Eating Disorders

With all those women’s magazines and the television and digital marketing ads produced by digital agencies constantly talking about body image – and very often insisting that the ‘best’ body image is an extremely thin one, it is no wonder young women suffer from eating disorders. But it is not only the media that constantly talks about it; social media such as Facebook, which often means your friends and family are at fault too.

If someone gets a little overweight they are harassed and bullied or treated unkindly by their peers, siblings and sometimes their parents. This makes them feel that their self-worth is measured by their weight, which is in reality very far from the truth. But this is where it starts and before long all that person can think about is that they must lose weight, no matter how thin they have become already.

Facts and Findings

Facts

More than 5 million Americans experience eating disorders. (14)
Anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and binge-eating disorder are diseases that affect the mind and body simultaneously. (14)
Three percent of adolescent and adult women and 1% of men have anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, or binge-eating disorder. (14)
A young woman with anorexia is 12 times more likely to die than other women her age without anorexia. (19)
Fifteen percent of young women have substantially disordered eating attitudes and behaviors. (13)
Between 10% and 15% of those diagnosed with bulimia nervosa are men. (1)
Forty percent of fourth graders report that they diet either “very often” or “sometimes.” (8)
About half of those with anorexia or bulimia have a full recovery, 30% have a partial recovery, and 20% have no substantial improvement. (10)

Tag: Eating Disorders

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