A new UK report reveals that 92 per cent of young people with eating disorders could not tell anyone about their problem. And there has been a strong reaction among international scientists and experts to a supermodel’s suggestion that families are to blame.
Today is the first day of Eating Disorders Awareness week in the UK. To coincide with this the Eating Disorders Association (EDA) is changing its name to beat, Beating Eating Disorders, and releasing the results of a survey on 600 young people with eating disorders.
The report, titled Something’s Got to Change asked 600 young people affected by eating disorders where they went to for help and support. The results showed that:
– 92 per cent of young people could not tell anyone about their problem.
– Only 1 per cent felt they could talk to their parents.
– Only 9 per cent felt there was someone at school they could talk to.
– 17 per cent felt they might be able to talk to a doctor or a nurse.
One respondent spoke of his shame, embarrassment and anger because he thought that eating disorders only happened to women. Others spoke of the lack of support from their parents: “my dad thinks I only have anorexia to get attention,” said one, “my mum treated me like it was my fault,” said another.
A young woman spoke of how her GP put her off by telling her it was a passing phase that happened to a lot of women. She said this made her feel she was not entitled to any support. For some the feeling that nobody cared was enough to drive them to suicide, “I got so lonely and felt so worthless, I tried to kill myself.”
The media and social pressures also came up in the survey, with one young person saying that “I know the media doesn’t cause eating disorders but it doesn’t help,” and another talking about models “I keep comparing myself to all those models and I feel ashamed.”
However, the report was not all gloom and doom. It points out that young people do recover, they get stronger, and they learn about themselves. This is how one young person put it, “Recovery taught me so much about myself, the people I love, the person I am, and how much I want to live and be happy.”
It calls for more effort on the part of the media to give a more accurate picture about eating disorders, to help raise awareness of it as a serious issue, and that it is not just about losing weight but also about losing opportunities. They also ask that the media report more of the good news.
1.1 million people in the UK are affected by eating disorders, with 14 to 25 year olds at greatest risk, and about 20 per cent of those who get seriously ill die prematurely.
This report comes close on the heels of the strong reaction by the US based National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA) and a number of scientists to an Associated Press story on 21st January where the supermodel Gisele Bundchen said of anorexia, “the parents are responsible, not fashion.”
In a prepared statement NEDA said “In light of this misguided statement, NEDA would like to send the clear message that families are NOT responsible for eating disorders.”
Meanwhile, an international group of eatind disorder researchers at the Genetics of Anorexia Nervosa collaboration, say that “Recent damaging statements by fashion model Gisele Bundchen stating that unsupportive families cause anorexia nervosa only perpetuate misconceptions and further stigmatize eating disorders.” They point out that there is no scientific evidence that families cause eating disorders.
One member of the group, Walter H. Kaye, MD, Professor of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine said that “Our research has found that genes seem to play a substantial role in determining who is vulnerable to developing an eating disorder,” and he adds that “the societal pressure isn’t irrelevant; it may be the environmental trigger that releases a person’s genetic risk.”
The Genetics of Anorexia Nervosa collaboration group is setting up a new international study in seven US cities (Pittsburgh, New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Los Angeles, Fargo, ND, and Tulsa, Okla.); in Toronto, Canada; in Munich, Germany; and in London, England.
The aim of the research is to explore the genetic component of anorexia nervosa and they are recruiting families in which two or more relatives have had anorexia nervosa (this includes siblings, cousins, aunts, uncles or grandparents). The study builds on ten years of research on the genetics of the disease.
Lynn Grefe, CEO of the US based National Eating Disorders Association, said that “Anorexia nervosa has the highest death rate of any mental illness, yet so few dollars are dedicated to the cure.”
Dr Kaye points out “Families should not be blamed for causing anorexia. In fact, they are often devastated and suffer from the consequences of this illness.”
A report issued last week by researchers at Harvard University revealed that fewer than half of people with an eating disorder received treatment. This is in spite of the fact that of all psychiatric illnesses, the highest mortality occurs among patients with a history of anorexia and bulimia.
Beat eating disoders (UK, eating disorders association).
National Eating Disorders Association (US).
Click here for Genetics of Anorexia Nervosa international study.
Written by: Catharine Paddock
Writer: Medical News Today