Abstract
A retrospective study of the incidence of anorexia nervosa in the industrialized canton of Zurich, Switzerland, during 3 randomly selected sampling periods from 1956 to 1975 was conducted. The data were derived from case histories from nearly all medical, pediatric and psychiatric clinics in this region. The incidence of anorexia nervosa increased significantly, from 0.38/100,000 for 1956-1958 to 0.55/100,000 for 1963-1965 to 1.12/100,000 for 1973-1975. This increase apparently was not due to the fact that at present anorectic patients are hospitalized earlier or that they are hospitalized for less severe illness.