The purpose of this study was to develop the day hospital program for Korean eating disorders patients and to examine the effect of the day hospital program on improving frequency of binging and purging, eating disorders symptoms, self-esteem, and depression.

The subjects were 24 binge eaters visited at eating disorders clinic “M”. They participated in a modified day hospital program based on the Toronto Day Hospital Program. All subjects completed the Eating Disorders Inventory(EDI)-2, Rosenberg Self-Eesteem Scale, Beck Depression Inventory(BDI) at pre and post intervention, and recorded daily food records.

In paired t-test analysis, frequency of binging and purging, self-esteem, depression, and 11 sub-scales of EDI-2(drive for thinness, bulimia, body dissatisfaction, ineffectiveness, interoceptive awareness, perfectionism, interpersonal distrust, maturity fear, asceticism, impulse regulation, social insecurity) were significantly improved after treatment.

The results of this study suggest that the day hospital program for Korean eating disorders patients may be an effective initial approach to overcoming various eating disorders symptoms. Further studies should investigate longer term outcome data using a larger sample.