In a government funded study, billed as the largest and most comprehensive analysis of eating disorders, research shows more than half a million U.S. teens have had an eating disorder!
Unfortunately, the study also shows few have sought treatment for the problem.
The study’s figures report binge-eating disorder was the most common, affecting more than 1.5 percent of kids studied, just under 1 percent had experienced bulimia, and 0.3 percent had had anorexia.
Overall, 3 percent had a lifetime prevalence of one of the disorders, while another 3 percent of kids questioned had troubling symptoms but not full-fledged eating disorders.
The research, released online Monday in Archives of General Psychiatry, involved nationally representative data on more than 10,000 teens aged 13 to 18 who were interviewed over two years ending in 2004.
More than half the affected teens had depression, anxiety or some other mental disorder, while sizeable numbers also reported suicidal thoughts or attempts.
Scary!
Co-author and researcher Kathleen Merikangas of the National Institute of Mental Health says that the results of the study actually undermine the seriousness of eating disorders.
We’d say this is definitely something that worries us! If you think you may have an eating disorder, please talk to someone!
[Image via AP Images.]