Facts About Eating Disorders; What The - The Emily Program (PDF)

VERSION: April 2019 Facts About Eating Disorders: What The Research Shows Eating Disorders Affect Millions of Americans: • At least 30 million Americans suffer from an eating disorder in their lifetime.1,2 • Eating disorders do not discriminate—male and female, young and old, all economic classes and race/ethnicities are affected.1 o 0.9% of American women suffer from anorexia in their lifetime. o 1.5% of American women suffer from bulimia nervosa in their lifetime. o 2.8% of American adults suffer from binge eating disorder in their lifetime. • Eating disorders affect large numbers of US military personnel.3 o In a study following active duty military personnel over time, 5.5% of women and 4% of men had an eating disorder at the beginning of the study, and within just a few years of continued service, 3.3% more women and 2.6% more men developed an eating disorder. Eating Disorders Are Dangerous: o Every 62 minutes at least one person dies as a direct result from an eating disorder.4 o Eating disorders have the second highest mortality rate of all mental illnesses, after opiate addiction.5 Eating Disorders Are Treatable: o Eating disorders can be successfully and fully treated; unfortunately only about one-third of people with an eating disorder ever receive treatment.1 o Among adolescents with an eating disorder, fewer than 1 in 5 have received treatment.6 Insurance Does Not Adequately Cover Eating Disorder Treatment: • According to a survey of 109 specialists, representing nearly every inpatient eating disorders program in the United States:7 o 1 in 5 eating disorder specialists believe that insurance companies are indirectly responsible for the death of at least one of their patients. o 96.7% of eating disorder specialists believe their patients with anorexia nervosa are put in life threatening situations because of health insurance companies’ refusal to cover treatment. • TRICARE provides healthcare coverage for over 9.5 million active duty service members and their families.8 o Unfortunately, TRICARE restricts access to needed treatment, denying coverage for treatment at freestanding eating disorder centers.  VERSION: April 2019 References 1. Hudson, J. I., Hiripi, E., Pope, H. G., & Kessler, R. C. (2007). The prevalence and correlates of eating disorders in the national comorbidity survey replication. Biological Psychiatry, 61(3), 348–358. 2. Le Grange, D., Swanson, S. A., Crow, S. J., & Merikangas, K. R. (2012). Eating disorder not otherwise specified presentation in the US population. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 45(5), 711-718. 3. Jacobson, I. G., Smith, T. C., Smith, B., Keel, P. K., Amoroso, P. J., Wells, T. S., Bathalon, G. P., Boyko, E. J., & Ryan, M. A. (2009). Disordered eating and weight changes after deployment: Longitudinal assessment of a large US military cohort. American Journal of Epidemiology, 169(4), 415-427. 4. The Eating Disorders Coalition for Research, Policy & Action thanks Scott J. Crow, MD, and Sonja Swanson, PhD, for their diligence and dedication in researching and compiling these latest statistics on the mortality rate. September 25, 2014. 5. Chesney, E., Goodwin, G. M., & Fazel, S. (2014). Risks of all-cause and suicide mortality in mental disorders: a meta-review. World Psychiatry, 13(2), 153-160. 6. Swanson, S. A., Crow, S. J., Le Grange, D., Swendsen, J., & Merikangas, K. R. (2011). Prevalence and correlates of eating disorders in adolescents. Results from the national comorbidity survey replication adolescent supplement. Archives of General Psychiatry, 68(7), 714-723. 7. Anonymous. (1999). Glamour magazine exclusively investigates managed-care organizations who refuse treatment for anorexics. Retrieved from http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Glamour+Magazine+Exclusively+Investigates+Managed- Care+Organizations...-a055122563 8. TRICARE, Defense Health Agency, Military Health System. (2014). Eating disorder treatment. Retrieved from http://tricare.mil/CoveredServices/IsItCovered/EatingDisorderTreatment.aspx