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Eating Disorders are Common Among Older Women as Well

by Kathy Jones on Jun 22 2012 7:57 PM

 Eating Disorders are Common Among Older Women as Well
Eating disorders are not limited only to the young after a new study published in the International Journal of Eating Disorders revealed that there were symptoms of eating disorders evident among women over 50 years of age.
Researchers from University of North Carolina Eating Disorders Program, in Chapel Hill, conducted an online survey in which more than 1,800 women over 50 years of age participated.

Nearly 8 percent of the participants admitted that they had purged over the last five years while just over 3.5 percent said that they had resorted to binge eating in the last month.

More than 62 percent of the women said that they believed their weight or shape to have negatively impacted their lives. “The bottom line is that eating disorders and weight and shape concerns don't discriminate on the basis of age. Health care providers should remain alert for eating disorder symptoms and weight and shape concerns that may adversely influence women's physical and psychological well-being as they mature”, the researchers wrote.



Source-Medindia


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