Written by Kimberly Young

Author, Speaker, and Consultant

Founder & Executive Director of LoveMyBody

 kim@lovemybody.org ● www.lovemybody.org

Emotions are an unpredictable joy and sometimes burden of living. They allow us to feel the sensual experiences of life. They make us laugh, cry, scream and dance. Emotions can also help us fall in love, start a business, quit a job or get a divorce. The way we deal with our emotions can be positive or destructful. If someone doesn’t respond well to their emotions, they may act violent, drink too much or engage in activities that cause harm to them self or others. However, a person who has learned to control or respond to their emotions in a positive way may express it through poetry, working out or reading a book (to name a few).

 Eating is one of the most common ways our society responds to both, positive and negative emotions. After receiving a promotion, during a wedding or graduation reception or when we’re on a date, we respond by eating. We also find ourselves overindulging after a broken relationship, separation from kids, abuse and other negative situations. Although eating too much in these situations can be damaging, from my experience, it’s the three most frequently felt emotions; stress, anxiety and loneliness many of us feel every day that that sabotages our healthy eating.

These emotions creep up on us in our daily lives without warning. For example, if you are used to being around a lot of people during the day and find yourself at home alone, you might start craving your favorite comfort food. Most of the time during that situation, food is eaten to fill the anxiety and loneliness you feel, and not your stomach. However, having a craving isn’t a bad thing, it’s our bodies way of telling us that we are missing a certain nutrient. For example, if you crave cheesecake, your body may be telling you it needs calcium. But, if you struggle with healthy eating, your cravings may be linked to your emotions in place of (or in addition) to what your body may actually need.

If you are an emotional eater, but have trouble identifying when you eat in response to an emotional need versus a physical need, each time you eat; but before you put the food in your mouth; ask yourself if you are hungry. If your answer is yes, then enjoy your food. If your answer is no, then think about what you would give yourself if food was not an option. Would it be sleep, water, a friend to talk to, help with the kids, etc. Start writing your answers down in a journal. Read your answers every two days. You’ll start discovering what is missing in your life and work towards filling that need with something other than food.

 No-cost Exercise Ideas 

To help you stay active, we’ve put together a list of 30 fun, cheap things to do: 

1. Schedule activities all family members can enjoy 2-3 times a month such as family bike rides and hikes. Let children plan a physical activity like going bowling or to the skating rink.
2. Play with the kids – tumble in the leaves, build a snowman, splash in a puddle, or dance to favorite music.
3. Join a walking group in the neighborhood or at the local shopping mall. Recruit a partner for support and encouragement.
4. Walk, skate, or cycle more, and drive less.
5. Take the whole family on a tour of a local museum, zoo or historic site.
6. Push the baby in a stroller on a walk around the neighborhood.
7. Walk up and down the soccer or softball field sidelines while watching the kids play.
8. Walk the dog – don’t just watch the dog walk.
9. Cleaning the house or washing the car.
10. Involve the whole family in household chores, cleaning, vacuuming, and yard work.
11. Do stretches, exercises(i.e. push-ups, crunches), or pedal a stationary bike when watching television.
12. Have a hula hoop contest, and see who can hoop the longest.
13. Plant and care for a vegetable or flower garden.
14. Reduce screen time with TV, computers and video games and increase active time.
15. Get off the bus or subway one stop early and walk the rest of the way.
16. Replace a coffee break with a brisk 10-minute walk. Ask a friend to go with you.
17. Play tag or hide-and-go-seek with your kids.
18. Take part in an exercise program at work or a nearby gym.
19. Take the stairs when possible instead of the elevator.
20. Join the office intramural leagues.
21. Walk, jog, roller-blade, or cycle.
22. Swim or do water aerobics.
23. Play basketball, softball, or soccer.
24. Take a class in dance, yoga, martial arts or kick-boxing.
25. Take your family out to fly kites.
26. Golf (pull cart or carry clubs).
27. Canoe, row, or kayak.
28. Play racket ball, tennis, or squash.
29. Take a nature walk or hike.
30. Toss a Frisbee or football.

* These activities are not necessarily at the moderate intensity level of physical activity

Statistics: How many people have eating disorders?

Anorexia nervosa
Research suggests that about one percent (1%) of female adolescents have anorexia. That means that about one out of every one hundred young women between ten and twenty are starving themselves, sometimes to death. There do not seem to be reliable figures for younger children and older adults, but such cases, while they do occur, are not common.

Bulimia nervosa
Research suggests that about four percent (4%), or four out of one hundred, college-aged women have bulimia. About 50% of people who have been anorexic develop bulimia or bulimic patterns. Because people with bulimia are secretive, it is difficult to know how many older people are affected. Bulimia is rare in children.

Males with eating disorders
Many surveys indicate that only about 10% of people with anorexia and bulimia are male. This gender difference may reflect our society’s different expectations for men and women. Men are supposed to be strong and powerful. They feel ashamed of skinny bodies and want to be big and powerful. Women, on the other hand, are supposed to be tiny, waif-like, and thin. They diet to lose weight, making themselves vulnerable to binge eating. Some develop rigid and compulsive overcontrol. Dieting and the resulting hunger are two of the most powerful eating disorders triggers known.

Now, that having been said, researchers at Harvard University Medical School have new data that suggests that up to 25 percent of adults with eating disorders are male. Whether that figure indicates that more men are becoming eating disordered, or that men previously escaped attention and diagnosis, or that diagnostic tools have improved and are now catching people who would have escaped detection before has yet to be determined. Preliminary information suggests that men are now more concerned about appearance and body image than they were in the past. The new study was based on information obtained from the National Comorbidity Survey Replication, a mental health survey of nearly 9,000 adults across the U.S.

What age groups are affected?
Anorexia and bulimia affect primarily people in their teens and twenties, but studies report both disorders in children as young as six and individuals as old as seventy-six. As the Baby Boomers in the U.S. grow older, there seems to be an increase in the incidence of middle-aged women with anorexia and bulimia, possibly because this group has consistently considered image to be of major importance.

Overweight and obesity
Studies suggest that about sixty percent of adult Americans, both male and female, are overweight. About one third (34%) are obese, meaning that they are 20% or more above normal, healthy weight. Many of these people have binge eating disorder.

In addition, about 31 percent of American teenage girls and 28 percent of boys are somewhat overweight. An additional 15 percent of American teen girls and nearly 14 percent of teen boys are obese. (Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, January 2004) Causes include fast food, snacks with high sugar and fat content, little physical activity including use of automobiles, increased time spent in front of TV sets and computers, and a generally more sedentary lifestyles than slimmer peers.

Binge eating disorder
A recent study reported in Drugs and Therapy Perspectives reports that about one percent of women in the United States have binge eating disorder, as do thirty percent of women who seek treatment to lose weight. In other studies, up to two percent, or one to two million adults in the U.S., have problems with binge eating.

Eating disorders and substance abuse
About 72% of alcoholic women younger than 30 also have eating disorders. (Health magazine, Jan/Feb 2002). In addition, people with eating disorders often abuse prescription and recreational drugs, sometimes to numb themselves emotionally, to escape misery and depression, and sometimes in the service of weight loss.

What about compulsive exercising?
Because anorexia athletica is not a formal diagnosis, it has not been studied as rigorously as the official eating disorders. We have no idea how many people exercise compulsively.

Body dysmorphic disorder (includes muscle dysmorphic disorder)
BDD affects about two percent of people in the U.S. and strikes males and females equally, usually before age eighteen (70% of the time). Sufferers are excessively concerned about appearance, body shape, body size, weight, perceived lack of muscles, facial blemishes, and so forth. In some cases BDD can lead to steroid abuse, unnecessary plastic surgery, and even suicide. BDD is treatable and begins with an evaluation by a mental health care provider.

Subclinical eating disorders
We can only guess at the vast numbers of people who have subclinical or threshold eating disorders. They are too much preoccupied with food and weight. Their eating and weight control behaviors are not normal, but they are not disturbed enough to qualify for a formal diagnosis.

Eating disorders in Western and non-Western countries
In a study reported in Medscape’s General Medicine 6(3) 2004, prevalence rates in Western countries for anorexia nervosa ranged from 0.1% to 5.7% in female subjects. Prevalence rates for bulimia nervosa ranged from 0% to 2.1% in males and from 0.3% to 7.3% in female subjects.

Prevalence rates in non-Western countries for bulimia nervosa ranged from 0.46% to 3.2% in female subjects. Studies of eating attitudes indicate abnormal eating attitudes in non-Western countries have been gradually increasing, presumably because of the influence, at least in part, of Western media: movies, TV shows, and magazines. Researchers conclude that the prevalence of eating disorders in non-Western countries is lower than that of Western countries, but it appears to be increasing.

Mortality and recovery rates
Without treatment, up to twenty percent (20%) of people with serious eating disorders die. With treatment, that number falls to two to three percent (2-3%). In 2005, Dr. Wright of the Eating Disorders Program at Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas, Texas indicated that the mortality rate for untreated anorexia nervosa may be even higher, up to 25 percent.

With treatment, about sixty percent (60%) of people with eating disorders recover. They maintain healthy weight. They eat a varied diet of normal foods and do not choose exclusively low-cal and non-fat items. They participate in friendships and romantic relationships. They create families and careers. Many say they feel they are stronger people and more insightful about life in general and themselves in particular than they would have been without the disorder.

In spite of treatment, about twenty percent (20%) of people with eating disorders make only partial recoveries. They remain too much focused on food and weight. They participate only superficially in friendships and romantic relationships. They may hold jobs but seldom have meaningful careers. Much of each paycheck goes to diet books, laxatives, jazzercise classes, and binge food.

The remaining twenty percent (20%) do not improve, even with treatment. They are seen repeatedly in emergency rooms, eating disorders programs, and mental health clinics. Their quietly desperate lives revolve around food and weight concerns, spiraling down into depression, loneliness, and feelings of helplessness and hopelessness.

Please note: The study of eating disorders is a relatively new field. We have no good information on the long-term recovery process. We do know that recovery usually takes a long time, perhaps on average five to seven years of slow progress that includes starts, stops, relapses, and ultimately movement in the direction of mental and physical health.

If you believe you are in the forty percent of people who do not recover from eating disorders, give yourself a break. Get into treatment and stay there. Give it all you have. You may surprise yourself and find you are in the sixty percent after all.

Miscellaneous statistics
Minorities

• Essence magazine, in 1994, reported that 53.5% of their respondents, African-American females were at risk of an eating disorder
• Minority women have higher overweight and obesity rates than white women.
• Mexican American men have a higher overweight and obesity rates than non- Hispanic whites or blacks.
• 69% of African American women are overweight or obese compared to 58% of African American men.

From England:

A 1998 survey done by Exeter University included 37,500 young women between twelve and fifteen. Over half (57.5%) listed appearance as the biggest concern in their lives. The same study indicated that 59% of the twelve and thirteen-year-old girls who suffered from low self-esteem were also dieting.

Dieting teens:

More than half of teenaged girls are, or think they should be, on diets. They want to lose all or some of the forty pounds that females naturally gain between 8 and 14. About three percent of these teens go too far, becoming anorexic or bulimic.

Unrealistic expectations:

Magazine pictures are electronically edited and airbrushed. Many entertainment celebrities are underweight, some anorexically so. How do we know what we should look like? It’s hard. The table below compares average women in the U. S. with Barbie Doll and department store mannequins. It’s not encouraging. (Health magazine, September 1997; and NEDIC, a Canadian eating disorders advocacy group)

                                          Average woman               Barbie                 Store mannequin
Height                           5′ 4″                                            6′ 0″                         6′ 0″
Weight                         145 lbs.                                     101 lbs                   Not available
Dress size                   11 -14                                        4                               6
Bust                               36 – 37″                                    39″                            34″
Waist                             29 – 31″                                    19″                            23″
Hips                               40 – 42″                                    33″                            34″ 

Determining accurate statistics is difficult
Because physicians are not required to report eating disorders to a health agency, and because people with these problems tend to be secretive, denying that they even have a disorder, we have no way of knowing exactly how many people in this country are affected.

We can study small groups of people, determine how many of them are eating disordered, and then extrapolate to the general population. The numbers are usually given as percentages, and they are as close as we can get to an accurate estimate of the total number of people affected by eating disorders.

Now, that having been said, the journal Clinician Reviews [13(9]) 2003] estimates that each year about five million Americans are affected by an eating disorder. But there is disagreement.

The National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders states that approximately eight million people in the U.S. have anorexia nervosa, bulimia, and related eating disorders. Eight million people represents about three percent (3%) of the total population. Put another way, according to ANAD, about three out of every one hundred people in this country eats in a way disordered enough to warrant treatment. If you want to know how they arrived at this number, e-mail their staff.

1 in 5 women struggle with an eating disorder or disordered eating.
National Institute of Mental Health’s (NIMH) guide, Eating Disorders: Facts About Eating Disorders and the Search for Solutions

The myth that eating disorders don’t exist in the minority community often comes from a lack of education of what eating disorders are and how they affect our mind and body.

Unfortunately, many minorities believe that Anorexia is the only “true” eating disorder that causes harm.  Anorexia is classified when one physically starves him/her self by withholding food from the body.  Although Anorexia gains most publicity in the media, and is very deadly, there are two additional classified ED’s defined in the Diagnostic & Statistic Manual of Mental Disorders.   The other two classified ED’s are Bulimia and EDNOS (Eating Disorder Not Other Specified).  Bulimia occurs when a person binges on large amounts of food and then purges to rid his/her body of the food.  Although EDNOS can include symptoms such as chewing the food and then spitting it out, the most common EDNOS plaguing the minority community is Binge-eating disorder.  This disorder is characterized by recurrent episodes of binge eating, but unlike bulimia, the person does not purge or use other methods to rid his/her body of the food.    The person with Binge-eating disorder has an uncontrollable desire to eat food without the ability to stop.

In efforts to help you further understand the dangers of eating disorders, following are the symptoms/dangers associated with the top three most common eating disorders.

The symptoms/dangers that Binge Eating Disorder (BED) could have on our body:

• Obesity
• High blood pressure (hypertension)
• Diabetes
• Osteoarthritis
• Heart attack

The symptoms/dangers that Bulimia could have on our body:

• Tooth decay
• Dehydration
• Inflammation & rupture of the esophagus
• Irregular or abnormally slow heart rate
• Heart failure
• Stomach ulceration

The symptoms/dangers that Anorexia could have on our body:

• Starvation
• Dehydration
• Muscle and cartridge deterioration
• Osteoporosis
• Irregular or abnormally slow heart rate
• Heart failure

Up to 24 million people in the United are suffering from eating disorders and one out of five women are suffering.  Eating Disorders are not something to take lightly.  If you have an eating disorder or are concerned about someone you love, get help immediately.

Anorexia danger signs include:

1. Significant weight loss
2. Continual dieting (even if the person is already thin)
3. Feelings of fatness even after weight loss
4. Fear of weight gain
5. Lack of menstrual periods
6. Visible food restriction and self-starvation
7. Preoccupation with food, calories, nutrition, and/or cooking
8. A preference to eat in isolation
9. Compulsive exercise
10. Insomnia
11. Brittle hair or nails
12. Unusual Food rituals such as shifting the food around on the plate to look eaten; cutting food into tiny pieces; making sure the fork avoids contact with the lips (using teeth to scrap food off the fork or spoon); chewing food and spitting it out, but not swallowing; dropping food into napkin on lap to later throw away, etc
13. Hair loss. Pale or “grey” appearance to the skin
14. Use or hiding use of diet pills, laxatives or enemas
15. Social withdrawal
16. Perfectionistic personality

Bulimia nervosa danger signs include:

1. Uncontrollable eating (binge eating)
2. Purging by self-induced vomiting
3. Vigorous exercise
4. Abuse of laxatives or diuretics (water pills) to lose weight
5. Frequent use of the bathroom after meals
6. Reddened fingers (from inducing vomiting)
7. Swollen cheeks, throat or glands (from induced vomiting)
8. Preoccupation with body weight
9. Depression or mood swings
10. Hiding food in strange places (closets, cabinets, suitcases, under the bed) to avoid eating (Anorexia) or to eat at a later time (Bulimia).
11. Irregular menstrual periods
12. Bruised or calluses knuckles; bloodshot or bleeding in the eyes; light bruising under the eyes and on the cheeks.
13. Dental problems, such as tooth decay caused by induced vomiting
14. Heartburn and/or bloating
15. Perfectionistic personality

Compulsive Overeating/Binge Eating Disorder symptoms include:

1. Fear of not being able to control eating, and while eating, not being able to stop
2. Isolation. Fear of eating around and with others
3. Chronic dieting on a variety of popular diet plans
4. Holding the belief that life will be better if they can lose weight
5. Hiding food in strange places (closets, cabinets, suitcases, under the bed) to eat at a later time
6. Vague or secretive eating patterns
7. Self-defeating statements after food consumption
8. Blames failure in social and professional community on weight
9. Holding the belief that food is their only friend
10. Frequently out of breath after relatively light activities
11. Excessive sweating and shortness of breath
12. High blood pressure and/or cholesterol
13. Leg and joint pain
14. Weight gain
15. Decreased mobility due to weight gain
16. Loss of sexual desire or promiscuous relations
17. Mood swings. Depression. Fatigue
18. Insomnia. Poor Sleeping Habits

Video:  Family Is Beautiful

A documentary with Grammy Award Winner, Brenda Russell and her family, showing beauty in all ages and different stages of life.

Surprising Facts About Minorities and Eating Disorders

1.  Minority women have higher overweight and obesity rates than white women.
2.  Mexican American men have a higher overweight and obesity rates than non- Hispanic whites or blacks.
3.  69% of African American women are overweight or obese compared to 58% of African American men.
4.  For all racial and ethnic groups combined, women of lower socio-economic status (income less than 130 percent of poverty threshold) are approximately 50% more likely to be obese than those of higher socioeconomic status.
5.  Mexican American boys tend to have a higher prevalence of overweight than African American or White boys.
6  African American girls tend to have a higher prevalence of overweight than Mexican American or White girls.

SOURCE: Surgeon General, Official Recommendations.