Dads And Daughters With Eating Disorders

I’m going to throw a few stats out here so you get the idea of the scope of the Eating Disorder problem and just how serious it is.

 

Disclaimer:  I don’t believe there are any truly reliable stats available.  The following seem to be, in my own opinion,  as reliabile as I can find.  But if you look around you’ll find all sorts of different statistics from different sources.  

 

Regardless of where you get statistics, I think the bottom line is that there is clear agreement that the Eating Disorder problem is huge and growing.  And scary.

 

Also, I hope you will be mindful of the overall problem but I encourage you to place your energies and efforts into one statistic - your daughter’s or your daughters’ problem(s).

 

I’m just going to pick a few that I think are representative.  These are all from the National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA).   You can get more details and proper references for their findings Here.

 

11,000,000 and growing.

 

·         In the United States, as many as 10 million females and 1 million males are fighting a life and death battle with an eating disorder such as anorexia or bulimia. Millions more are struggling with binge eating disorder.

 

·         Because of the secretiveness and shame associated with eating disorders, many cases are probably not reported. In addition, many individuals struggle with body dissatisfaction and sub-clinical disordered eating attitudes and behaviors. For example, it has been shown that 80% of American women are dissatisfied with their appearance.

 

          ·         For females between fifteen to twenty-four years old who suffer from anorexia nervosa, the mortality rate associated with the illness is twelve times higher than the death rate of ALL other causes of death. �
Please note, the heightened mortality rate applies only to those with anorexia and does not mean that anorexia is the leading cause of death among all females aged 15-24 in the general public.

 

·         Anorexia nervosa has the highest premature fatality rate of any mental illness.

 

·         40% of newly identified cases of anorexia are in girls 15-19 years old.

 

·         Significant increase in incidence of anorexia from 1935 to 1989 especially among young women 15-24.

 

·         A rise in incidence of anorexia in young women 15-19 in each decade since 1930.

 

·         The incidence of bulimia in 10-39 year old women TRIPLED between 1988 and 1993.

 

·         Only one-third of people with anorexia in the community receive mental health care.

 

·         Only 6% of people with bulimia receive mental health care.

 

·         The majority of people with severe eating disorders do not receive adequate care.

What are we doing about it?

Despite its prevalence, there is inadequate research funding for eating disorders. Funding for eating disorders research is approximately 75% less than that for Alzheimer’s disease. In the year 2005, the National Institute of Health (NIH) funded the following disorders accordingly:

* The reported research funds are for anorexia nervosa only. No estimated funding is reported for bulimia nervosa or eating disorders not otherwise specified.

Research dollars spent on eating disorders averaged $1.20 per affected individual, compared to $159 per affected individual for schizophrenia.

What does the public think about eating disorders?

In March 2005, NEDA contracted with Global Market Insite, Inc. (GMI), a leader in global market research, to conduct a 1,500 nationwide sample of adults in the U.S. Their findings concluded from those surveyed that:

·         Three out of four Americans believe eating disorders should be covered by insurance companies just like any other illness.

·         Americans believe that government should require insurance companies to cover the treatment of eating disorders.

·         Four out of ten Americans either suffered or have known someone who has suffered from an eating disorder.

 

The “Diet” Industry and the Media contribute to unhealthy goals.

 

·         Over one-half of teenage girls and nearly one-third of teenage boys use unhealthy weight control behaviors such as skipping meals, fasting, smoking cigarettes, vomiting, and taking laxatives.   

·         Girls who diet frequently are 12 times as likely to binge as girls who don’t diet.  

·         42% of 1st-3rd grade girls want to be thinner.  

·         81% of 10 year olds are afraid of being fat.  

·         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.  

·         46% of 9-11 year-olds are “sometimes” or “very often” on diets, and 82% of their families are “sometimes” or “very often” on diets.   

·         91% of women recently surveyed on a college campus had attempted to control their weight through dieting, 22% dieted “often” or “always.” 

·         95% of all dieters will regain their lost weight in 1-5 years.   

·         35% of “normal dieters” progress to pathological dieting. Of those, 20-25% progress to partial or full-syndrome eating disorders.  

·         25% of American men and 45% of American women are on a diet on any given day.  

·         Americans spend over $40 billion on dieting and diet-related products each year.

Thanks, again to NEDA for the above. 

My Thoughts.

Here are a few of my thoughts on this. 

We’re in a crises and we dads, often “fix-it” types, need to get involved in the research, prevention, and recovery aspects of the Eating Disorder crises.  If we’re going to fix-it, we need to get involved.

If there are 11,000,000 people (boys and men, too, not just girls and women) people in the US with Eating Disorders, that means there are somewhere in the neighborgood of 11,000,000 of us Dads who are impacted and need every resources we can put our hands on to help our loved ones in their battles. 

Plus millions and millions more who need to be aware and learn as much as possible about what they can do and how they can help their children from a prevention standpoint.

Start today.  Now. 

Dads – your daughters are at risk. 

Please feel free to get active in this Blog and use our website as a resource center and support group.  Be interactive.  Ask your questions.  Share your knowledge and experience. 

We’re in this together.  Let’s pool our resources.