New findings on eating disorders
Bente Haarstad
Every year approximately 150 women and 12 to 15 men with eating disorders wind up in the hospital urgently in need of medical attention. This is especially true for those suffering from anorexia. These are the findings of a study lead by Professor K. Gunnar Gøtestam, NTNU, Chief Psychologist Lasse Eriksen, South Trondelag (Sør-Trøndelag) Psychiatric Hospital, and Torhild Heggestad at the Norwegian Institute of Hospital Research (NIS).
Researchers have examined data from 3.3 million hospitalisations at Norwegian hospitals for the period from 1990 through 1994. Scientists in this somewhat unique study were surprised to learn that there were seasonal trends in the data. Their study revealed that, for this five year period, most victims of eating disorders were admitted in March and in June.
This trend appears to be continuing. Eating disorders now rank as the most prevalent psychological disorder among girls between the ages of 13 and 25. Nearly one out of 10 women suffers from some eating disorder during the course of their lives and roughly 2% of them have very serious problems. The most common of these afflictions is uncontrolled overeating, bulimia.