EATING DISORDERS

By Briana Vittorini

OVERVIEW ¢ What is an eating disorder?

¢ Important facts

¢ The SHOCKING truth

¢ The most common forms

¢ Beliefs about eating disorders

¢ Prevalence vs. Funding

OVERVIEW ¢ Specific eating disorders- what are they,

what are the symptoms and warning signs, and what are the health consequences.

¢ Diversity

¢ Contributing factors

¢ “Special Issues”

¢ Treatment

¢ Counseling tips

WHAT IS AN EATING DISORDER?

¢ Dictionary Definition: eating disorder (noun) ¢ any of various disorders, as anorexia

nervosa or bulimia, characterized by severe disturbances in eating habits.

Eating disorders are serious emotional and physical problems that can have life-threatening consequences for females and males.

WHAT ARE THE MOST COMMON FORMS?

¢ Anorexia Nervosa potentially life-threatening eating disorder characterized by self-starvation and excessive weight loss.

¢ Bulimia Nervosa potentially life-threatening eating disorder characterized by a cycle of bingeing and compensatory behaviors such as self-induced vomiting designed to undo or compensate for the effects of binge eating.

WHAT ARE THE COMMON FORMS?

¢ Binge Eating Disorder (BED) is a type of eating disorder that is characterized by recurrent binge eating without the regular use of compensatory measures to counter the binge eating.

¢ Eating Disorder Not Otherwise Specified

can include any combination of signs and symptoms typical of anorexia and bulimia, so it may be helpful to first look at anorexia and bulimia.

BODIES OF EATING DISORDERS

GIVE ME THE FACTS

¢ The rate of development of new cases of eating disorders has been increasing since 1950.

¢ There has been a rise in incidence of anorexia in young women 15-19 in each decade since 1930

¢ The incidence of bulimia in 10-39 year old women TRIPLED between 1988 and 1993

PREVALENCE VS. FUNDING

¢ Despite the prevalence of eating disorders, they continue to receive inadequate research funding.

Illness                   Prevalence       NIH Research Funds

Alzheimer’s Disease             5.1 million                     $450,000,000

Autism                                   3.6 million                     $160,000,000 Schizophrenia                      3.4 million                     $276,000,000

Eating disorders                    30 million                      $28,000,000

WHAT DO PEOPLE THINK ABOUT EATING DISORDERS? ¢  82% percent of respondents

believe that eating disorders are a physical or mental illness and should be treated as such, with just 12% believing they are related to vanity.

¢  85% of the respondents believe that eating disorders deserve coverage by insurance companies just like any other illness.

¢  86% favor schools providing information about eating disorders to students and parents.

WHAT DO PEOPLE THINK ABOUT EATING DISORDERS? ¢  80% believe conducting

more research on the causes and most effective treatments would reduce or prevent eating disorders

¢  70% believe encouraging the media and advertisers to use more average sized people in their advertising campaigns would reduce or prevent eating disorders

THE SHOCKING TRUTH ¢  42% of 1st-3rd grade girls want

to be thinner ¢  In elementary school fewer than

25% of girls diet regularly. Yet those who do know what dieting involves and can talk about calorie restriction and food choices for weight loss fairly

¢  81% of 10 year olds are afraid of being fat

¢  Over one-half of teenage girls and nearly one-third of teenage boys use unhealthy weight control behaviors such as skipping meals, fasting, smoking cigarettes, vomiting, and taking laxatives.

THE SHOCKING TRUTH ¢  35-57% of adolescent girls engage in

crash dieting, fasting, self-induced vomiting, diet pills, or laxatives. Overweight girls are more likely than normal weight girls to engage in such extreme dieting.

¢  The average American woman is 5’4” tall and weighs 165 pounds. The average Miss America winner is 5’7” and weighs 121 pounds

¢  The average BMI of Miss America winners has decreased from around 22 in the 1920s to 16.9 in the 2000s. The World Health Organization classifies a normal BMI as falling between 18.5 and 24.9

ANOREXIA NERVOSA ¢  About Anorexia Nervosa

�  Approximately 90-95% of anorexia nervosa sufferers are girls and women.

�  Between 0.5–1% of American women suffer from anorexia nervosa.

¢  Symptoms of Anorexia Nervosa �  Resistance to maintaining body weight at or above a

minimally normal weight for age and height. �  Intense fear of weight gain or being “fat,” even though

underweight.

¢  Healthy Consequences �  Reduction of bone density (osteoporosis), which results

in dry, brittle bones. �  Muscle loss and weakness. �  Severe dehydration, which can result in kidney failure.

BULIMIA NERVOSA ¢  About Bulimia Nervosa

�  Bulimia nervosa affects 1-2% of adolescent and young adult women.

�  Approximately 80% of bulimia nervosa patients are female.

¢  Symptoms

�  Regular use of inappropriate compensatory behaviors such as self-induced vomiting, laxative or diuretic abuse, fasting, and/or obsessive or compulsive exercise.

¢  Warning Signs of Bulimia Nervosa

�  Evidence of binge eating, including disappearance of large amounts of food in short periods of time or finding wrappers and containers indicating the consumption of large amounts of food.

�  Unusual swelling of the cheeks or jaw area

BULIMIA NERVOSA

¢ Health Consequences of Bulimia Nervosa �  Bulimia nervosa can be extremely harmful to the

body.  The recurrent binge-and-purge cycles can damage the entire digestive system and purging behaviors can lead to electrolyte and chemical imbalances in the body that affect the heart and other major organ functions.

BINGE EATING DISORDER ¢  About Binge Eating Disorder

�  The prevalence of BED is estimated to be approximately 1-5% of the general population.

�  Binge eating disorder affects women slightly more often than men--estimates indicate that about 60% of people struggling with binge eating disorder are female, 40% are male.

¢  Symptoms �  Frequent episodes of eating large

quantities of food in short periods of time.

¢  Health Consequences of Binge Eating Disorder �  The health risks of BED are most

commonly those associated with clinical obesity.

EATING DISORDER NOT OTHERWISE SPECIFIED

¢  Examples of EDNOS: �  Menstruation is still occurring despite

meeting all other criteria for anorexia nervosa.

�  All conditions are present to qualify for anorexia nervosa except the individual's current weight is in the normal range or above.

�  Purging or other compensatory behaviors are not occurring at a frequency less than the strict criteria for bulimia nervosa.

�  Purging without Binging—sometimes known as purging disorder.

�  Chewing and spitting out large amounts of food but not swallowing.

DIVERSITY: IT CAN HAPPEN TO ANYONE ¢ Eating disorders were once thought to affect only

a narrow portion of the population in the teens and early twenties, but we now know that they affect people of every age, race, gender and socio-economic status.

RESEARCH RESULTS ON EATING DISORDERS IN MINORITY POPULATIONS

¢  A January 2010 Essence survey found that: �  71.5% of respondents reported

being preoccupied with the desire to be thinner

�  71.5% reported being “terrified” of being overweight

�  64.5% were preoccupied with fat on their body

�  52% reported being preoccupied with food

�  46% reported feeling guilty after eating

�  39% stated that food concerns virtually controlled their lives

FACTORS THAT MAY CONTRIBUTE TO EATING DISORDERS

¢ Psychological Factors

¢  Interpersonal Factors

¢ Social Factors

¢ Biological Factors

THE “SPECIAL ISSUES” ¢  Atypical Eating Disorders

�  Orthorexia: is a term coined by Steven Bratman, MD, to describe his own experience with food and eating. 

�  Diabulimia: Not a recognized medical diagnosis, diabulimia refers to the condition in which an individual with an eating disorder, who also has diabetes, manipulates insulin levels to manage weight.

¢  Pregnancy and Eating Disorders

¢  Trauma and Eating Disorders

¢  Substance abuse and Eating Disorders

TREATMENT ¢  The most effective and long-lasting treatment for an

eating disorder is some form of psychotherapy or counseling, coupled with careful attention to medical and nutritional needs. 

¢  Some medications have also been shown to be helpful. 

HOW TO COUNSEL A PATIENT WITH AN EATING DISORDER ¢ Body Image: Counseling

for Patients With Eating Disorders

¢ Focus on the positive

¢ Use role playing

¢ Teach body-image management techniques

BODY IMAGE ¢ Maintaining active

body-image management techniques can help patients recover from poor body-image issues.

¢ Staying in the company of people who make them feel good and establishing objective coping criteria are both extremely helpful in the recovery process.

PREVENTION ¢ Prevention is any systematic

attempt to change the circumstances that promote, initiate, sustain, or intensify problems like eating disorders. 

¢ This may involve: �  Reducing negative risk factors �  Increasing protective factors

¢ Prevention is important to reduce the suffering associated with eating disorders.

PREVENTION ¢ At least two types of audiences

may be the target of eating disorders prevention:

¢ Universal prevention

¢ Targeted prevention

BREAK THE CYCLE!

QUESTIONS? COMMENTS?

BIBLIOGRAPHY ¢ National Eating Disorder Association-https://

www.nationaleatingdisorders.org/ ¢ All images: googleimages.com ¢ Rader Programs- http://www.eating-disorders-

treatment.com/?_kk=eating%20disorder%20treatment&_kt=fab38909-3188-459f-8a7a-d252c8317331&gclid=CJ7wjeC877QCFQyk4AodkxMADw