Rise in adults with eating disorders

THE age profile of people with eating disorders is changing significantly with a huge increase in adult sufferers.

Changing patterns, said a support association for people with eating disorders, are pointing to “noticeable increases” in the 25-30 and the 31-39 age groupings.

Among the people who disclosed their age on contacting the association Bodywhys, 6% were between 10-15 years while 21% were between 31-39 years. Bodywhys also revealed people are engaging in potentially dangerous practices to control weight.

Fasting, excessive exercising, self-induced vomiting and the misuse of laxatives are among the actions putting people at risk of developing an eating disorder.

The association, which has the support of private and public bodies, said in its annual report: “Typically, we think of eating disorders as anorexia and bulimia but, more recently, binge eating disorder - also referred to as compulsive overeating - has been classified as an eating disorder.”

Launching the Bodywhys 2004 report, its chief executive Jennie O’Reilly said: “Without official statistics, it is difficult to know whether eating disorders have increased or whether the increase in awareness encouraged more people to seek support. What is certain is that we have never experienced such demand on our services.”

More than 2,560 contacted a helpline number last year, while the association’s website is reporting over 4,000 ‘hits’ every month.

A high number of ‘third party’ contacts, from family or friends of sufferers, were made in relation to anorexia. But a majority of inquiries were in relation to bulimia. However, Bodywhys said its remit was widened last year to include “disordered eating”.

Among the 965 people who contacted Bodywhys last year, 32% had bulimia, 20% had anorexia, 18% had both anorexia and bulimia, 15% binge eating disorder, 14% experienced all eating disorders and 1% obesity.