Eating Disorders in American Women - Blog Assignment 6

            In my final paper, I would like to discuss the prevalence of eating disorders within female adolescents in the United States. The specific population I would like to address, young women, is the group that is most likely to have an eating disorder, making up 90% of those afflicted. As a member of this group, I can attest first hand to the pressures that would influence one to develop this disease. I have witnessed the toll it takes on a young girl and have watched how difficult recovery from such a mental illness is. I find this topic is very applicable in the adolescent population and extremely important to investigate and analyze from a public health perspective. In discussing this topic in my paper, I have defined the problem to the following: The incidence of anorexia nervosa and bulimia has increased over the past 10 years in American women between ages 12 and 25.

            Initially, eating disorders affected those in the upper and middle class, but have spread and now inflict all socioeconomic groups. Within the last 20 years, the number of eating disorder cases have increased, with anorexia affecting one in every 200 and bulimia affecting two to three in every 100 American women. Once contracted, it is extremely difficult to recover, with the likelihood being only 30 – 40%, and the death rate being between 5 and 20%. Once a woman develops an eating disorder, she can suffer from heart problems, anemia, gastrointestinal issues, kidney problems, and decreased bone mass, among many other complications. With only 1 in 10 girls receiving treatment, it is clear that enough attention is not being addressed toward this problem.

As a result of the extremely high prevalence of eating disorders in American women, and the detrimental problems that result because of it, this is a topic that deserves much attention. With the pressures from the media and society to obtain a perfect figure, girls are far more likely today, than in any other decade, to develop an eating disorder. The issue needs to be addressed in order to better prevent and intervene to stop, and hopefully reverse, the rate of anorexia and bulimia in young women. If adolescents are better educated about the symptoms and complications of eating disorders, the prevalence of anorexia and bulimia could be decreased. It is extremely crucial that young women not feel the pressure to go to such extremes to achieve what the media and society portray as “ideal.”