Things to Know About Eating Disorder Risk Factors

According to a report from the National Eating Disorders Association, around 20 million women and 10 million men in the US get afflicted with eating disorders at some point in their lives. Gaining an understanding of the most common eating disorders like anorexia, bulimia and binge eating, their causes and risk factors, helps you ascertain the severity of the ailment.

Discovering the potential causes and consequences of each type of eating disorder inspires you to move to the following step and seek support.

Why do people develop eating disorders?

You may be surprised to know that the reasons prompting eating disorder aren’t very simple and straightforward. There are sundry factors that add up to the problem. For instance, genetic susceptibility often causes an eating disorder. However, unexpectedly a lot of people who have a family history of eating disorders are found to be suffering from none.

The varied causes of an eating disorder work in concert among several biological, psychological, social and genetic factors. With the progress in neuroscience, the possibility to track down a few specific causes of eating disorder becomes imminent.

It’s high time that you know about the likely risk factors

There are a few risk factors that are fixed to a single condition. However, most of them are universal and can lead to any particular disorder. Researches show that female gender, eating problems in early childhood, abnormal concerns about body weight or shape, poor self-esteem, sexual abuse and many more have direct links to fan the flames of an eating disorder. Independent studies have also found some other less well-established risk factors like divorce among parents, solitary eating and withdrawal from society.

Worth mentioning is the point that having any risk factor doesn’t imply that you’ll surely be stricken with an eating disorder. Nor does it mean that having none of the potential risks spare you from succumbing to this malady. Take, for example, the female gender does have a higher risk to fall ill with eating disorders. But, still, plenty of men go down with them. You may very well develop food problems later, even if you didn’t have any while you’re a kid.

How is an eating disorder treatment put into effect?

A typical eating disorder treatment should be customized for every patient. It generally incorporates the collaborative benefactions of a physician, psychiatrist, nutritionist or therapist.

Treating the physical consequences propelled by eating disorders is the sole function of the physician. A psychiatrist comes to the succor to counsel the patient while treating the emotional and psychological facets of the malady and prescribe the necessary medications. A nutritionist or dietician helps the patient in working at how to eat optimally for overall health and weight maintenance. At times, when the ailment takes a very serious turn, a residential facility is one where the necessary eating disorders treatment is rendered. It’s to be noted that for the most severe cases, the treatment becomes intense, thorough-going and long-term.

Eating disorders are complex illnesses that could be life-threatening if not treated. This blog helps you to know which diseases are caused by overeating.