ROCHESTER, MINN. – The incidence of the eating disorder anorexia nervosa continues to increase in young females, according to recent data from Mayo Clinic.
Researchers recently updated a 50-year study of the incidence of the disease in residents of Rochester, Minn. Looking at medical records from 1985 to 1989, they found that incidence in females in general was stable. But in the group most vulnerable to societal and psychological pressures, females age 15-24, incidence continues its steady rise from the 1930s.
Chief investigator of the study, psychiatrist Alexander R. Lucas, M.D., says some studies have questioned whether increased incidence is due to greater recognition of the problem due to increased awareness in recent years. He said the Mayo Clinic study, the only study to look at incidence in an entire community, shows that while there have been some peaks and valleys, overall the trendline shows a steady increase in incidence over a half century in young females. He said other studies suggest that the kind of eating disorder being reported is shifting in recent years to more cases of bulimia (binge and purge).
The report was published in the International Journal of Eating Disorders.
Mike O'Hara
newsbureau@mayo.edu
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Journal
Journal of Eating Disorders