Eating Disorders Hit 500K Teens

3% of teens affected by binge-eating, bulimia, or anorexia
By Kate Seamons,  Newser Staff
Posted Mar 8, 2011 9:57 AM CST
Eating Disorders Hit 500K Teens
Overall, 3% of teens had a lifetime prevalence of one of the disorders.   (?daniellehelm)

An eating disorder study being billed as the largest analysis of US teens ever is returning some depressingly large numbers: More than half a million have had an eating disorder, according to government research. Binge-eating was the most common disorder, found in 1.5% of teens studied, followed by bulimia (1%) and anorexia (0.3%); another 3% had bothersome symptoms, but not a full-fledged disorder. While the percentages may seem low, they're actually slightly higher than what have been observed in other studies, reports the AP. (More health study stories.)

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