Its Not Going Away You know …..

Its Eating Disorder Awareness Week 2014 and today this blog continues by looking at the worrying rise of Eating Disorders in Northern Ireland 

Relevant Magazine notes

Millions of women look into their mirrors every day and hate what they see. They are profoundly dissatisfied with their appearance—the lips aren’t full enough, the cheekbones aren’t dramatic enough and, of course, they are certainly not thin enough. These women and girls want so desperately to look like the air-brushed models in the magazines or the painstakingly thin celebrities on the awards shows. Although they can do little about their lips and cheekbones without surgery or medical intervention, they can lose weight. So, they start dieting

For 11 million women in the US dieting spirals over into an eating disorder.  The figures for the UK and Ireland are no less startling. 

We live in a world where consumerism is a key social driver, commodities, from cars to Coke to chemicals, are displayed with young women close-by signalling availability and sexuality.

A motto of this generation is ‘sex sells' 

Though eating disorders don’t just affect women, in recent years there has also been an increase in the number of teenage boys and young men developing eating disorders as the media portrays images of six-packs and the growth in celebrities wearing skinny jeans and super-skinny jeans, adding further fuel to the epidemic!

So what about this wee part of the world? Northern Ireland

In 2002 the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety published its most recent consultation on the provision and care of, those suffering from eating disorders.  In 2010 it was speculated by the then Health Minister Michael McGimpsey, that NI would have its own eating disorder unit, though that promise is still being processed.

The 2002 report observed that ‘each year in NI around 50-120 people develop Anorexia Nervosa and around 170 people develop Bulimia Nervosa equalling 340-1700 people suffering from AN and 17,000 from BN in NI. 100 people are admitted to hospital each year and the average length of stay is five weeks per patient.

In 2012 Eating Disorder care and treatment hit the regional headlines once again, with a stark reminder of the growing trend of Eating Disorders within Northern Ireland and with a major focus on the increase the number of sufferers under the age of ten.  While it may not be possible to place an exact figure on the number of young people hospitalized from an Eating Disorders in the period 2007 to 2011, the BBC places the figure at around 12, while up to 80 teenagers received treatment in hospital for illnesses such as anorexia in the past five years

Eating disorders are a growing problem in Northern Ireland and one the church as well as society needs to address - in tomorrows blog I will be looking at what the bible has to say about eating disorders.