Eating Disorder Statistics

Dieting

One out of three women and one out of four men are on a diet at any given time.
35% of occasional dieters progress into pathological dieting.
Two out of five women and one out of five men would trade three to five years of their life to achieve their weight goals.
Diet and diet related products are a 33 billion dollar a year industry.
In 1970 the average age a girl started dieting was 14; by 1990 the average age dropped to 8.
One half of 4th grade girls are on a diet.
81% of ten-year-old girls are afraid of being fat.
51% of nine and ten-year-old girls stated they felt better about themselves when they were adhering to a diet.
While only one out of ten high school girls are overweight, one out of ten high school juniors and seniors diet.
79% of teenage girls who vomit and 73% of teenage girls who use diet pills are frequent readers of women's health and fitness magazines. This is in contrast to less than 43% of teenage girls who do not participate in these purging methods.

Body Image

In one study, three out of four women stated that they were overweight although only one out of four actually were.
Four out of five U.S. Women are dissatisfied with their appearance.
81% of ten-year-old girls are afraid of being fat.
A study found that adolescent girls were more fearful of gaining weight than getting cancer, nuclear war or losing their parents.
Over one half of normal weight white adolescent girls consider themselves fat.
Following viewing images of female fashion models, seven out of ten women felt more depressed and angrier than prior to viewing the images.
When preschoolers were offered dolls identical in every respect except weight, they preferred the thin doll nine out of ten times.
A study asked children to assign attractiveness values to pictures of children with various disabilities. The participants rated the obese child less attractive than a child in a wheelchair, a child with a facial deformity, and a child with a missing limb.
A study found that women overestimate the size of their hips by 16% and their waists by 25%, yet the same women were able to correctly estimate the width of a box.
In a Glamour survey, 61% of respondents said they were ashamed of their hips, 64% were ashamed of their stomachs and 72% were ashamed of their thighs.
30% of women chose an ideal body shape that is 20% underweight and an additional 44% chose an ideal body shape 10% underweight.
50% of women wear size 14 or larger, but most standard clothing outlets cater to sizes 14 or smaller.

Models

In 1950 mannequins closely resembled the average measurements or women. The average hip measurement of mannequins and women were 34 inches. By 1990 the average hip measurement was 37 inches, while the average mannequins hip measured only 31 inches.
If today's mannequins were actual human women, based on their theoretical body-fat percentages they would have probably ceased to menstruate.
The average U.S. woman is 5'4" and weighs 140 pounds. In contrast, the average U.S. model is 5'11" and weighs 117 pounds.
Over the last three decades fashion models, Miss America contestants, and Playboy centerfolds have grown steadily thinner, while the average woman's weight has actually risen.
Some of the pictures of the models in magazines do not really exist. The pictures are computer-modified compilations of different body parts.
A study found that 25% of Playboy centerfolds met the weight criteria for Anorexia.
Twenty years ago the average fashion model weighed 8% less than the average woman. Today she weighs 23% less.
Kate Moss is 5'7" and weights 95 pounds. That is 30% below ideal body weight.
Supermodels Niki Taylor and Elle Macpherson also meet the Body Mass Index physical criteria for Anorexia.
Gisele Bundchen was Vogue's model of the year, in part the magazine states, because she strays from the rail-thin image. Gisele is 5'11" and weighs only 115, that is 25% below her ideal body weight

Television & Movies

Following the introduction of Western television in Fiji, there was a surge in the rate of eating disorders.
One out of every four television commercials sends out some sort of message about attractiveness.
80% of women who answered a People magazine survey responded that images of women on television and in the movies make them feel insecure.
Actresses Julia Roberts and Cameron Diaz and singer Diana Ross all meet the Body Mass Index physical criteria for Anorexia.
Model/Actress Elizabeth Hurley stated in Allure Magazine, "I've always thought Marilyn Monroe looked fabulous, but I'd kill myself if I was that fat."
Pamela Anderson is 5'7" and weights 120 pounds. She is supposed to be the voluptuous ideal yet she is 11% below ideal body weight. In contrast, a generation ago Marilyn Monroe set the beauty standard at 5'5" and weighed 135 pounds. Today her agent would probably tell her she had to lose weight!

LGBTQ

Gay men are seven times more likely to report binge-eating and twelve times more likely to report purging than heterosexual men.
Gay and bisexual boys are significantly more likely to fast, vomit, or take laxatives or diet pills to control their weight.
Nearly nine in ten (87%) LGBTQ youth reported being dissatisfied with their body.
Rates of body dissatisfaction were higher among transgender and nonbinary youth (90%) compared to cisgender youth (80%).
LGBTQ youth with body dissatisfaction had twice the odds of reporting a suicide attempt in the past year compared to LGBTQ youth with body satisfaction.
Transgender college students report experiencing disordered eating at approximately four times the rate of their cisgender classmates
32% of transgender people report using their eating disorder to modify their body without hormones.
56% of transgender people with eating disorders believe their disorder is not related to their physical body.
Gender dysphoria and body dissatisfaction in transgender people is often cited as a key link to eating disorders.
Non-binary people may restrict their eating to appear thin, consistent with the common stereotype of androgynous people in popular culture.

Black, Indigenous, and People of Color

BIPOC are significantly less likely than white people to have been asked by a doctor about eating disorder symptoms.
BIPOC with eating disorders are half as likely to be diagnosed or to receive treatment.
Black people are less likely to be diagnosed with anorexia than white people but may experience the condition for a longer period of time.
Black teenagers are 50% more likely than white teenagers to exhibit bulimic behavior, such as binge-eating and purging.
Hispanic people are significantly more likely to suffer from bulimia nervosa than their non-Hispanic peers.
Asian American college students report higher rates of restriction compared with their white peers and higher rates of purging, muscle building, and cognitive restraint than their white or non-Asian, BIPOC peers.
Asian American college students report higher levels of body dissatisfaction and negative attitudes toward obesity than their non-Asian, BIPOC peers.
74% of Native American girls have reported dieting and purging using diet pills.
When presented with identical case studies demonstrating disordered eating symptoms in white, Hispanic and African-American women, clinicians were asked to identify if the woman's eating behavior was problematic. 44% identified the white woman's behavior as problematic; 41% identified the Hispanic woman's behavior as problematic, and only 17% identified the black woman's behavior as problematic. The clinicians were also less likely to recommend that the African-American woman should receive professional help.
In 1994 Essence magazine reported that 53.5% of their respondents, African-American females, were at risk of an eating disorder.
Eating disorders are one of the most common psychological problems facing young women in Japan.

Children and Youths

Anorexia is the 3rd most common chronic illness among adolescents.
95% of those who have eating disorders are between the ages of 12 and 25.
50% of girls between the ages of 11 and 13 see themselves as overweight.
80% of 13-year-olds have attempted to lose weight.
42% of 1st-3rd grade girls want to be thinner.
81% of 10 year old children are afraid of being fat.
46% of 9-11 year-olds are sometimes or very often on diets.
35-57% of adolescent girls engage in crash dieting, fasting, self-induced vomiting, diet pills, or laxatives.
In a college campus survey, 91% of the women admitted to controlling their weight through dieting.

Larger bodied persons

Less than 6% of people with eating disorders are medically diagnosed as underweight.
Larger body size is both a risk factor for developing an eating disorder and a common outcome for people who struggle with bulimia and binge eating disorder.
Persons in larger bodies are half as likely as those at a normal weight or underweight to be diagnosed with an eating disorder.

Mortality Rates

Eating disorders have the highest mortality rate of any mental illness.
A study by the National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders reported that 5 – 10% of anorexics die within 10 years after contracting the disease; 18-20% of anorexics will be dead after 20 years and only 30 – 40% ever fully recover.
The mortality rate associated with anorexia nervosa is 12 times higher than the death rate of ALL causes of death for females 15 – 24 years old.
20% of people suffering from anorexia will prematurely die from complications related to their eating disorder, including suicide and heart problems.