Aim of the study:
The Eating Attitudes Test (EAT) is one of the most commonly used measures of abnormal eating habits; however, it has been criticized for its unstable factorial structure. Different studies proposed different solutions; however, up to date there is no consensus whether three-, five-, or seven-factor solution is appropriate.

Subject or material and methods:
In the current study, we examined the cues provided by studies that investigated the structure of the EAT-26, and analyzed our expectations in a nonclinical group of 617 women.

Results:
Based upon bi-factor confirmatory factor analyses, we demonstrated that the EAT measures general eating pathology, but it also measures more specific factors, such as social pressure, food awareness, food preoccupation and purging behaviours.

Discussion:
Among distinguished specific factors, social pressure seems to be promising scale to be used for screening purposes. The food awareness factor could be interpreted in terms of orthorexia nervosa; however, further evidence is required to support this conclusion. We also provided evidence that bulimia and food preoccupation factors should be maintained within the EAT-26 as an important behavioural aspects of eating pathology.

Conclusions:
These results shed new light on this measure and provide the bases for a discussion of its psychometric issues.