Eating Disorders Risk Factors in a Nutshell

Risk factors for Eating disorders are factors that do not seem to be a direct cause of the disease, but seem to be associated in some way. Having a risk factor for Eating disorders makes the chances of getting a condition higher but does not always lead to Eating disorders. Also, the absence of any risk factors or having a protective factor does not necessarily guard you against getting Eating disorders.

The National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders estimates that there are 8 million people in this country suffering from eating disorders, and there are more cases being reported in the eight-to- eleven-year-old bracket every day. The American Anorexia/Bulimia Association estimates that 1 percent of teenage girls in the United States develop anorexia nervosa, and approximately 5 percent of college women in the United States have bulimia.

The staff at East Tennessee Children's Hospital offers the following warning signs for helping to detect both anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa.

Anorexia danger signs include significant weight loss; continual dieting (even though the child is already thin); feelings of fatness by the child even after weight loss; fear of weight gain; lack of menstrual periods; preoccupation with food, calories, nutrition, and/or cooking; a preference to eat in isolation; compulsive exercise; insomnia; brittle hair or nails; and social withdrawal.

Questions you or a physician may ask if they suspect someone has an eating disorder include:

* How do you feel about your weight?
* When you look in the mirror, which parts of your body look best and worst and why?
* How often do you weigh yourself?
* Have you ever used diet pills, laxatives, diuretics (water pills) or vomiting to lose weight?
* Do you ever feel that your eating is out of control?
* And get a detailed history of what they eat each day at each meal and their daily exercise routine.

What increases the likelihood of developing an eating disorder?

1. Female gender
   
2. Body dissatisfaction
   
3. Dieting; eating in secret
   
4. Neurochemical changes, particularly around the onset of puberty
   
5. Participation at the top levels of sports that tie body weight to performance
   
6. Obsessive thoughts and behavior
   
7. Difficulty moving from one train of thought or plan of action to the next
   
8. Perfectionist tendencies; avoidance of risks
   
9. Perception that thinness is important to mother
   
10. Media images and fashion magazines