It has been estimated that five to ten million teenage girls and young women have some form of eating disorder in the US. As many as 15% of young women have unhealthy attitudes towards food and their bodies. Even worse, an estimated one thousand young woman die each year from anorexia as a result of starvation, permanent damage to their vital organs, or suicide. Twelve times as many girls and women die from anorexia than from all other causes of death for that age group. But eating disorders can be cured if diagnosed early enough. The recovery process can be extremely difficult, as it is very long and involves professional therapy, medication and deep inner work.
What is an Eating Disorder?
Eating disorders are classified as psychiatric illnesses because they arise from unhealthy relationships with food. Eating can cause discomfort, guilt, discord with others and self-hatred. Eating disorders are caused by a variety of other influences such as low self-esteem, abuse at home or peer pressure. Any of these can make food a way to escape from these influences of their life. Eating disorders can become and cause emotional and physical problems.
A common and well-known example of an eating disorder that affects thousands of girls yearly, is anorexia. Anorexia Nervosa is an eating disorder in which a
person is preoccupied with
food, dieting and thinness to
the point of starvation. People with anorexia eat very little or refuse to eat at all. A person is diagnosed with anorexia if they weigh 15% less than the expected body weight for their age, height and body frame and if they exhibit extreme concern of "being fat".