Prevalence

• It is estimated that 1 in 10 people will suffer from a serious eating disorder at some point in their lifetime. 
• 1 in 10 of these individuals are male.
• Eating disorders are now the third most common chronic illness in adolescent girls.
• 37% of Canadian females age 11, 42% of Canadian females age 13 and 48% of Canadian females age 15 say they need to lose weight.
• Time Magazine reports that 80% of all children have been on a diet by the time that they have reached the fourth grade.
• Health Canada found that almost one in every two girls and almost one in every five boys of grade 10 were either on a diet or wanted to lose weight.
• Only 1 in 10 men and women with eating disorders receive treatment. Only 35% of people that receive treatment for eating disorders get treatment at a specialized facility for eating disorders



Mortality and Recovery Rates

• Anorexia Nervosa has the highest mortality rate of any psychiatric illness. The death rate associated with anorexia nervosa alone is more than 12 times higher than the overall death rate among young women in the general population.
• ​Approximately half of those who fully develop the symptoms of anorexia nervosa recover within five years. Relapse rates are approximately 35%.
• The suicide rate of individuals suffering from eating disorders is disproportionately high; one study by Harris and Barraclough (1997) reported the suicide mortality rate among both anorexics and bulimics to be 23 times higher than that of the general population, placing the rate of suicide among ED patients among the highest of all psychiatric disorders.
• One third of all patients will recover after an initial episode, 1/3 will experience a relapse, and 1/3 will suffer from chronic deterioration and multiple re-hospitalizations.