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10.2: Feeding and Eating Disorders - Epidemiology

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    161472

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    Learning Objectives
    • Describe the epidemiology of anorexia nervosa.
    • Describe the epidemiology of bulimia nervosa.
    • Describe the epidemiology of binge eating disorder.

    Anorexia Nervosa

    According to the National Eating Disorder Alliance (NEDA) website, at any point in time more women (0.3-0.4%) than men (0.1%) will be diagnosed with anorexia. Anorexia nervosa is most prevalent in postindustrialized, high-income countries such as the United States, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, and many European countries. In the U.S., prevalence is lower among Latinx and non-Latinx Black Americans than non-Latinx Whites (APA, 2022).

    Bulimia Nervosa

    According to the NEDA website, at any point in time, 1.0% of women and 0.1% of men will meet the diagnostic criteria for bulimia nervosa. A study by Stice and Bohon (2012) found that between 1.1% and 4.6% of females and 0.1% to 0.5% of males will develop bulimia and that subthreshold bulimia occurs in 2.0% to 5.4% of adolescent females. The DSM reports that the 12-month prevalence ranges from 0.14% to 0.3% with higher rates in females and high-income countries. Rates are similar across ethnoracial groups across the U.S. (APA, 2022).

    Binge Eating Disorder

    Hudson et al. (2007) reports that BED is three times more common than anorexia and bulimia and is more common than breast cancer, HIV, and schizophrenia. It has also been found that between 0.2% and 3.5% of females and 0.9% and 2.0% of males will develop binge eating disorder with subthreshold binge eating disorder occurring in 1.6% of adolescent females (Stice & Bohon, 2012). The DSM reports a 12-month prevalence of 0.44% to 1.2% with rates 2-3 times higher in women, similar rates across ethnoracial groups in the United States and between most high-income industrialized countries (APA, 2022).

    For more on statistics and research related to feeding and eating disorders, please visit the National Eating Disorders Association website below:

    www.nationaleatingdisorders.org/statistics-research-eating-disorders

    Key Takeaways

    You should have learned the following in this section:

    • BED is three times more common than anorexia and bulimia.
    • All feeding and eating disorders are more common in women and high-income, industrialized countries.
    • Only anorexia shows differences across ethnoracial groups in the United States.
    Review Questions
    1. Which feeding and eating disorder is most common?
    2. What gender differences occur with regards to the eating disorders?
    3. Are there any other noteworthy similarities or differences in the prevalence rates of the three disorders?

    This page titled 10.2: Feeding and Eating Disorders - Epidemiology is shared under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Alexis Bridley and Lee W. Daffin Jr. via source content that was edited to the style and standards of the LibreTexts platform; a detailed edit history is available upon request.