{"id":4019,"date":"2021-12-30T15:14:36","date_gmt":"2021-12-30T15:14:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mcgoldeninsurance.com\/the-alarming-rise-of-eating-disorders-and-how-to-spot-the-signs-articulo-disponible-solo-en-ingles\/"},"modified":"2021-12-30T15:14:38","modified_gmt":"2021-12-30T15:14:38","slug":"the-alarming-rise-of-eating-disorders-and-how-to-spot-the-signs-articulo-disponible-solo-en-ingles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mcgoldeninsurance.com\/en\/the-alarming-rise-of-eating-disorders-and-how-to-spot-the-signs-articulo-disponible-solo-en-ingles\/","title":{"rendered":"The alarming rise of eating disorders and how to spot the signs (Art\u00edculo disponible solo en Ingl\u00e9s)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Healthy Eating<\/a>, Mental Health<\/a> \/ By Baylor Scott & White Health \/ December 17, 2021<\/p>\n\n

The alarming rise of eating disorders and how to spot the signs<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n

Eating disorders are behavioral conditions that impact eating behavior. If you looked around a crowded theatre or sports arena, would you be able to tell how many people in the crowd have an eating disorder? Could you recognize some signs that might tip you off?<\/p>\n\n

How common are eating disorders?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n

It might surprise you to know that worldwide, eating disorders<\/a> affect at least 9% of the population, which is around 700 million people. In the U.S., it\u2019s the same percentage, or around 28.8 million Americans.<\/p>\n\n

Developed and developing nations have the same percentage of the population impacted by eating disorders, so it\u2019s not necessarily a monetary issue. In the U.S., eating disorders are among the deadliest mental illnesses, second only to opioid overdose, with 10,200 deaths each year. That\u2019s one death related to an eating disorder every 52 minutes.<\/p>\n\n

In terms of body size, the thinnest people are most likely to have an eating disorder, but less than 6% of people with an eating disorder are medically diagnosed as \u201cunderweight.\u201d In fact, larger body size is both a risk factor for developing an eating disorder and a common outcome for people who struggle with bulimia and binge eating disorder.<\/p>\n\n

Most people think that the stereotypical person with an eating disorder is a young, Caucasian, moderately affluent, female teenager, and this is in fact true. For certain eating disorders, women are diagnosed 20 times more frequently than men.<\/p>\n\n

However, did you know that 42% of 1st<\/sup> through 3rd<\/sup> graders want to be thinner and 81% of 10-year-olds are afraid of being fat? Those are some staggering numbers, especially for this age group.<\/p>\n\n

The shaping of what is society\u2019s version of accepted and normal starts before the teen years. When teens reach their young adult years, between 35-47% begin to engage in risky behaviors such as crash dieting, fasting, self-induced vomiting, diet pills and laxatives. It doesn\u2019t slow down when they get to college. One survey showed that 91% of college women admitted to controlling their weight through dieting.<\/p>\n\n

It is also important to note that the lower prevalence of eating disorders in people of color can be tied to factors like cultural reasons, lack of access to resources for treatment and lack of diagnosis.<\/p>\n\n

The numbers are more dramatic for the LBGTQ+ community. Homosexual men are seven times more likely to report binge-eating and 12 times more likely to report purging than heterosexual men. Transgender college students have eating disorders at around four times the rate of their counterparts. And non-binary people may restrict their eating to appear thin, consistent with the commonly accepted stereotype.<\/p>\n\n

Warning signs of an eating disorder<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n

So, what are the signs that could tip you off that someone you love may have an eating disorder? Common signs include nutritional deficiencies and behavioral changes.<\/p>\n\n

NUTRITIONAL DEFICIENCIES<\/h3>\n\n

Nutritional deficiencies due to restrictive eating disorders can show up in many ways such as:<\/p>\n\n