February 24 – March 3, 2025, is the awareness week for eating disorders.
Alice* cannot remember a time when she felt comfortable in her body.
When she grew up, she developed much earlier than the other girls her age, and her school did not offer much education about the health of women. She felt alone and her cannon ball in femininity made her a goal for bullying. In the high school she was relentlessly annoyed by boys and bumped into lockers by girls who called them “bitch”.
Alice thought if she could only shrink her body – take less space – everything might disappear.
She started to limit calories and the types of food that she ate. If you ate something “bad”, she would hand over what helped her feel control. Alice drove for years through periods of the limited food, binging and cleaning. She said to herself that it did not governing her life or happened every day, so it was not a problem. But when she received an invitation to a class re-association, she realized that her “non-problem” had been taking place for decades.
The increase in eating disorders in the middle of life
For some women like Alice, eating disorders in the middle life can be the result of an untreated pattern that used to begin in life. However, there are many different reasons why it develops or resume eating disorders in the middle of the lifetime.
“If you think about some of the things that we know about eating disorders, you are often based on other mental health problems, the changes in life for women can create or tighten existing conditions for women,” said Doreen Marshall, Ph.D., CEO of the National Eating disorders. “There are often changes in your body for women in the middle of life that navigate. For many women, it is years of dealing with fertility or fertility problems or birth. It also goes with perimenopause. “
Although many people associate eating disorders with young people, the investigations show that the rates of eating disorders in women in the middle of the lifetime have increased over the years. The statistics are alarming: A study showed that 1 out of 5 women with an eating disorder up to the age of 40 was handled with an eating disorder – twice as many for women aged 21.
More than 1 out of 10 women over 50 suffer symptoms of an eating disorder, and a recently carried out study showed that almost 3 out of 4 women in their lifetime are not satisfied with their weight, which is a risk factor for the development of an eating disorder.
Risk factors for eating disorders in the middle of life
“Discriminitation does not discriminate against age, gender, body type, socio -economic status, breed – nobody is immune,” said Marshall.
However, there are some factors that can increase the risk of developing an eating disorder in the middle of life. Body changes during perimenopause (the period before menopause) and menopause can contribute to the risk. Most people begin perimenopause in the forties and at this time the estrogen levels begin, which means that their metabolism slows down and can contribute to weight gain.
Marshall said that hormonal changes are paired with aging in general risk factors associated with this phase of life. Other risk factors can:
- Death of a loved one
- retirement
- divorce
- Illness or care for someone with an illness
“I think it is clear that there is no one for an eating disorder and that eating disorders are complex – they contain biology and environmental advancements or environmental pollution. And we are all affected by things such as weight loss culture and diet culture and beauty ideals … paired with changes in the living environment that can really set someone [with vulnerabilities] For the development of an eating disorder, ”said Marshall.
Frequent eating disorders in the middle of life
There are many different types of eating disorders, but the three most common eating disorders are in the middle of life:
- Anorexia nervosa: extreme food restrictions
- Bulimia: Binge -eating and rinsing by vomiting or using laxatives
- Binge eating disorder: large amounts of food littered over the point of the saw
Read: I thought I could handle my eating disorder alone because it didn’t happen every day – but I was wrong. >>
Marshall noticed that orthorexia, an obsession with healthy eating and restriction of food, can also develop in this phase of life. “This is someone who deals with healthy diet to the point where it interrupts its ability to work socially, professionally or only in the world,” she said.
The health -related effects of eating disorders in the middle of life
It can be a surprise to find out that eating disorders have the second highest mortality rate of a mental illness. Dealing with an eating disorder in the middle of life makes them more susceptible to serious physical illnesses that occur with age.
These can include:
- Bone loss
- Heart conditions
- Lung problems
- Dental problems
Eating disorders that cause malnutrition can also contribute to cognitive functioning defects. For example, studies show that people with anorexia have poor decision -making skills.
Get help for an eating disorder
For Alice, the realization made it a problem to see her, a therapist. If you are not sure whether you have an eating disorder, you should take the screening tool of national eating disorders. It is free and confidential and can give you information that you have to bring for your health service provider – preferably one who has experience with the treatment of eating disorders.
“The treatment of eating disorders often affects a psychiatric specialist and can include a nutritionist and a doctor. I think it is simply important that people are trying and talking to their medical providers, ”said Marshall. “These are diseases that exist in silence and secrecy. And if someone takes a first step towards help, it is a step to bring this into the light. “
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