It used to be that Hispanic girls were considered quite secure about their body image. While white girls had the highest rates of eating disorders and obsessive dieting, Hispanic and African-American girls typically expressed much more satisfaction with bodies that didn’t match the emaciated proportions of supermodels and Barbie dolls.

But in recent years, Hispanic girls’ rates for eating disorders have steadily risen. Research indicates that young Hispanic women are now at equal or higher risk of disordered eating, reports the Latina magazine Latinitas. In one study of 81,000 Minnesota high schoolers, Hispanic girls reported the highest rates of disordered eating, including skipping meals, vomiting, binge-eating, or using laxatives or cigarettes to lose weight.

Researchers say that Latinas are increasingly influenced by media images of either thin Anglos or J.Lo-style Hispanic women with larger hips but willowy waists. When Texas State University counselor Blanca Sanchez-Navarro asked a focus group of Latina students what the ideal body was, they said that bigger breasts and hips were OK, but that the full figures of many Latinas were no longer OK. Even Hispanic celebrities have shrunk, and so have the ideals of the young women. “Over the years, women like Jennifer Lopez and Penelope Cruz have gotten much thinner,” notes Sanchez-Navarro. “Young women notice that.”

There’s also great pressure to eat in the Hispanic culture, says Sanchez-Navarro. Add in other stresses girls may have, and food becomes a double-edged friend. "If girls are not getting their emotional needs met, they turn to what feels good,” notes Barb Steinberg, a therapist and consultant for the girls’ empowerment group GENaustin in Austin, Texas. “Food never disappoints."

Ironically, a past history of higher body acceptance contributes to a tendency to overlook eating disorders among Latinas. Elida Rivera* knows: She watched her daughter lose 50 pounds in less than five months without a single professional recognizing or even suspecting an eating disorder.

“Marisela* was overweight and had high cholesterol, so we took her to a nutritionist,” recalls Rivera. “We even got her a personal trainer, but she didn't want to do any exercise. All of a sudden, though, she started losing weight.” Marisela began getting many compliments on how she looked, says Rivera.

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