OBJECTIVE: To ascertain the prevalence and correlates of disordered eating attitudes and symptomatology in a school-based Arab population. METHODS: A representative stratified random sample of 495 adolescent girls completed the Eating Attitudes Test (EAT-40) in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). A randomly selected subgroup from the those who scored above the recommended cut-off of 30 on the EAT-40 and an equal number of those who scored below 30 were interviewed in stage 2 by a psychiatrist, blind to the EAT scores, using the Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia (KSADS) and DSM-IV criteria for the presence of eating disorders. RESULTS: 116 girls (23.4%) scored above the recommended cut-off on EAT. High EAT score was associated with age, BMI, internalization of thin ideal and drive for thinness, knowing someone on a weight loss strategy, having a family member with weight-related or mental health problem and watching western TV programs. Using clinical interview of 100 girls in stage 2, half of those who scored above the cut-off on EAT were found to have a propensity for anorexic behavior, while 2% met the criteria for the full clinical syndrome. CONCLUSIONS: Thin body preoccupation as well as family and social factors are important in the development of abnormal eating attitudes among adolescents in this Arabian Gulf country.