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Anorexia Statistics
There are several different types of anorexia, and you may be shocked to find out that a full five percent of all women in America face a problem with one subset of anorexia. Coincidentally, as much as fifteen percent of all American women have unhealthy behaviors when it comes to eating. Few people realize exactly how many people face a problem with anorexia: five percent of all women account for one in twenty women having a definite problem with the disorder.
The stems of anorexia may occur when an individual is very young. The pressures that society places upon youth to be perfect specimens can really lead to a damaged self esteem that can cause a case of anorexia to occur. Studies have shown that as many as seventy percent of surveyed sixth grade girls started to become weight conscious between age nine and eleven. The study also showed that these girls often began dieting to curb their weight problems in middle school. Many argue that these pressures are too intense for our youth and that advertising should take a larger responsibility when it comes to marketing towards adolescents.
While females are most commonly associated with cases of anorexia nervosa, men may be affected as well. In fact, five to ten percent of all cases of anorexia are exhibited in men.
As noted before, many cases of eating disorders develop while an individual is young. A study was conducted that asked anorexic patients when they feel that they began suffering from the disorder, and the results showed that a full eighty six percent of all individuals with anorexia developed the condition by age twenty. Forty three percent of the patients surveyed stated that their problem began between age sixteen and twenty, thirty three percent became anorexic between ages eleven and sixteen, and ten percent began while they were ten years of age or below.
Eating disorders can be a very serious problem. It’s a sad statistic to consider, but as many as twenty percent of all individuals with eating disorders will die due to their condition. When the condition is addressed and treated, however, the mortality rate from an eating disorder drops to between two and three percent.
Now that you know more about how common anorexia can be and how badly it can affect the health of an individual, you can realize how important it is to treat the condition if it is present in you or a loved one.
When you are looking for the warning signs that one may have anorexia, there are a few things to consider. For one, a drastic amount of weight loss will be present within the individual. They may decline eating when in a public circumstance as to lead friends and family to believe that they simply aren't hungry. Girls who suffer from anorexia will experience a loss of their menstrual period, and when it occurs for at least three months in a row, anorexia is probably evident. A sufferer may also exhibit signs of weakness such as anxiety, a weakness of the body, and a shortness of breath.
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