Prevalence of eating disorders taken from largest sample in the United States.

A new study in Biological Psychiatry provides updated estimates of the lifetime and 12-month prevalence of eating disorders. Biological Psychiatry has published a new study revising the outdated estimates of the prevalence of eating disorders in the United States (US). The new estimates were based on a nationally-representative sample of 36,309 adults--the largest national sample of US adults ever studied. The findings estimate that 0.80 percent of US adults will be affected by anorexia nervosa in their lifetime; 0.28 percent will be affected by bulimia nervosa; and 0.85 percent will be affected by binge eating disorder. Importantly, the study provides the first prevalence estimates using the current definitions of eating disorders. Although the diagnostic criteria for several common eating disorders were changed with the 2013 publication of the "Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM)-5", the rates of eating disorders hadn't been studied since 2007. "Our study confirms that eating disorders are common, are found in both men and women and across ethnic/racial groups, occur throughout the lifespan, and are associated with impairments in psychosocial functioning," said first author Tomoko Udo, PhD, of University at Albany, New York. May 30, 2018 Read the full study here: https://www.biologicalpsychiatryjournal.com/article/S0006-3223(18)31440-9/fulltext