1. If you know someone that has a E.D know that they may not no it. But don't come out and them them. Go ask a doctor or someone that really understands that can help you tell someone. E.D can change someone life forever. Once you have one most times you will forever have one. When i was 14 i got mine and i had no idea i had one but mine was triggered by when i was raped earlier that year. Some people get triggers and then the body form a E.D some people do it because they want to look like what the media says you should look like. Here are some facts to help you understand it your self and help someone that has one. Remember if you no someone that has one just be there for them it is not a easy thing to live with and fight each day.

1. n eating disorder is categorized as a mental illness where there is an unhealthy relationship with food. Someone who suffers from an eating disorder often struggles with body image and disrupts their normal activities with unusual eating habits to alter their appearance.
2. There are 3 main eating disorders:
3.   1. Anorexia Nervosa is the disorder associated with fear of gaining weight or becoming fat. People with anorexia often skip meals, cut calories, or starve themselves.
4. 2. Bulimia Nervosa is the disorder associated with intense fear of gaining weight, paired with eating large amounts of food (binge) followed by eliminating the calories by way of vomiting (purge).
5.  3. Binge Eating Disorder is associated with frequently eating large amounts of food in one sitting until uncomfortably full. The person is unable to stop eating or control how much they eat.
6. Eating disorders can be genetic or caused by psychological issues like coping skills, control issues, trauma, family trouble, or social issues. Each type of eating disorder has many possible causes.
7. Approximately 24 million people in the U.S. struggle with an eating disorder. Almost 50 percent of these people also meet the criteria for depression.
8. A mere 10 percent of people with eating disorders receive treatment, and of those only 35 percent seek treatment from a facility that specializes in eating disorders.
9. In a college campus survey, 91 percent of the women admitted to controlling their weight through dieting. 22 percent said they dieted “often” or “always.”
10. Eating disorders have the highest mortality rate of any mental illness. For women ages 15 to 24, the mortality rate of anorexia is 12 times higher than any other cause of death.
11. More than 50 percent of teen girls and nearly 33 percent of teen boys admit to using unhealthy methods to control their weight including smoking cigarettes, skipping meals, fasting, vomiting, or taking laxatives.
12. An estimated 25 percent of college-age girls resort to bingeing and purging to manage their weight. 58 percent of the studied girls felt social pressure to maintain a certain size.
13. Men make up 10 to 15 percent of the population with anorexia and bulimia, but are the least likely to seek help due to the gender stereotypes surrounding the disorders.

69 percent of girls ages 10 to 18 confirm that photographs of models and celebrities in magazines inspired their desired body shape.

What Are Eating Disorders?

Eating disorders are real, complex, and devastating conditions that can have serious consequences for health, productivity, and relationships. They are not a fad, phase or lifestyle choice. Eating disorders are serious, potentially life-threatening conditions that affect a person’semotional and physical health. People struggling with an eating disorder need to seek professional help. The earlier a person with an eating disorder seeks treatment, the greater the likelihood of physicaland emotional recovery.

In the United States, 20 million women and 10 million men suffer from a clinically significant eating disorder at some time in their life, including anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, binge eating disorder, or an eating disorder not otherwise specified (EDNOS) (Wade, Keski-Rahkonen, & Hudson, 2011). For various reasons, many cases are likely not to be reported. In addition, many individuals struggle with body dissatisfaction and sub-clinical disordered eating attitudes and behaviors, and the best-known contributor to the development of anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa is body dissatisfaction (Stice, 2002). By age 6, girls especially start to express concerns about their own weight or shape. 40-60% of elementary school girls (ages 6-12) are concerned about their weight or about becoming too fat. This concern endures through life (Smolak, 2011).

Health Consequences, Including Mortality

In anorexia nervosa’s cycle of self-starvation, the body is denied the essential nutrients itneeds to function normally. Thus, the body is forced to slow down all of its processes toconserve energy, resulting in:

1. Abnormally slow heart rate and low blood pressure, which mean that the heart muscle is changing. The risk for heart failure rises as the heart rate and blood pressurelevels sink lower and lower.
2. Reduction of bone density (osteoporosis), which results in dry, brittle bones.
3. Muscle loss and weakness.
4. Severe dehydration, which can result in kidney failure.
5. Fainting, fatigue, and overall weakness.
6. Dry hair and skin; hair loss is common.
7. Growth of a downy layer of hair—called lanugo—all over the body, including the face, inan effort to keep the body warm.

A review of nearly fifty years of research confirms that anorexia nervosa has the highest mortality rate of any psychiatric disorder (Arcelus, Mitchell, Wales, & Nielsen, 2011).

For females between fifteen to twenty-four years old who suffer from anorexia nervosa, themortality rate associated with the illness is twelve times higher than the death rate of allother causes of death (Sullivan, 1995).

The recurrent binge-and-purge cycles of bulimia can affect the entire digestive system andcan lead to electrolyte and chemical imbalances in the body that affect the heart and othermajor organ functions. Health consequences include:

1. Electrolyte imbalances that can lead to irregular heartbeats and possibly heart failure and death.
2. Electrolyte imbalance is caused by dehydration and loss of potassium,sodium and chloride from the body as a result of purging behaviors.
3. Potential for gastric rupture during periods of bingeing.
4. Inflammation and possible rupture of the esophagus from frequent vomiting.
5. Tooth decay and staining from stomach acids released during frequent vomiting.
6. Chronic irregular bowel movements and constipation as a result of laxative abuse.
7. Peptic ulcers and pancreatitis.

Binge eating disorder often results in many of the same health risks associated with clinical obesity, including:

1. High blood pressure.
2. High cholesterol levels.
3. Heart disease as a result of elevated triglyceride levels.
4. Type II diabetes mellitus.
5. Gallbladder disease.

Did You Know?

1. The rate of development of new cases of eating disorders has been increasing since 1950 (Hudson et al., 2007; Streigel-Moore &Franko, 2003; Wade et al., 2011).
2. There has been a rise in incidence of anorexia in young women 15-19 in each decade since 1930 (Hoek& van Hoeken, 2003).
3. The incidence of bulimia in 10-39 year old women TRIPLED between 1988 and 1993 (Hoek& van Hoeken, 2003).
4. The prevalence of eating disorders is similar among Non-Hispanic Whites, Hispanics, African-Americans, and Asians in the United States, with the exception that anorexia nervosa is more common among Non-Hispanic Whites (Hudson et al., 2007; Wade et al., 2011).

It is common for eating disorders to occur with one or more other psychiatric disorders, which can complicate treatment and make recovery more difficult. Among those who suffer from eating disorders: 

1. Alcohol and other substance abuse disorders are 4 times more common than in the general populations (Harrop&Marlatt, 2010).
2. Depression and other mood disorders co-occur quite frequently (Mangweth et al., 2003; McElroy, Kotwal, & Keck, 2006).
3. There is a markedly elevated risk for obsessive-compulsive disorder (Altman &Shankman, 2009).

Prevalence vs. Funding

Despite the prevalence of eating disorders, they continue to receive inadequate research funding.

Illness                                            Prevalence                    NIH Research Funds (2011) 
Alzheimer’s Disease                        5.1 million                     $450,000,000 
Autism                                            3.6 million                     $160,000,000 
Schizophrenia                                3.4 million                     $276,000,000 
Eating disorders                             30 million                      $28,000,000

Research dollars spent on Alzheimer’s Disease averaged $88 per affected individual in 2011. For Schizophrenia the amount was $81. For Autism $44. For eating disorders the average amount of research dollars per affected individual was just $0.93. (National Institutes of Health, 2011)

National Survey Shows Public Understands Eating Disorders Are SeriousIllnesses
In August of 2010, American Viewpoint (a nationally recognized public opinion research company) conducted a telephone survey of American adults for the National Eating Disorders Association. The national survey shows an increased public awareness of eating disorders and a shift in how eating disorders are viewed.
The survey polled a nationwide sample of one thousand adults in the United States. Among the findings were the following:

1. 82% percent of respondents believe that eating disorders are a physical or mental illness and should be treated as such, with just 12% believing they are related to vanity.
2. 85% of the respondents believe that eating disorders deserve coverage by insurance companies just like any other illness.
3. 86% favor schools providing information about eating disorders to students and parents.
4. 80% believe conducting more research on the causes and most effective treatments would reduce or prevent eating disorders
5. 70% believe encouraging the media and advertisers to use more average sized people in their advertising campaigns would reduce or prevent eating disorders.

Dieting And The Drive For Thinness

Dieting and weight control strategies reflect how dissatisfied an individual is with her or his own body size and shape. Besides being associated with the onset of eating disorders, these behaviors alone can be dangerous to one’s health.

1. 42% of 1st-3rd grade girls want to be thinner (Collins, 1991).
2. In elementary school fewer than 25% of girls diet regularly. Yet those who do know what dieting involves and can talk about calorie restriction and food choices for weight loss fairly effectively (Smolak, 2011; Wertheim et al., 2009).
3. 81% of 10 year olds are afraid of being fat (Mellin et al., 1991).
4. 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 (Gustafson-Larson & Terry, 1992).
5. 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 (Neumark-Sztainer, 2005).
6. 35-57% of adolescent girls engage in crash dieting, fasting, self-induced vomiting, diet pills, or laxatives. Overweight girls are more likely than normal weight girls to engage in such extreme dieting (Boutelle, Neumark-Sztainer, Story, &Resnick, 2002; Neumark-Sztainer&Hannan, 2001; Wertheim et al., 2009).
7. Even among clearly non-overweight girls, over 1/3 report dieting (Wertheim et al., 2009).
8. Girls who diet frequently are 12 times as likely to binge as girls who don’t diet (Neumark-Sztainer, 2005).
9. The average American woman is 5’4” tall and weighs 165 pounds. The average Miss America winner is 5’7” and weighs 121 pounds (Martin, 2010).
10. The average BMI of Miss America winners has decreased from around 22 in the 1920s to 16.9 in the 2000s. The World Health Organization classifies a normal BMI as falling between 18.5 and 24.9 (Martin, 2010).
11. 95% of all dieters will regain their lost weight in 1-5 years (Grodstein, Levine, Spencer, Colditz, &Stampfer, 1996; Neumark-Sztainer, Haines, Wall, & Eisenberg, 2007).
12. 35% of “normal dieters” progress to pathological dieting. Of those, 20-25% progress to partial or full-syndrome eating disorders (Shisslak, Crago, & Estes, 1995).
13. Of American, elementary school girls who read magazines, 69% say that the pictures influence their concept of the ideal body shape. 47% say the pictures make them want to lose weight (Martin, 2010).