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15 Nov 2011 Leave a Comment
Lets Fight Eating Disorders !!!
-50,000 PEOPLE + DIE A YEAR OF A DIAGNOSED EATING DISORDER
-EATING DISORDERS ARE DISEASES…NOT CHOICES!
“There is no shame in having an eating disorder. These are biologically based illnesses” Lynn Grefe CEO of The National Eating Disorder Association.
What is an Eating Disorder?
Eating disorders are mental disorders that can have serious physical complications. These disorders may make normal functioning difficult and can become chronic, crippling illnesses and in extreme cases require hospitalization and even death. There are three main types of eating disorders: Anorexia, Bulimia, and Binge Eating. These are complex disorders focusing on issues of eating, body weight, and body shape. Disordered eating can lead to an eating disorder. It is important to identify eating habits and change them before they become severe. Early detection and intervention is the best prevention.
What is healthy body weight?
Is a size a person naturally returns to after a long period of both non-compulsive eating and consistent exercise combined with the person’s physical health and condition. What is non-compulsive eating? It means eating when you are hungry and stopping when you are satisfied. This involves being able to distinguish emotional hunger from physical hunger and satiation over fullness.
SOME FACTS:
1.) Anorexia is the deadliest of all psychological disorders.
2.) One out of every 4 college aged women have an eating disorder.
3.) With treatment 60% of people with eating disorders recover, 20% make partial recovery and 20% do not improve.
4.) Without treatment 20 % of people with eating disorders will die. (Usually from a heart attack)
5.) A person can be anorexic and underweight but technically obese at the same time.
6.) About 10% and possibly more of anorexics and bulimics are Male. 37% more rise in male hospitalizations among males in the past 5 years from eating disorders
7.) About 72% of alcoholic women younger than 30 also have eating disorders.
8.) Women need a fat level of approximately 22% of their body weight in order to menstruate normally.
9.) Most diets fail (over 90%) in the long run because healthy eating patterns have not been established
10.) Our bodies are biologically preprogrammed to weigh a certain amount. Each of us may have a predetermined weight “set point” that our systems automatically attempt to maintain.
11.) Marilyn Monroe was a size 14.
12.) Cosmetic surgery is the fastest growing medical specialty
13.) 80% of women are dissatisfied with their appearance
Eating Disorders – Statistics
From the National Eating Disorders Association
Eating Disorders affect large groups of people throughout the United States.
5-10 million adolescent girls and women struggle with eating disorders and borderline conditions.
- 1 Million boys and men struggle with eating disorders and borderline conditions.
- The number of people with eating disorders and borderline conditions is triple the number of people living with AIDS (664,921 people are living with AIDS).
- Eating disorders affect at least three times as many people as schizophrenia does (2.2 million people are living with schizophrenia).
The acceptance of natural beauty is compromised by the lack of diverse body types in the media.
- The average American woman is 5’4″ tall and weighs 140 pounds.
- The average American model is 5’11″ tall and weighs 117 pounds.
- Most fashion models are thinner than 98% of American women.
- Almost half of American elementary school students between the 1st and 3rd grades want to be thinner.
- 4 out of 5 children at the age of ten years old are afraid of being fat.
- 4 out of 5 American women are dissatisfied with their appearance.
Calorie restriction and other common dieting practices can lead to serious health consequences including eating disorders.
- Almost half of American women are on a diet on any given day.
- 1 in 4 men are on a diet on any given day.
- Half of 9 and 10-year-old girls feel better about themselves if they are on a diet.
- 35% of “normal dieters” progress to pathological dieting. Of those, 1 in 4 will progress to partial or full syndrome eating disorders.
- Americans spend over $40 billion on dieting and diet related products each year.
Almost half of all women smokers smoke because they see it as the best way to control their weight. Of these women, 25% will die of a disease caused by smoking.
