Eating disorders are when a person’s eating habits are disrupted or altered, often resulting in mental and physical health issues. In severe cases, it can be fatal. Examples of eating disorders include anorexia, bulimia, binge eating disorder (BED), and others.
Eating Disorder Facts – Overview
Eating disorders can affect anyone for a variety of reasons. A quick overview shows:1,2
- More than 28 million Americans will face an eating disorder at some point in their lives.
- Binge-eating disorder is three times more common than anorexia and bulimia combined.
Risk Factors for Developing Eating Disorders
It can be hard to pinpoint risk factors for eating disorders, as they can be the result of psychological, systemic, or other circumstantial issues. Researchers have found some common grounds, however.
According to the National Eating Disorder Association:3
- Those with close family members with an eating disorder have an increased risk of also developing an eating disorder.
- Those with a history of dieting may develop a binge-eating disorder (BED).
- Perfectionism is one of the strongest risk factors for developing an eating disorder.
- Nearly 60% of those with an eating disorder say that being bullied about their weight contributed to their eating disorder.
Eating Disorder Rates by Age
Teenagers and young adults make up most patients with eating disorders. Research shows that:2,4
- Those aged 15 and 24 with anorexia have 10 times the risk of dying compared to their same-aged peers.
- In a study of 496 adolescent girls followed until they were 20, researchers found that more than 5% of those girls met the criteria for an eating disorder.
- BED usually occurs in teenagers and young adults, though there are cases of older adults and young children.
- Avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID) tends to affect children, and often affects males more than females.
- Nearly half of children with ARFID report a fear of vomiting or choking related to sensory issues with certain foods.
- In a study of 1118 preadolescent children, 42% of females reported wanting a thinner figure.
Eating Disorder Rates by Gender
Eating disorders affect indiscriminately, but there are gender-specific concerns between male and female patients with eating disorders.
Research found the following in regards to gender and eating disorders:2
- Men make up 25% of those with anorexia.
- Men also make up approximately 40% of those with BED.
- Between 0.9% and 2.0% of females and 0.1% to 0.3% of males will develop anorexia during their life.
- About 1% of young women and 0.1% of young men will meet the criteria for bulimia during their life.
- According to one study, men and women aged 20-29 have higher numbers of prevalence for eating disorders.
- That same study noted that eating disorder prevalence is more than four times as high for women as it is for men.
Eating Disorder Rates Within Minority Groups
Eating disorders affect all, but minority groups face different challenges when seeking treatment.
Research into eating disorder rates among minorities found:5
- Doctors are less likely to ask ethnic minority patients with self-reported eating and dieting concerns about eating disorder symptoms.
- Black teenagers are 50% more likely to exhibit bulimic symptoms than white teenagers.
- Hispanic adolescents are more likely to suffer from bulimia than their non-Hispanic peers.
- When presented with identical case studies of disordered eating symptoms in white, Hispanic, and black women, only 17% of doctors deemed the black woman’s case as problematic.
Eating Disorders Rates in the LGBTQ+ Community
The link between gender, sexuality, sexual expression, and eating disorders is still being researched, but a number of studies have concluded that:6
- Gay, bisexual, and transgender adults and adolescents are more likely to develop an eating disorder.
- 34.7% of lesbian adults had been or were currently diagnosed with an eating disorder.
- 66.7% of lesbian adults reported significant risk factors that increased their likelihood of developing an eating disorder.
- In one study, discrimination for sexual identity increased sexual minority stress, which increased social anxiety, which led to body shame and binge eating.
- 14% of homosexual men reported currently having or have had an eating disorder in the past, a rate much higher than heterosexual men.
Co-Occurring Disorders
Patients suffering from one mental illness or disorder may often suffer from another, as well as possibly suffer from substance abuse disorders.
One study found that:7
- 47.9% of those with anorexia, 80.6% of those with bulimia, and 65.1% of those with BED also suffer from an anxiety disorder.
- 42.1% of those with anorexia, 70.7% of those with bulimia, and 46.4% of those with BED also suffer from a mood disorder.
- 27.0% of those with anorexia, 36.8% of those with bulimia, and 23.3 % of those with BED suffer from a substance abuse disorder.
For Further Reading
- Best Eating Disorder Recovery Apps
- National Eating Disorder Association
- National Institute of Mental Health
- Eating Disorder Hope
- National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders
- Alliance for Eating Disorder Awareness
- Mental Health Awareness Month – Where to Get Involved
- Eating Disorder Movies
- Books on Eating Disorders
