The food habits and feeding behavior of adolescent girls with symptoms of anorexia nervosa from a private school were assessed. The presence of symptoms was identified by the "Eating Attitudes Test". A 24-hour recall was used to evaluate the consumed food, and aquestionnaire was applied to investigate the preferences and aversions.From the 279 girls studied, 21.1% presented symptoms. The foods most consumed by these adolescents were fruit, vegetables, skimmed milk and candies. The less eaten were soft drinks, chocolate, pasta and fried potatoes. The kinds of food they liked most were, in decreasing order: pasta, meat, vegetables and sweets; and those which they liked least were: vegetables, meat and fat. There was a higher aversion to sweets in the adolescents with symptoms of anorexia nervosa.It was concluded that there was a great number of girls with symptoms presenting food aversions similar to those of anorexic people.
anorexia nervosa; adolescents; food habits; feeding behavior
