Objective To explore the characteristics of parenting styles of female patients with anorexia nervosa (AN) and bulimia nervosa (BN), to and provide a reference for the clinical treatment of eating disorders. Methods Patients with AN and BN between November 2019 and May 2020 in the Centre for Mental Health, West China Hospital, Sichuan University were retrospectively included. Female teachers and students from Sichuan University were used as normal controls. The general conditions of the subjects in the three groups were collected, and the parenting styles and behaviors of the subjects in the three groups were evaluated using Egna Minnen av Barndoms Uppfostran (Parenting Style Evaluation Scale). Results Finally, 30 subjects were included in the AN group, 44 subjects were included in the BN group, and 33 subjects were included in the healthy control group. There was no significant difference in the course of disease between the AN group and the BN group (P>0.05). There were no significant differences in age, place of residence, education level, parental divorce, parental education level and parental occupation among the three groups (P>0.05). The body mass index of the AN group was lower than that of the BN group and the healthy control group (P<0.05). The parenting style evaluation scale scores showed that in terms of father scores, there was no significant difference in the excessive interference dimension scores among the three groups (P>0.05). The score of preference dimension in AN group (14.60±4.45 vs. 10.18±5.98 vs. 10.36±5.90) was higher than that in BN group and healthy control group, the score of emotional warmth and understanding dimension in BN group (50.55±11.81 vs. 55.33±9.12 vs. 57.03±6.13) was lower than that in the AN group and the healthy control group, and the scores of rejection and denial dimension (7.91±3.65 vs. 10.10±3.85 vs. 10.16±3.83) and overprotection dimension (11.76±2.82 vs. 14.10±3.16 vs. 13.25±2.97) in healthy control group were lower than those of AN group and BN group (P<0.05). In terms of mother scores, the scores of preference dimension (14.40±4.64 vs. 10.59±5.92 vs. 10.94±5.34) in AN group was higher than that in the BN group and the healthy control group, and the scores of emotional warmth and understanding dimension (58.06±7.05 vs. 51.40±11.79 vs. 52.91±11.57) in healthy control group was higher than that in AN group and BN group (P<0.05). Conclusion Compared with healthy controls, the parenting styles of female patients with eating disorders show more negative emotions such as rejection and denial. The parenting styles of female BN patients show more negative emotions than female AN patients. These all suggest that the parenting style, attitude and behavior may be the influencing factors of female AN and BN.