Binge Eating & Disordered Eating Findings in a SELF Survey
A new survey was released about disordered eating and was sponsored by SELF Magazine in partnership with the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. This survey of American women between the ages of 25 and 45 discovered that a total of 75% of all American women have unhealthy thoughts, feelings, or behaviors related to food or their bodies.
This survey came from 4,023 women and proved that all age limits and even ethnic backgrounds are affected. There is not one specific group that has more disordered eating tendencies. This may be interesting to you because before I started studying binge eating, I figured that it was mostly white women between the ages of teenage years to upper 20’s. I wasn’t discriminating against anyone, but it seems like my friends that are not white are so much happier with their bodies. They love their curves, or their slightest bigger butt.
This survey was done so that women can begin to love their bodies and not be so obsessive about themselves. You can find a report in the May 2008 issue of SELF that provides tips to help women find a balance in their approach to eating. Some of the tips include: separating mood from food, eliminating extreme thinking, eating breakfast, and finding realistic body role models.
I really am excited that SELF is putting these tips out - I haven’t gotten the magazine yet, but I really hope they are good. The topics sound great and I believe in them all! I really think that this will help out everyone, whether they have binge eating or not. So many people go on random diets that are so unhealthy just to lose a couple of pounds… they probably end up doing more damage than anything.
Some other interesting facts that would found in this study include:
• 75% of women report disordered eating behaviors or symptoms consistent with eating disorders; so three out of four have an unhealthy relationship with food or their bodies
• 67% of women (excluding those with actual eating disorders) are trying to lose weight
• 53% of dieters are already at a healthy weight and are still trying to lose weight
• 39% of women say concerns about what they eat or weigh interfere with their happiness
• 37% regularly skip meals to try to lose weight
• 27% would be “extremely upset” if they gained just five pounds
• 26% cut out entire food groups
• 16% have dieted on 1,000 calories a day or fewer
• 13% smoke to lose weight
• 12% often eat when they’re not hungry; 49% sometimes do
Women can take a version of the survey at http://www.self.com to see how they compare with other readers’ answers and share their thoughts in the Hot Topics section of the magazine’s Web site.
Thanks to http://psychcentral.com/ for the information.