Charity urges action on eating disorders

FINANCE Minister Brian Cowen’s next Budget must fund measures to tackle the rise of eating disorders like anorexia and compulsive over-eating, health campaigners warned last night.

With an estimated 168,000 people in Ireland suffering from binge-eating disorder and thousands others from anorexia and bulimia, the Bodywhys charity wants proper funding for health campaigns around food, lifestyle as well as mental illness.

In a pre-Budget submission, the eating disorder charity calls for greater support for youngsters with eating disorders as well as a dedicated service for adults with the condition.

The submission said: “There is no specific service in Ireland for the management of eating disorder cases which arise in childhood or adolescence.

“The average age for the onset of eating disorders varies from 14 for anorexia to 17 for bulimia and many young people go untreated or undiagnosed.

“Some 7,000 adolescents are currently living with anorexia or bulimia while 500 of those with anorexia will die of medical complications or suicide.”

Money spent on tackling eating disorders in the young is a cost-effective way of addressing mental health problems, the charity said.

Fewer young people with mental health problems would mean fewer adults with such difficulties, the charity added.

For adults the only publicly funded treatment for eating disorders is at Dublin’s St Vincent’s Hospital, which has just three dedicated beds.

But the lack of specialist treatment means sufferers who do get admitted to hospital end up on general wards without the care they need.

“Of all the people with eating disorders only a fifth get access to specialised care.

“The majority are treated at general or children’s hospitals but these lack dedicated services so there’s a high rate of relapse,” Bodywhys chief executive Jennie O’Reilly said.

Bodywhys figures show 90% of sufferers of eating disorders are females aged 15 to 40. An estimated 3,900 girls and women have anorexia, which sees sufferers starve themselves, and a further 15,000 have bulimia, which is characterised by eating and then vomiting on purpose.

Ms O’Reilly said the Government also needed to consider eating disorders when earmarking money for campaigns to tackle obesity, suicide and addictions.

She said: “Obesity, suicide and addiction are linked to eating disorders so some of the money spent on these areas should be put aside to deal with eating disorders.”

The charity says anti-obesity campaigns in particular must also focus on people with binge-eating disorder, a condition which sees sufferers compulsively eat too much.

Around 4% of the population — or 168,000 people — have the condition, which often leaves them with massive weight gain and makes them obese. As many men as women are sufferers.

The charity said: “Health promotion initiatives on obesity are needed and must also focus on the underlying psychological issues which exist alongside lifestyle and dietary factors.”