Eating Disorders

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Eating Disorders: Get the Facts

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Eating disorders are devastating mental illnesses that affect more

than 7 million American women. Ninety percent of the people who

suffer from the eating disorders anorexia nervosa and bulimia

nervosa are women, according to the National Association of Anorexia

Nervosa and Associated Disorders. Although they revolve around

eating and body weight, eating disorders aren't about food, but

about feelings and self-expression. Women with eating disorders use

food and dieting as ways of coping with life's stresses. For some,

food becomes a source of comfort and nurturing, or a way to control

or release stress. For others, losing weight is a way to gain the

approval of friends and family. Eating disorders are not diets,

signs of personal weakness or problems that will go away without

treatment.

Eating disorders occur in all socioeconomic and ethnic groups.

Eating problems usually develop in girls between age 12 and 25. Age

17 is the average age that an eating disorder develops, and between

five percent and 10 percent of young people have eating disorders.

Because of the shame associated with this complex illness, many

women don't seek treatment or get help until years later. Eating

disorders also occur in older women and in men, but much less

frequently.

Typically, women with eating disorders are described as having low

self-esteem and feeling helpless and inadequate. There are several

categories of eating disorders, including anorexia nervosa, bulimia

nervosa and eating disorders not otherwise specified (EDNOS). All

are considered psychiatric disorders.

Eating Disorders: Relentless Pursuit

Anorexia nervosa is a disorder in which preoccupation with dieting

and thinness leads to excessive weight loss. If you suffer from this

disease, you may not acknowledge that weight loss or restricted

eating is a problem, and you may " feel fat " even when emaciated.

Women with anorexia nervosa intentionally starve themselves or

exercise excessively in a relentless pursuit to be thin, losing from

15 to 60 percent of their normal body weight. Half of all women

suffering from anorexia nervosa never fully regain their health. A

third remain chronically ill. About half of women with anorexia also

suffer from bulimia.

Women with bulimia nervosa regularly and sometimes secretly binge on

large quantities of food — up to 20,000 calories at one time — then

feel intense feelings of guilt or shame and try to compensate by

getting rid of the excess calories. Some purge by inducing vomiting,

abusing laxatives and diuretics, or by taking enemas. Others fast or

exercise to extremes. If you suffer from this disease, you feel out

of control and recognize that your behavior is not normal but often

deny to others that you have a problem. Women with bulimia can be

any weight and often experience weight fluctuations. Bulimia is

especially prevalent on college campuses where as many as 80 percent

of female students have reportedly binged and purged at one time or

another.

A third type of eating disorder, " eating disorders not otherwise

specified " (EDNOS), refers to symptoms that don't fit into the other

two categories of eating disorders. If you suffer from EDNOS, you

are a compulsive eater who experiences uncontrolled and sometimes

secretive eating.

Although it has become synonymous with eating disorders, anorexia is

relatively rare, affecting less than 1 percent of adolescent women.

Another 2 to 3 percent develop bulimia. Yet statistics don't tell

the whole story. Many more women, who don't necessarily meet all the

criteria for an eating disorder, are preoccupied with their bodies

and caught up in destructive patterns of dieting and overeating that

can seriously affect their health and well-being.

No Single Cause of Eating Disorders

There is no single cause of eating disorders. Biological, social and

psychological factors all play a role. Evidence suggesting a genetic

predisposition shows that anorexia may be more common between

sisters and in identical twins. Other research points to hormonal

disturbances and to an imbalance of neurotransmitters, which are

chemicals in the brain that, among other things, regulate mood and

appetite.

In most women, an event or series of events triggers the eating

disorder and allows it to take root and thrive. Triggers can be as

subtle as a degrading comment or as devastating as rape or incest.

Times of transition, such as divorce, marriage or starting college,

can also provoke eating problems. Parents who are preoccupied with

eating and overly concerned about or critical of a daughter's weight

and coaches who relentlessly insist on weigh-ins or a certain body

image from their athletes may also encourage an eating disorder. So

can the pressure of living in a culture where self-worth is equated

with unattainable standards of slimness and beauty. Our

society's " ideal " body size for a woman has decreased, and the

difference between the size of the average American woman and the

size many women think they should be has grown tremendously. Twenty

years ago, for example, the average fashion model weighed 8 percent

less than the average woman; today's models weigh 23 percent less.

Copyright 2003 National Women's Health Resource Center, Inc.