The study is aimed at an attempt to evaluate self-esteem in French and Polish populations with anorexia and bulimia nervosa. The author compared the already existing studies (Eiber et al. 2003) to the results of her research in France and in Poland. The study posed the question whether or not there are differences within self-esteem between groups of patients with anorexia and bulimia nervosa of the same and different nationality, and whether or not there are differences within scores of self-esteem between groups with eating disorders and healthy groups. The studies involved 46 French and 60 Polish patients with eating disorders. The control group consisted of 57 French and 60 Polish healthy students. The Self-Esteem Inventory (SEI) of Coopersmith (1984) was applied in the present study. The results revealed significant differences between the French and Polish groups with eating disorders and between these groups and the control groups. The Polish patients with AN show a significantly higher social self-esteem as compared to the French anorexic patients tested by Eiber et al., but at the same time they show a lower score on the lie scale. As compared to French bulimic patients tested by Eiber et al., Polish patients show a significantly higher social self-esteem but they show lower familial self-esteem. As compared to control groups, the lower self-esteem in the French and Polish patients with eating disorders was observable in all aspects: general, total, social, familial and school. Lower self-esteem is an important factor in the psychopathology of adolescent anorexic and bulimic Polish and French females patients. Key words: self-esteem, anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, Poland, France