Eating Disorder Awareness: Key Facts, Signs, & Support
What has your experience and/or exposure been related to the subject of disordered eating? Are you a doctor, teacher, coach, trainer, parent, friend or student? Whether you have realized it or not, you have most likely interacted with someone living with an eating disorder. Maybe you have struggled with an eating disorder, past or present. Do you feel like you have the right tools or resources to support yourself or someone else? Are you looking to spread awareness and share the prevalence of eating disorders throughout your profession or community?
This week marks National Eating Disorder Awareness Week, a critical time to educate ourselves and others on the realities of eating disorders. It’s an opportunity to spread awareness, share resources, and advocate for those affected by these serious mental health conditions. This is a time to educate on the realities of eating disorders and provide support to individuals and loved ones affected by eating disorders.
Understanding Eating Disorders and Disordered Eating
Eating disorders are serious mental health conditions that affect a person’s relationship with food, body image, and self-worth. Disordered eating refers to a range of behaviors — such as restriction, bingeing, purging, or chronic dieting — that may not meet diagnostic criteria but can still cause significant harm.
Eating disorders are complex and multifactorial, influenced by biological, psychological, and social factors. One common contributor is the pursuit of the “thin ideal,” often framed as health in our culture. This pursuit can lead to harmful behaviors in the name of wellness and can delay diagnosis when someone does not “look sick enough.”
Eating Disorder Awareness: Key Facts and Statistics
Approximately 9% of the US population (that’s 28.8 million Americans) will experience an eating disorder in their lifetime. Research shows that eating disorders have increased during the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the National Eating Disorder Association (NEDA), its helpline experienced a 107% increase in contacts. Eating disorders are the second deadliest mental illness, following substance use disorders, with someone in the U.S. dying from a direct eating disorder-related cause every 52 minutes. Eating disorders can be fatal as they often involve significant medical complications and an increased risk of suicide.
Who is Affected by Eating Disorders?
Eating disorders do not discriminate and can affect people of all body weights, shapes, sizes, ages, genders, races, ethnicities, and socioeconomic backgrounds.
Young people between the ages of 15 and 24 with anorexia have ten times the risk of dying compared to their same-aged peers.
One study reported that 35% of female and 10% of male college athletes were at risk for anorexia, and 58% of female and 38% of male college athletes were at risk for bulimia.
Males represent 25% of individuals with anorexia, and they are at a higher risk of dying, in part because they are often diagnosed later, since many people assume males don’t have eating disorders.
Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) are significantly less likely than white people to have been asked by a doctor about eating disorder symptoms. BIPOC with eating disorders are half as likely to be diagnosed or to receive treatment.
Transgender college students are significantly more likely to report an eating disorder diagnosis compared to other groups.
In a 2014 study, findings reported that rates of disordered eating have increased across all demographic sectors, but at a faster rate in males, lower socioeconomic status, and older participants.
Less than 6% of people with eating disorders are medically classified as underweight, challenging the harmful myth that eating disorders have a specific appearance.
The Role of Diet Culture
Diet culture plays a significant role in the development and maintenance of eating disorders. Research shows:
By age 6, girls especially start to express concerns about their weight or shape.
81% of elementary school girls (ages 6-12) are concerned about their weight or becoming "too fat."
46% of elementary school girls are attempting to control their bodies through dieting.
57% of teenage girls are attempting to control their bodies through dieting.
91% of college-aged women admitted to controlling their weight through dieting. As statistics show, this concern endures throughout one’s life.
In weight-class sports (wrestling, rowing, horseracing) and aesthetic sports (bodybuilding, gymnastics, swimming, diving), about 33% of male athletes are affected by disordered eating, and in female athletes, estimates up to 62% are affected.
In a 2015 survey of college students, transgender students were significantly more likely than members of any other group to report an eating disorder diagnosis in the past year, likely in attempts to control or change their appearance.
Diet culture reinforces the idea that body control equals health, which can mask serious illness and delay care.
Recognizing the Signs of an Eating Disorder
Eating disorders are often overlooked due to stereotypes about body type. Signs to watch for include:
Drastic changes in eating habits or routines
Preoccupation with food, weight, calories, or body
Physical symptoms like fatigue, dizziness, digestive issues, or frequent illness
Increased rigidity, anxiety, or withdrawal
If you notice these signs in yourself or someone else, please seek help.
Recovery Is Possible
Eating disorders are serious, but recovery is absolutely possible with proper support. There are multiple support options for eating disorder recovery available, and there is no level of sickness required to “qualify” for help. You deserve care simply because you are struggling.
Treatment can improve both physical health and quality of life, and many people go on to build peaceful, nourishing relationships with food and their bodies.
Resources for Eating Disorder Awareness and Support
Immediate support
NEDA Helpline: call or text at 1-800-931-2237. You can also text the Crisis Text Line (NEDA to 741741) or use the Helpline Chat on the NEDA Helpline website
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-8255 or text HELLO to 741741 or use the Lifeline Chat on the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline website
Screening & education
Books
How to Nourish Your Child Through an Eating Disorder by Casey Crosbie and Wendy Sterling
8 Keys to Recovery from an Eating Disorder by Carolyn Costin and Gwen Schubert Grabb
Goodbye Ed, Hello Me: Recover from Your Eating Disorder and Fall in Love with Life by Jenni Schaefer
Binge Control: A Compact Recovery Guide by Cynthia M Mulik, PhD
Getting Better Bite by Bite: A Survival Kit for Eating Disorders by Ulrike Schmidt, Janet Treasure, & June Alexander
Skills-Based Learning for Caring for a Loved One with an Eating Disorder (New Maudsley Method) by Janet Treasure
Surviving an Eating Disorder: Strategies for Family and Friends by Michele Siegel
Support Groups
Join a support group (available to those recovering from an eating disorder and the families of those in recovery)
If you are interested in learning about higher levels of care, you can refer to this post on eating disorder treatment centers. If you are a loved one who is looking for tools to help support someone going through an eating disorder, read this post.
Get Professional Support
Looking for specialized eating disorder nutrition counseling? Our team of registered dietitians provides compassionate, evidence-based care virtually across Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont, Connecticut, and in-person at our Gorham, Maine office. Reach out to take a step towards recovery and towards yourself.
