Who is at Risk for Becoming Anorexic and Bulimic?

Unfortunately, trying to figure out who would be more at risk for an eating disorder is like trying to fit a square peg into a circle. There are so many things that play into who might be at risk, and not all people who have eating disorders fit into all these categories. But researchers have identified certain characteristics and behaviors as well as certain situations that feed into the likelihood that a person might develop an eating disorder.

Everywhere you look, you see a super-thin, sexy model. Think of it. Every billboard, magazine ad, or television commercial shows models and actresses who are thin, with every hair neatly in place, and the makeup impeccably applied. Researchers have found that the majority of young girls feel that this is the standard by which a normal woman is measured and that if a woman can't attain that same look, then they are lacking in some form.

This standard of the perfect female form has been around for the last 40 years. If you look at the sex symbols of the 30s, 40s and 50s, you'll see that these were not women who were ultra thin. Women like Jayne Mansfield, Jane Russell, and Marilyn Monroe would be considered overweight these days if using these same standards.

A study of the average weight of the contestants of the Miss America pageant showed that since the shift in the standard female form has taken place, a contestant entering the Miss America pageant today is approximately 12 pounds thinner than 40 years ago. This research showed that this trend is not just affecting the advertising industry, but is trickling down to the more basic level.

Certain professions put extreme pressure on a person to be thin. Sometimes ultra thin. Athletes, actors, fashion models and dancers are usually under strict requirements to maintain a certain weight. The result of not maintaining that weight could mean the loss of their job.

"When I was 14 years old," Debbie, a former child model, explains, "I was a bean pole." She laughs. "I was the perfect form for a model. Very tall and very thin. And then puberty set in. I went from having the perfect body on the runway, to having hips that were too wide, and a little pot belly."

Debbie went on to explain that looking back she knows there was nothing wrong with her body. Even by model standards she was well within the guidelines. However, the modeling world can be cruel to an already sensitive teenager, making it easy to set the stage for an eating disorder.

"There was nothing wrong with my belly. I was thinner than any of the friends I went to high school with. But I became obsessed because if they were looking at my belly, then obviously something was wrong with me. I began exercising and doing crunches to flatten my stomach muscles. My parents just thought I was keeping in shape and I did, too. But it seemed every time I went out on the job I could see them looking at me and the first thing that came to my mind was that something was wrong with me. I always wondered, even if they didn't say anything.”

"I'm not exactly sure when it became a problem for me but I do know that my parents began to worry. I just wasn't eating. In fact, I hated eating. It became a major struggle for me to eat because food was like poison. I would have taken Drain-O before I ate a hamburger. If I ate something, it meant it was going somewhere in my body and I'd have to exercise to make sure it didn't show. I didn't think of food as a way to sustain my life. I thought it was something that would ruin my career as a model. I was making money, but it wasn't the money that I didn't want to stop. I didn't want them to stop calling me. If they did, it meant that I was too fat. I was convinced of it. It only got worse when I started getting acne."

Unfortunately, this set the stage for a roller coaster ride for Debbie. It wasn't until she was in her late teens that she was formally diagnosed with anorexia.

While some people like to dismiss the idea that certain professions contribute to the risk of eating disorders, a study of 1,443 athletes at 10 colleges in the United States showed some startling statistics to the contrary. Nine percent of college females in the athletics program were diagnosed with some form of an eating disorder. The national average for young women with eating disorders is only one percent. Of those same college students studied, 50 percent admitted to having some behaviors that could have eventually led to a full diagnosis of an eating disorder. More specifically, a startling 20 percent of the gymnasts were found to have an eating disorder, showing the pressure to remain thin that is involved in the sport.

In 1997, 22-year-old Heidi Guenther died of complications from her eating disorder. She was an accomplished dancer with the Boston Ballet. At the time, she was 5' 3" tall and weighed 93 pounds. Even with a small frame, she should have weighed at least 111-124 pounds to be healthy.

The world of dancing, like modeling, acting and sports, can sometimes put unrealistic pressures on women to be thinner. Not only do these girls aspire to be part of that world, they'll do anything, including harm their bodies by starvation or purging and taking laxatives to make sure that they are in that world.

Studies also suggest that there are some racial and socio-economic differences that affect who are more likely to have an eating disorder. In the past, Caucasian women in upper income levels have had higher instances of eating disorders than those from African-American women and women from lower income levels. But research also suggests that the numbers are changing and that there is only a small difference now.

Anorexia and bulimia are more likely to affect people in their teens and early 20s. However, there are rare cases where children as young as six years old and women well into their 60s have developed anorexia or bulimia. In fact, more studies have shown that the number of women who are middle-aged who are affected by anorexia or bulimia has grown. This may be because this is the first age group who has lived their whole lives looking at the new "standard" for the perfect body.

Drugs and alcohol also play a part in who is at risk to become anorexic or bulimic. Since low body image is such a prevalent factor with eating disorders, people who abuse drugs because of depression or are alcoholics under the age of 30 have a very high risk of developing an eating disorder. A woman under 30 who is an alcoholic has a 70% higher chance of becoming anorexic or bulimic than a woman under 30 who is not an alcoholic.

Some doctors believe that these women use alcohol and drugs as a means of escaping the emotional pain that has caused them to become anorexic or bulimic. However, some women will use drugs to help speed up your metabolism to help them lose weight faster.

People who are overly obsessed about exercise are also at risk. While exercise is a very important part of keeping your body healthy, it can also be an obsession that leads to unhealthy activity. When the shift turns from being fit to being obsessed with losing weight, it can be a problem.