Healing Path Foundation | 9342 E. Central, Suite I | Wichita, KS 67206 | (316) 630-9444
Frequently Asked Questions About Eating Disorders

Can a problem behavior lead to an eating disorder?

It is important to prevent problematic behaviors from becoming full-fledged eating disorders. Anorexia and bulimia, for examples, usually begin with very strict dieting and weight loss. Binge eating disorder can begin with occasional binging. Whenever eating behaviors start to have a destructive impact on a person’s function or self-image, it is time to see a highly trained mental health professional experienced in treating eating disorders.

Who is affected?

    In the United States:
  • Eating disorders are more common than Alzheimer’s disease (as many as 10 million people have eating disorders compared to 4 million with Alzheimer’s disease).
  • 5-10 million adolescent girls and women struggle with eating disorders and related conditions.
  • 1 million boys and men struggle with eating disorders and related conditions.
  • The number of people with eating disorders and borderline conditions is 3 times the number of people living with AIDS.
  • Eating disorders affect at least 3 times as many people as Schizophrenia does.

    • Source: Eating Disorder Awareness and Prevention (www.edap.org)
Who suffers from eating disorders?

According to the National Institute of Mental Health, adolescent and young women account for 90% of cases. Eating disorders also affect older women, men, and boys. Also, an increasing number of ethnic minorities are falling prey to these devastating illnesses.

People sometimes have eating disorders without their families or friends ever noticing their problem. Aware that their behavior is abnormal, people with eating disorders may withdraw from social contact, hide their behavior and deny that their eating patterns are problematic. An accurate diagnosis depends upon the involvement of a licensed psychologist or other appropriate mental health expert.

What causes eating disorders?

Eating disorders are complex conditions arising from a combination of biological and genetic predispositions in combination with long-standing behavioral, emotional, psychological, interpersonal, and social factors. Scientists and researchers are still learning about the underlying causes of these emotionally and physically damaging conditions. Some of the general issues contributing to the development of eating disorders are understood.

While eating disorders may begin with preoccupations with food and weight, most often, they are about much more than food. People with eating disorders often use food and the control of food in an attempt to compensate for feelings and emotions that may otherwise seem overwhelming. For some, dieting, bingeing, and purging may begin as a way to cope with painful emotions and to gain a feeling of self control. Ultimately, these behaviors will damage a person’s physical and emotional health, self-esteem, and sense of competence and control.

What psychological factors contribute to eating disorders?

    Psychological factors contributing to eating disorders:
  • Low self-esteem
  • Feeling of inadequacy or lack of control in life
  • Depression, anxiety, anger or loneliness
  • Harm avoidance
  • What interpersonal factors contribute to eating disorders?

What interpersonal factors contribute to eating disorders?

    Interpersonal factors contributing to eating disorders:
  • Troubled family and personal relationships
  • Difficulty expressing emotions and feelings
  • History of being teased or ridiculed for size or weight
  • History of physical or sexual abuse

What social factors contribute to eating disorders?

    Social factors contributing to eating disorders
  • Cultural pressures that glorify “thinness” and place value on obtaining the “perfect body”
  • Narrow definitions of beauty that include only women and men of specific body weights and shapes
  • Cultural norms that value people on the basis of physical appearance above inner qualities and strengths

What other factors contribute to eating disorders?

    Other factors contributing to eating disorders
  • Scientists are researching possible biochemical or biological causes of eating disorders. In some individuals with eating disorders, certain chemicals in the brain controlling hunger, appetite, and digestion have been found to be unbalanced. The exact meaning and implications of these imbalances remains under investigation.

Is help available for eating disorders?

Professional treatment is effective in treating eating disorders. Psychotherapists play a vital role in the successful treatment of eating disorders and are integral members of the multidisciplinary team required to provide patient care.

A physician should be called on to rule out medical illnesses and determine that the patient is not in immediate physical danger. A nutritionist may assess and improve nutritional intake. Once the psychotherapist has identified important issues that need attention and developed a treatment plan, he or she helps the patient replace destructive thoughts and behaviors with more positive ones.

A psychotherapist and patient might work together to emphasize health rather than weight. Although a patient may keep a food diary as a way to become more aware of the types of situations that trigger their actions, simply changing a patient’s thoughts and behaviors is not enough. To ensure lasting improvement, psychotherapists and patients must work together to explore the psychological issues underlying the eating disorder. Therapy may focus on improving patient’s personal relationships. It may involve helping patients get beyond an event or situation that triggered the disorder in the first place. Group and family therapy may also be helpful.

Most cases of an eating disorder can be treated successfully by appropriately trained health and mental health care professionals. Treatment does not work instantly, and may be long term.

What myths and misleadings should be challenged?

Everyone can consider how culture influences perceptions and ideas of body image and how easily body dissatisfaction can result.

    Beauty and body shape
  • The average American woman is 5’4” tall and weighs 145 pounds.
  • The average American model is 5’11” tall and weights 117 pounds.
  • The average American woman wears a size 12 to 14 in clothing. One third of American women wear a size 16 or larger.
  • Proportionally, a Barbie Doll is 6’ tall, weighs 101 pounds with a size 4 dress size.
  • Most fashion models are thinner than 98% of American women.
  • Women need a fat level of approximately 22% of their body weight in order to menstruate normally.
  • 42% of American 1st to 3rd grade girls surveyed want to be thinner.
  • Young girls surveyed revealed they are more afraid of becoming fat than they are of nuclear war, cancer or losing their parents.
  • 4 out of 5 American women are dissatisfied with their appearance.
    Dieting
  • An estimated 40-50% of American women are trying to lose weight at any point in time.
  • 1 in 4 men are dieting on any given day.
  • One half of 9 to 10 year-old girls feel better about themselves if they are on a diet.
  • 35% of “normal dieters” progress to pathological dieting. Of those, one in four will progress to partial or full syndrome eating disorders.
  • Americans spend over $40 billion on dieting and diet related products each year. (Roughly equivalent to the amount the U.S. Federal Government spends on education each year.)
  • Dieting is rarely effective. 95% of all dieters regain their lost weight and more within 1 to 5 years.
  • Dieting can be dangerous:
    “Yo-yo dieting (repeated cycles of gaining, losing and regaining weight) has been shown to have negative health effects, including increased risk of heart disease and long-lasting negative impacts on metabolism.

    Dieting forces the body into starvation mode. A person’s body responds by slowing down many normal functions to conserve energy. This means natural metabolism actually slows down.

    Dieters often miss out on important nutrients. The body requires proper nutrition to function at its optimal level.

Can an eating disorder be prevented?

Prevention is any systematic attempt to change the circumstance that promote, initiate, sustain or intensify problems like eating disorders.

Primary prevention efforts aim to prevent eating disorders before they occur. Secondary prevention programs promote the early identification of eating disorders before they spiral out of control.

Basic principals for the prevention of eating disorders

  • Eating disorders are serious and complex problems. The public must be educated to avoid thinking of them in simplistic terms.
  • Eating disorders do not affect only women. Men can also develop eating disorders, as well as playing an important role in prevention. The objectification and other forms of mistreatment of women by others contribute directly to two underlying features of eating disorders: obsession with appearance and shame about one’s body.
  • Effective prevention will fail or inadvertently encourage disordered eating, if concentrated solely on warning the public about the signs, symptoms, and danger.

Effective prevention must also address:

  • Our cultural obsession with slenderness as a physical, psychological, and moral issue.
  • The stereotypical roles of men and women in our society.
  • The development of individual competence, skills, self-esteem and self-respect in areas including (school, work, community service, hobbies and family and social roles) that transcend physical appearance.

Prevention approaches to help reduce or eliminate high risk behaviors introduced at an early age, and repeatedly reinforced over time can help. For example, Healing Path Foundation developed a program called, Respect Self Value People (RSVP). RSVP is a prevention tool to help students build skills and strengthen behaviors to support the development of competence and self-esteem.

Privacy Policy
©2008 Healing Path.org | All Rights Reserved