The need for change
Facts About Eating Disorders
• 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. Approximately 25 million more are struggling with binge eating disorder.
• Over 1/2 of teenage girls and nearly 1/3 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.
• 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”
• 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
Mortality Rate
• For females between fifteen to twenty-four years old, the mortality rate associated with anorexia nervosa is twelve times higher than the death rate of ALL other causes of death.
• Anorexia nervosa has the highest premature fatality rate of any mental illness
• 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.
Funding
Despite the prevalence of eating disorders they continue to receive inadequate research funding.
In 2005, the National Institutes of Health estimates funding the following disorders accordingly:
Illness Prevalence NIH Research Funds (2005)
Eating disorders: 10 million $ 12,000,000*
Alzheimer’s disease: .5 million $647,000,000
Schizophrenia: 2.2 million $350,000,000
*The reported research funds are for anorexia nervosa only. No estimated funding is reported for bulimia nervosa or eating disorders not otherwise specified.
• Anorexia nervosa is more expensive to treat than schizophrenia, yet insurance coverage for treatment is exceedingly insufficient.
• The average direct medical costs for treating anorexia nervosa is $6054 a year compared to $4824 a year for schizophrenia.
• Research dollars spent on eating disorders averaged $1.20 per affected individual, compared to $159 per affected individual for schizophrenia.
• The average direct medical costs for treating eating disorder patients in the United States is currently between $5-6 billion per year, whereas the global cost of anti-psychotic medication is $7 billion per year.
• Anorexia nervosa has the highest premature mortality rate of any psychiatric disorder. The majority of deaths are due to physiological complications.
• Although recovery from anorexia nervosa is often protracted nearly a decade, the outcome of treatment is better than for obesity or breast cancer.
Ohio Law
• Ohio law doesn't require insurers to cover the cost of eating disorder treatment.
• Rather, the law mandates coverage of mental illnesses considered to be "biologically based, including disorders such as schizophrenia and OCD, known to be products of genes, not just social or environmental forces like peers & parenting.
• Many experts and some clinical studies agree that anorexia, too, is biological.
• Ohio law, however, is worded in a way that excludes eating disorders from the list of biological mental illnesses that require coverage—leaving many patients out in the cold.
• For females between fifteen to twenty-four years old, the mortality rate associated with anorexia nervosa is twelve times higher than the death rate of ALL other causes of death.
References:
Crow, S.J., Peterson, C.B. The Economic and Social Burden of Eating Disorders. Evidence and Experience in Psychiatry. World Psychiatric Association (in press).
Lacey, J.V., Devesa, S.S., & Brinton, L.A. (2001). Recent Trends in Breast Cancer Incidence and Mortality. Environ Mol Mutagen, (39), 82-88.
McDowell, I. (2001). Alzheimer’s Disease: Insights from Epidemiology. Aging: Milano, (13), 143-162.
Powers, P.S., & Bannon, Y. (2002). The Burdens of Eating Disorders are Rarely Recognized. Evidence and Experience in Psychiatry. World Psychiatric Association (in press).
Striegel-Moore, R.H., Leslie, D., Petrill, S.A., et al. (2000). One-year Use and Cost of Inpatient and Outpatient Services Among Female and Male Patients with an Eating Disorder: Evidence from a National Database of Health Insurance Claims. International Journal of Eating Disorders, (27), 381-389.
Strober, M., Freeman, R., Morrell, W. (1997). The Long-term Course of Severe Anorexia Nervosa in Adolescents: Survival Analysis of Recovery, Relapse, and Outcome Predictors Over 10-15 years in a Prospective Study. International Journal of Eating Disorders, (22), 339-360.
Tamminga, C.A,, Lieberman, J.A. (1999). Schizophrenia Research Series: From Molecule to Public Policy. Biological Psychiatry, (46), 3.
Collins, M.E. (1991). Body figure perceptions and preferences among pre-adolescent children. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 199-208.
Crowther, J.H., Wolf, E.M., & Sherwood, N. (1992). Epidemiology of bulimia nervosa. In M. Crowther, D.L. Tennenbaum. S.E. Hobfoll, & M.A.P. Stephens (Eds.). The Etiology of Bulimia Nervosa: The Individual and Familial Context (pp. 1-26) Washington, D.C.: Taylor & Francis.
Fairburn, C.G., Hay, P.J., & Welch, S.L. (1993). Binge eating and bulimia nervosa: Distribution and determinants. In C.G. Fairburn & G.T. Wilson, (Eds.), Binge Eating: Nature, Assessment, and Treatment (pp. 123-143). New York: Guilford.
Gordon, R.A. (1990). Anorexia and Bulimia: Anatomy of a Social Epidemic. New York: Blackwell.
Grodstein, F., Levine, R., Spencer, T., Colditz, G.A., Stampfer, M. J. (1996). Three-year follow-up of participants in a commercial weight loss program: can you keep it off? Archives of Internal Medicine. 156 (12), 1302.
Gustafson-Larson, A.M., & Terry, R.D. (1992). Weight-related behaviors and concerns of fourth-grade children. Journal of American Dietetic Association, 818-822.
Hoek, H.W. (1995). The distribution of eating disorders. In K.D. Brownell & C.G. Fairburn (Eds.) Eating Disorders and Obesity: A Comprehensive Handbook (pp. 207-211). New York: Guilford.
Hoek, H.W., & van Hoeken, D. (2003). Review of the prevalence and incidence of eating disorders. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 383-396.
Mellin, L., McNutt, S., Hu, Y., Schreiber, G.B., Crawford, P., & Obarzanek, E. (1991). A longitudinal study of the dietary practices of black and white girls 9 and 10 years old at enrollment: The NHLBI growth and health study. Journal of Adolescent Health, 27-37.
National Eating Disorders Association's Information and Referral Helpline: 1-800-931-2237 and website: www.NationalEatingDisorders.org
National Institutes of Health. (2005). Retrieved November 7, 2005, from
Neumark-Sztainer, D. (2005). I’m, Like, SO Fat!. New York: The Guilford Press. pp. 5.
Shisslak, C.M., Crago, M., & Estes, L.S. (1995). The spectrum of eating disturbances. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 18 (3), 209-219.
Smolak, L. (1996). National Eating Disorders Association/Next Door Neighbors Puppet Guide Book.
Sullivan, P. (1995). American Journal of Psychiatry, 152 (7), 1073-1074.
Eating Disorder Advocates of Ohio
216.220.5850
