Eating Disorders - How Common Are They?

Eating disorders are relatively uncommon. Estimates of life-time incidence of disorders (by DSM definition) range from less than 0.5% in adult women for AN to 3% for Binge Eating Disorder (BED) (Van Hoeken, Lucas, & Hoek, 1998). The population group with the highest rate of current disorder is female adolescents: the peak period of onset is between 16 and 18 years (Woodside & Garfinkel, 1992 Lewinsohn, Striegel-Moore, & Seeley, 2000). Eating disorders among males appear to be even more rare with an estimated gender ratio of 10 females to one male (Garfinkel et al., 1995 Woodside et al., 2001). Recent data suggest an increase in hospitalization rates for males with an ED (Braun, Sunday, Huang, & Halmi, 1999). In the absence of epidemiological data it is not clear, however, whether this increase reflects a true rise in incidence or prevalence or improved awareness among service providers about eating disorders in male populations.