Study: Australia has highest prevalence of anorexia, bulimia

SYDNEY - Australia has the world’s highest prevalence of anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa, with an estimated 1,026.5 cases per 100,000 people, a global study has found, reported Xinhua.

The number of cases of the two eating disorders worldwide rose 71 per cent between 1990 and 2023 and is projected to continue increasing through 2050.

The findings underscore the need to integrate eating disorders into mental health surveillance, prevention, early detection and care planning worldwide, according to a summary published on the Australian Science Media Centre website on Thursday.

Anorexia nervosa is an eating disorder characterised by severe restriction of food intake, an intense fear of gaining weight and a distorted perception of body weight or shape. It can lead to dangerously low body weight and serious health complications.

Bulimia nervosa, meanwhile, is an eating disorder involving repeated episodes of binge eating, followed by behaviours intended to prevent weight gain, such as self-induced vomiting, excessive exercise or misuse of laxatives.

Both are serious mental health conditions that can affect a person’s physical and emotional well-being and require appropriate treatment.

Based on the Global Burden of Disease 2023 analysis, the study estimated that about 18.1 million people worldwide had one of the two disorders in 2023, including 3.92 million with anorexia and 14.2 million with bulimia.

Damian Santomauro, an epidemiologist at the University of Queensland and the study’s senior author, told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation that Australia’s ranking was "surprising and concerning."

Females accounted for nearly 70 per cent of global cases, while about 41 per cent involved people aged 10 to 24.

The largest increases occurred in East Asia, South Asia and Southeast Asia, according to the study published in JAMA Psychiatry. - BERNAMA