BACKGROUND: Eating disorders can be triggered by life events involving migration and acculturation. AIM: To explore associations between sojourns abroad and the onset and course of eating disorders. METHOD: Six semi-structured interviews with women with an eating disorder and history of sojourn abroad and seven first-person Internet testimonies were analysed using interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA). RESULTS: We identified three trajectories relating eating disorders to sojourns abroad: (I) weight-gain when abroad associated with later development of an eating disorder; (II) development or worsening of an eating disorder when abroad; (III) stay abroad as an attempt to escape the illness. Three topics informed on the impact of sojourns abroad on mental health: (A) different food and eating habits; (B) negative emotions; (C) illness as attempt to achieve something valuable. CONCLUSION: The importance of the identified trajectories and topics relating eating disorders to sojourns abroad needs to be estimated in an epidemiological study.

1st Medical School Charles University Prague Czech Republic

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Trends in hospital admissions for eating disorders in a country undergoing a socio-cultural transition, the Czech Republic 1981-2005