bulimia

Eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia are commonly associated with teenage girls, but experts say these illnesses are becoming increasingly common amongst the middle-aged.

Eating disorder clinics such as the Renfrew Center (with locations throughout the US) are seeing a rise in the number of older patients. The New York Times quotes a number of statistics, including:

It's not always clear where the line is between a healthy weight-loss diet and an eating disorder. It's important to be aware of the facts about eating disorders, both to help those around you who might be ill (without you necessarily realising) - and to make sure that you set up healthy, not dangerous, habits in your own eating.

But there's a lot of confusion about eating disorders - people are often unsure what they are, and can even label illnesses such as anorexia nervosa as "faddy eating" or "attention seeking". Here's the facts, and how to get help if you or a friend is suffering.

The Sunday Times announced that John Prescott (former Deputy Prime Minister of the UK) suffered with bulimia for many years. The news quickly made national headlines. Prescott has spoken candidly about the illness, emphasizing that he wanted to reveal his struggle with bulimia in order to help others who have struggled on in silence.

The spotlight on skinny models continues to spark debate and discussion. What exactly is skinny? Is it an issue? Is there really a link between media imagery and eating disorders?

Why bother focusing on thinness when an estimated 66% of Americans are either overweight or obese?

NEDA suggests as many as 10 million females and 1 million males have eating disorders - but their statistics are 10-15 years old.

What is EDNOS? It is an acronym for an "Eating Disorder Not Otherwise Specified". To be honest, chronic dieting can sit squarely within that definition. Constance Rhodes, author of Life Inside the Thin Cage, describes EDNOS in some depth.

A Stanford University study has found that 4 out of 10 teenagers with eating disorders visit pro-eating disorder websites. They found that 40 percent of teens with an eating disorder had visited a pro-eating disorder web site, and about one-quarter said they had visited the sites frequently.

Only 34 percent of teens said they had visited web sites that discuss how to overcome eating disorders.