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Eating disorders such as Anorexia, Bulimia, Binge
Eating Disorder– include extreme emotions, attitude
and behaviors surrounding weight and food issues.
Eating disorders are serious emotional and physical
problems that can have life-threatening consequences.
Both females and males may have eating disorders.
Solutions For Recovery has several programs to help
people recover from eating disorders.
Anorexia Nervosa is characterized by self-starvation and excessive weight loss.
Anorexia Symptoms include:
- Refusal to maintain body with at or above a minimally
normal weight for height, body type, age and activity
level
- Intense fear of weight gain or being "fat"
- Feeling "Fat" of overweight despite dramatic
weight loss
- Loss of menstrual periods
- Extreme concern with body weight and shape
Bulimia Nervosa is characterized by a secretive
cycle of binge eating followed by purging. Bulimia
includes eating large amounts of food – more than
most people would eat in a single meal – in short
periods of time, then getting rid of the food and
calories through vomiting, laxative abuse, or over-exercising.
Bulimia Symptoms include:
- Repeated episodes of bingeing and purging
- Feelings of being "out of control" during
a binge period and eating well beyond the point
of comfortable fullness
- Purging after a binge, typically by self-induced
vomiting, abuse of laxatives, diet ills and /or
diuretics, excessive exercising or fasting
- Frequent dieting
- Extreme concern with body weight and shape
Binge Eating Disorder (also know as Compulsive Overeating)
is characterized primarily by periods of uncontrolled,
impulsive, or continuous eating beyond the point
of feeling comfortably full. While there is no purging,
the may be sporadic fasts or repetitive diets an
often feelings of shame or self-hatred after a binge.
People who overeat compulsively may struggle with
anxiety, depression, and loneliness, which contribute
to the unhealthy episodes of binge eating. Body
weight may vary from normal to mild, moderate, or
sever obesity.
EATING DISORDERS SURPRISING STATISTICS
Prevalence
In the United States, conservative estimates indicate
that after puberty, 5-10% of girls and women (5-10
million) and one million boys and men are struggling
with an eating disorder. Because of the secretiveness
associated with eating disorders, many cases are
never reported.
Over one person's lifetime, at least 50,000 people
will die as a result of their eating disorder.
The Drive for Thinness
- 42% of 1st – 3rd grade girls say they want to be
"thinner."
- 81% of 10-year olds are "afraid of being fat."
- 55% of 5th- 8th graders said they "feel fat"
or "want to lose weight."
- 11% of 5th-8th graders said they have fasted to
control their weight.
- 51% of 9 and 10 year-old girls say they "feel
better about themselves" if they are on a diet.
- 46% of 9-11 year-olds are "sometimes"
of "very often" on a diet.
- 35% of "normal dieters" progress to pathological
dieting. Of those, 20-25% progress to partial of
full syndrome eating disorders.
On any given day, nearly 2/3 of high school and
adult women at "on a diet."
The average American woman is 5'4" tall and
weighs 140 pounds. The average American model is
5'11" and weighs 117 pounds.
In the 1970s, models – on average – were 8% underweight.
Today, the average model is 23% underweight.
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