More Than Half Million Teens Have Had Eating Disorder

A study based on kids and parents interviews from 2004 has come to the conclusion that more than half a million U.S. teenagers has had an eating disorder. Government research also shows that very few have sought treatment for it. This study is the largest for eating disorders since it has national data that represents 10,000 teens that range from ages 13 to 18. The most common eating disorder is binge-eating, which has effected about 1.5% of the kids studied. Then came Bulimia that has about 1% of sufferers, then Anorexia with about 0.3% of kids. Overall, about 3% of teens have had a lifetime prevalence of one of the disorders. This study has been released online on Monday in the Archives of General Psychiatry by co-author, Kathleen Merikangas.