According to the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (2019), approximately 7.8% of the world’s population already suffered from an Eating Disorder (ED) before the pandemic. Which is the most common? An expert answers.
Of the different types of eating disorders, some are more common than others. The most common is the anorexia nervosa which is when many foods are restricted and very few are consumed for fear of gaining weight.
It is followed by bulimia nervosa which causes the person to eat large quantities of food and after consuming it have the pressure and constant thoughts of expelling it, either through vomiting, laxatives or diuretics.
These two are the best known, but there is also the binge eating disorderwhich is the intake of food in a very short time several times a day.
Do you want to know if you may have an eating disorder? Do this one and find out.
The rumination which is when the person eats without restriction, but does not allow that food to do its digestive process because it is expelled in some way.
There is also the unspecified eating disorderis not specified because he has traits of bulimia, anorexia, binge eating and the therapist cannot pigeonhole him into just one.
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And finally, the sting which is not very common, but refers to when people regularly eat things that are not food, do not have nutrients such as sand, plaster or earth.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned that anorexia nervosa can lead to premature death, often due to medical complications or suicide, and is associated with a higher mortality than any other mental disorder (2021).
Is there an age and gender related to having a higher risk of presenting it?
There is no age or gender as such that is classified for an eating disorder. Previously, in studies carried out in 2015, we had data that 94% of the population experiencing an eating disorder were women between 12 and 36. years. Currently, there are men and older people suffering from this disorder.
According to Our World in Data (2017), Eating Disorders (ED) are more frequent in women between 15 and 34 years old, but they also tend to occur in men and a high probability is shown in the university population of Colombia. of having an eating disorder, between 18.9% and 39.7%, according to research from the Nueva Granada Military University (2017).