception accuracy of body size differs in women by BMI. Weight loss programs need to be tailored to consider body size misperception in order to improve treatment outcomes for overweight and obese young women