Ethnic origins of patients attending specialist eating disorders services in a multiethnic urban catchment area in the United Kingdom.

Objective: This study considered the impact of ethnicity on the referral process for patients with eating disorders, at the levels of referral rate, diagnosis, and treatment offered.

Method: A catchment area cohort of 648 patients was referred and assessed at specialist eating disorders services in a multiethnic urban area (all boroughs in South London, UK). Each patient was diagnosed and offered treatment (or an alternative appropriate end-point to the referral), and self-identified their ethnicity.