Black Girls Are 50% More Likely To Be Bulimic Than White Girls

As the immediate past President of the International Association of Eating Disorders Professionals it has been my business to spread the word about the world-class resources available to therapists and others in the field. Now I feel inspired to share info that may be relevant to you or someone you know.

You've heard of bulimia, right? It's an eating disorder that is marked by periods of binge eating and later purging that food. Bulimia is different from anorexia in several ways, but one is that it's not always obvious to lay people is that bulimics are often overweight. That's typically how they find my medical practice – they complain about their weight.

People are often surprised to learn that many of the clients I see are African-American. I guess the media and our social networks make us think that bulimia is a 'rich, white girl problem.' Well, new results out of the University of Southern California show that black girls are twice as likely to be bulimic than white girls.

You can check out the details of the news story here: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/142820.php

I find it interesting that the approach this study took – actually asking girls about their behaviors – as opposed to studying hospital admission data – points out that many bulimic girls who are minorities or from low socio economic status were probably missed all along.

Anyway, I thought I'd point this out to you since there may be some young (or not so young) girls in your life that may be silently struggling with this or another eating disorder.

If you need help finding a therapist in your area, visit http://web.memberclicks.com/mc/directory/viewsimplesearch.do?orgId=iaedp to find someone who is certified as an eating disorder specialist.

I highly recommend learning more about my Cornerstone program which outlines 5 keys for empowered living. I shared this 5 tiered matrix with eating disorders specialists in Long Beach, California last month. The video of my talk will be online soon.

Best of health to you,

Dr. Andrea