Anorexia kills 20% of sufferers and 15% of anorexics relapse

Photo : Philippe Desmazes/AFP

Anorexia kills. 15% of girls who enter the tunnel of forced fasting and dieting with the occasional micro-meal do not come out of it. The result can be death from being too thin, but more than 20% stay slaves to the scales, lapsing back into the thrall of the illness and rejoining the ranks of the unhealthily skinny.

Under 18’s are being forced to come to terms with this eating disorder and not even the youngest are sheltered, according to the picture drawn by experts. Amongst patients with eating disorders there are also newborn babies, only a few months old and children under three years old. These include children that can only be bottle-fed, not wanting to wean or switch to solid food and who only swallow blended food; the choice is that or to leave them to die of hunger.

According the study, 2-3% of the population aged between 0 and 3 years old suffer from an eating disorder. These problems can be temporary or can lead to more complex illnesses, but in general are the result of difficulties in the mother-child relationship. However, it is less clear what causes the equally serious issue of teenagers or pre-adolescents developing anorexia, bulimia or other eating disorders.

Every year sees 6-7 new cases per 100,000 people, most prevalent amongst girls; the illness affects 10 times as many girls than boys. Behind the illness hide several triggering factors: a genetic component, the effect of a bad example in the family, personal psychological discomfort or an educational problem and even the culture of a society have been put in the dock.

By Jonathan Fulwell (Source: IGN)