National Eating Disorder Week: Facts and Resources

As National Eating Disorder Week draws to a close, Burrell Behavioral Health would like to share a few statistics and provide a resource for those struggling with body image and eating-related illness, as well as co-occuring underlying behavioral health disorders.

For those in seek of help, Burrell provider Stephanie Robbins will soon be leading a group therapy session for teens with disordered eating and body image. You can contact her at stephanie.robbins@burrellcenter.com or 417-761-5824 to enroll or for more information.

Additional information can be found on the National Eating Disorder Association's website at https://www.nationaleatingdisorders.org/.

Stephanie Robbins also provided the following statistics to help illustrate the need for education and understanding surrounding this complicated and deadly issue:

Did you know:

• At least 30 million people of all ages and genders suffer from an eating disorder in the U.S.
• Every 62 minutes at least one person dies as a direct result from an eating disorder.
• Eating disorders have the highest mortality rate of any mental illness.
• 13% of women over 50 engage in eating disorder behaviors.
• In a large national study of college students, 3.5% sexual minority women and 2.1% of sexual minority men reported having an eating disorder.
• 16% of transgender college students reported having an eating disorder.
• In a study following active duty military personnel over time, 5.5% of women and 4% of men had an eating disorder at the beginning of the study, and within just a few years of continued service, 3.3% more women and 2.6% more men developed an eating disorder.
• Eating disorders affect all races and ethnic groups.
• Genetics, environmental factors, and personality traits all combine to create risk for an eating disorder.
• 0.9% of American women suffer from anorexia in their lifetime.
• 1 in 5 anorexia deaths is by suicide.
• About half of anorexia patients have comorbid anxiety disorders, including obsessive-compulsive disorder and social phobia.
• 1.5% of American women suffer from bulimia nervosa in their lifetime.
• Nearly half of bulimia patients have a comorbid mood disorder.
• More than half of bulimia patients have comorbid anxiety disorders.
• Nearly 1 in 10 bulimia patients have a comorbid substance abuse disorder, usually alcohol use.
• 2.8% of American adults suffer from binge eating disorder in their lifetime.
• Nearly half of BED (Binge Eating Disorder) patients have a comorbid mood disorder.
• More than half of BED patients have comorbid anxiety disorders.
• Nearly 1 in 10 BED patients have a comorbid substance abuse disorder, usually alcohol use.
• Binge eating or loss-of-control eating may be as high as 25% in post-bariatric patients.

Sources:

1.Hudson, J. I., Hiripi, E., Pope, H. G., & Kessler, R. C. (2007). The prevalence and correlates of eating disorders in the national comorbidity survey replication. Biological Psychiatry, 61(3), 348–358.

2.Le Grange, D., Swanson, S. A., Crow, S. J., & Merikangas, K. R. (2012). Eating disorder not otherwise specified presentation in the US population. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 45(5), 711-718.

3.Eating Disorders Coalition. (2016). Facts About Eating Disorders: What The Research Shows.http://eatingdisorderscoalition.org.s208556.gridserver.com/couch/uploads/file/fact-sheet_2016.pdf

4.Smink, F. E., van Hoeken, D., & Hoek, H. W. (2012). Epidemiology of eating disorders: Incidence, prevalence and mortality rates. Current Psychiatry Reports,14(4), 406-414.

5.Gagne, D. A., Von Holle, A., Brownley, K. A., Runfola, C. D., Hofmeier, S., Branch, K. E., & Bulik, C. M. (2012). Eating disorder symptoms and weight and shape concerns in a large web‐based convenience sample of women ages 50 and above: Results of the gender and body image (GABI) study. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 45(7), 832-844.

6.Diemer, E. W., Grant, J. D., Munn-Chernoff, M. A., Patterson, D., & Duncan, A. E. (2015). Gender identity, sexual orientation, and eating-related pathology in a national sample of college students. Journal of Adolescent Health, 57(2), 144-149.

7.Jacobson, I. G., Smith, T. C., Smith, B., Keel, P. K., Amoroso, P. J., Wells, T. S., Bathalon, G. P., Boyko, E. J., & Ryan, M. A. (2009). Disordered eating and weight changes after deployment: Longitudinal assessment of a large US military cohort. American Journal of Epidemiology, 169(4), 415-427.

8.Marques, L., Alegria, M., Becker, A. E., Chen, C.-n., Fang, A., Chosak, A., & Diniz, J. B. (2011). Comparative prevalence, correlates of impairment, and service utilization for eating disorders across US ethnic groups: implications for reducing ethnic disparities in health care access for eating disorders. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 44(5), 412-4120.

9.Culbert, K. M., Racine, S. E., & Klump, K. L. (2015). Research Review: What we have learned about the causes of eating disorders – a synthesis of sociocultural, psychological, and biological research. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 56(11), 1141-1164.

10.Arcelus, J., Mitchell, A. J., Wales, J., & Nielsen, S. (2011). Mortality rates in patients with anorexia nervosa and other eating disorders: a meta-analysis of 36 studies. Archives of General Psychiatry, 68(7), 724-731.

11.Trace, S. E., Baker, J. H., Peñas-Lledó, E., & Bulik, C. M. (2013). The genetics of eating disorders. Annual Review of Clinical Psychology, 9, 589-620.

12.Ulfvebrand, S., Birgegard, A., Norring, C., Hogdahl, L., & von Hausswolff-Juhlin, Y. (2015). Psychiatric comorbidity in women and men with eating disorders results from a large clinical database. Psychiatry Research, 230(2), 294-299.

13.Berkman ND, Brownley KA, Peat CM, Lohr KN, Cullen KE, Morgan LC, Bann CM, Wallace IF, Bulik CM. Management and Outcomes of Binge-Eating Disorder. Comparative Effectiveness Review No. 160.