Too Old For Weight Worries? Eating Disorders Are Common Among Women Over 50

Feeling fat is an insecurity many women don’t grow out of, according to a recent study by researchers at the University of North Carolina Eating Disorders Program. They found that 62% of women over age 50 reported that their weight or shape negatively impacts their lives — and many have eating disorders.

 Previous research on disordered eating has focused on teens and young women, but the new study published in the International Journal of Eating Disorders finds that about 13% of women over 50 have the problem too. The study included 1,849 women, average age 59, from across the U.S. who participated in the survey “Body Image in Women 50 and Over — Tell Us What You Think and Feel.” The questions ran the gamut, asking women about eating, aging, body image and their weight-loss attitudes and behaviors.

Overall, the vast majority — 79% — said their weight or shape affected their self-perception, and more than 70% said they were trying to lose weight. Two-thirds of women thought about their weight or shape daily: 41% checked their body daily and 40% weighed themselves a couple of times a week or more. Their attitudes and behaviors put them at risk for full-blown eating disorders, the authors said. Indeed, about 3.5% of women reported binge eating, nearly 8% reported purging and 36% of women spending at least half their time in the last five years dieting.

 Read more: http://healthland.time.com/2012/06/21/too-old-for-weight-worries-eating-disorders-are-common-among-women-over-50/#ixzz1yRdnMBPI