Eating disorders affect both men and women, and statistics say they have the highest mortality rate among all mental illnesses. To help raise funds for awareness, support, treatment and prevention of the problem, the National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA) will have the largest walk of its kind in the USA on Sunday, October 6, 2013 at the New York City NEDA Walk across the Brooklyn Bridge. NEDA’s goal is to raise $200K for the cause.
In the USA, 20 million women and 10 million men suffer from a “clinically significant eating disorder some time in their life,” says NEDA’s website.
NEDA says some of the major eating disorders include:
- Anorexia nervosa: “A serious, potentially life-threatening eating disorder characterized by self-starvation and excessive weight loss.” Victims perceive themselves as “fat” and starve themselves, resulting in kidney, heart and bone damage that can be fatal.
- Bulimia nervosa: This life-threatening disorder is “characterized by a cycle of bingeing and compensatory behaviors such as self-induced vomiting designed to undo or compensate for the effects of binge eating.” Victims force themselves to vomit after eating to stay thin, or take excessive laxatives to flush food/calories from their bodies. This can result in electrolyte imbalance (dehydration and potassium and sodium loss) that causes irregular heartbeats and risk for heart failure and death. Other health problems include ” inflammation and possible rupture of the esophagus from frequent vomiting; tooth decay and staining from stomach acids released during frequent vomiting; chronic irregular bowel movements and constipation as a result of laxative abuse.” Gastric rupture is also possible.
- Binge Eating Disorder (BED): This is characterized by “recurrent binge eating without the regular use of compensatory measures to counter the binge eating.” Health risks of BED are most often associated with those of obesity and can cause high blood pressure; high cholesterol; heart disease; diabetes mellitus; gallbladder disease; and musculoskeletal problems.
Men & Eating Disorders
One of the most alarming things NEDA points out is how eating disorders affect men. Anorexia and bulimia nervosa have long been considered women’s illnesses, but men are hardly immune to abnormal eating patterns.
“Men, while also influenced by our culture’s over-valuing of thinness, are often more concerned with a combination of issues related to weight, body shape and function (e.g. strength),” NEDA’s website explains. “Generally, men believe they need to be both lean and muscular to meet perceived societal expectations.
NEDA points out the danger of muscle dysmorphia, “a subtype of body dysmorphic disorder, “a condition that affects men who perceive themselves as not muscular enough.
Men who suffer from this disorder will work out excessively, take large amounts of nutritional supplements, adopt abnormal eating patterns (such as avoiding eating any carbs to get “cut” abdominals or set alarms in the middle of the night to wake up and drink protein shakes), and even abuse anabolic steroids. Men suffering from muscle dysmorphia have a high risk of suffering a heart attack or stroke.
NEDA stresses that eating disorders are real illnesses and “not lifestyle choices,” citing a survey that found four out of 10 people saying they had either suffered from or known someone with an eating disorder.
“The scope and severity of eating disorders are often misunderstood,” NEDA’s website says. “There is a significant lack of funding to combat eating disorders and their devastating consequences. As a result, too many individuals and families are left feeling helpless, hopeless and frightened.”
Get Involved with the NYC NEDA Walk
Location: Foley Square/Brooklyn Bridge
Date: October 6, 2013
Time: Participant check-in begins at 9:00 AM. The opening ceremonies will begin at 10:00 AM with the walk wrapping up by 1:00 PM.
Fundraising Goal: $200,000
For more information, visit NEDA’s website at http://neda.nationaleatingdisorders.org/site/TR?fr_id=2320&pg=entry
Also visit NEDA’s Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/events/272991292830125/ or follow NEDA on Twitter at @NEDAStaff and see tweets about this year’s walk at #NYCNEDAWALK.
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Scott is Director of Digital Content & Alumni Communications Liaison at UMHS and editor of the UMHS Endeavour blog. When he's not writing about UMHS students, faculty, events, public health, alumni and UMHS research, he writes and edits Broadway theater reviews for a website he publishes in New York City, StageZine.com.
