Rethinking the “Asian” identity in eating disorders research: a call to action

Despite descending from the largest continent in the world, people with Asian heritage are under-researched and underrepresented within the eating disorders (EDs) literature. Moreover, when Asian groups are included in ED research, they are usually subsumed into an amorphous "Asian" category. This conflation across subgroups critically impacts assessment, prevention, and treatment. In this paper, we present a call to action to disaggregate Asian subgroups in ED research and outline four concrete guidelines for how to collect, report, and discuss research involving Asian subgroups, namely: (1) reporting specific ethnic data (2) considering the cultural validity of ED assessments; (3) avoiding use of race and/or ethnicity as proxies for other cultural variables; and (4) collaboration with non-research stakeholders to improve Asian representation in research. These guidelines aim to shift the field toward a more nuanced and inclusive understanding of EDs, one that accounts for the vast variations within Asian communities.