February 26 to March 3, 2024, we are celebrating Eating Disorder Awareness Week. According to the US Department of Health and Human Services Office on Women’s Health, approximately 28 million Americans had an eating disorder (ED) in 2023.
While EDs affect all genders and all ages, it is especially difficult for women to avoid developing an eating disorder at some point in their lives. Most women are socialized to feed and take care of others, yet not eat the food they're making for other people so they can maintain an unrealistically thin body size.
Constant media images of young, skinny women only exacerbate this unreasonable expectation. Many women spend their lives trying to look like the (likely airbrushed) images they see of women who work out several hours a day with personal trainers.
Many women in my practice, including women in their 50’s, feel that if they are above a size two to four, they are “so large” that they might as well give up any attempt to stop their self-defeating food behaviors. The norms in the upper middle-class culture have gotten so warped, expecting women to maintain such an extremely low weight and size, that many women often feel defeated, which then contributes to the perpetuation and even worsening of the eating disorder.
EDs impact men as well. Many men in high-pressure professions, like finance, have also become caught up in the obsession with food, weight, and body image. They starve, overexercise, and aim for a very low BMI, which they see as a symbol of success.
GETTING TO THE OTHER SIDE
Remember, recovery is attainable.
Lift the shame—Most eating disorders can be helped, if not cured, with early intervention. Even if you begin to address the problem later in life, there are many therapists and treatment programs available. Whether your eating disorder is a new problem or one you have coped with for many years, there is help available. There are new strategies which can help you break the isolation, shame, and guilt.
Social Media—We need to fill sites like TikTok with posts from reputable therapists and nutritionists, which educate about eating disorders and promote a healthy approach to eating and body positivity.
Public Awareness Campaigns—We need to raise the awareness among teachers, dentists, doctors, and nurse practitioners about how to identify eating disorders and how to find resources for recovery.
When you are less consumed by your eating disorder, you can more fully engage in life, leading to more satisfaction and joy.