Who is affected eating disorders

They can be very serious conditions affecting physical, psychological and social function. Types of eating disorders include anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, binge eating disorder, avoidant restrictive food intake disorder, other specified feeding and eating disorder, pica and rumination disorder.

Several, especially anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa are more common in women, but they can all occur at any age and affect any gender. Eating disorders are often associated with preoccupations with food, weight or shape or with anxiety about eating or the consequences of eating certain foods.

Behaviors associated with eating disorders including restrictive eating or avoidance of certain foods, binge eating, purging by vomiting or laxative misuse or compulsive exercise. These behaviors can become driven in ways that appear similar to an addiction. Eating disorders affect several million people at any given time , most often women between the ages of 12 and There are three main types of eating disorders: anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa and binge eating disorder.

Eating disorders often co-occur with other psychiatric disorders most commonly mood and anxiety disorders, obsessive compulsive disorder and alcohol and drug abuse problems. Evidence suggests that genes and heritability play a part in why some people are at higher risk for an eating disorder, but these disorders can also afflict those with no family history of the condition.

Treatment should address psychological, behavioral, nutritional and other medical complications. The latter can include consequences of malnutrition or of purging behaviors including, heart and gastrointestinal problems as well as other potentially fatal conditions. Ambivalence towards treatment, denial of a problem with eating and weight, or anxiety about changing eating patterns is not uncommon.

With proper medical care however, those with eating disorders can resume healthy eating habits, and recover their emotional and psychological health. Anorexia Nervosa. Anorexia nervosa is characterized by self-starvation and weight loss resulting in low weight for height and age. Anorexia has the highest mortality of any psychiatric diagnosis other than opioid use disorder and can be a very serious condition.

Body mass index or BMI, a measure of weight for height, is typically under Dieting behavior in anorexia nervosa is driven by an intense fear of gaining weight or becoming fat. Although some individuals with anorexia will say they want and are trying to gain weight, their behavior is not consistent with this intent.

For example, they may only eat small amounts of low-calorie foods and exercise excessively. Some persons with anorexia nervosa also intermittently binge eat and or purge by vomiting or laxative misuse.

Over time, some of the following symptoms may develop related to starvation or purging behaviors:. Serious medical complications can be life threatening and include heart rhythm abnormalities especially in those patients who vomit or use laxatives, kidney problems or seizures.

Treatment for anorexia nervosa involves helping those affected normalize their eating and weight control behaviors and restore their weight.

Medical evaluation and treatment of any co-occurring psychiatric or medical conditions is an important component of the treatment plan. The nutritional plan should focus on helping individuals counter anxiety about eating and practice consuming a wide and balanced range of foods of different calorie densities across regularly spaced meals. Addressing body dissatisfaction is also important but this often takes longer to correct than weight and eating behavior.

In the case of severe anorexia nervosa when outpatient treatment is not effective, admission to an inpatient or residential behavioral specialty program may be indicated. Most specialty programs are effective in restoring weight and normalizing eating behavior, although the risk of relapse in the first year following program discharge remains significant. Bulimia Nervosa. Binge eating is defined as eating a large amount of food in a short period of time associated with a sense of loss of control over what, or how much one is eating.

Binge behavior is usually secretive and associated with feelings of shame or embarrassment. There is some evidence that these women benefit the least from current eating disorder treatment models. Athletes Eating Disorder Statistics. Veterans Eating Disorder Statistics. The most common type of eating disorders among military members is bulimia nervosa.

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