Next week, February 21^st through 27^th, 2010 is National Eating Disorders Awareness Week. 

Eating Disorders are a serious issue in our country that affect millions of people.  In fact, in the United States, as many as 10 million females and 1 million males are fighting a life and death battle with an eating disorder such as anorexia or bulimia. Millions more are struggling with binge eating disorder. 

Before we start drawing the necessary connections to the LGBT community, let’s first review some definitions.  Anorexia is a serious, potentially life-threatening eating disorder characterized by the (generally unrealistic) belief that once must constantly lose weight---a goal most often achieved through self-starvation and excessive weight loss.   Bulimia is another serious eating disorder characterized by a cycle of bingeing and purging behaviors such as self-induced vomiting or, sometimes, abuse of laxatives  designed to undo the effects of binge eating. Binge Eating Disorder (BED) is a type of eating disorder not otherwise specified and is characterized by recurrent binge eating without the regular purging behaviors typical of bulimia.

All three of these eating disorders are serious, and an individual suffering from one or more of them is at great risk of physical harm.  Some of the most serious health risks include: problems with oral health (serious teeth & gum infections), irregularities in heart rhythm and blood pressure, malnutrition, a reduction of bone density (osteoporosis---which makes the bones dry and brittle and more prone to break), muscle loss, hair loss, severe dehydration, fatigue, spikes in cholesterol, and diabetes.  At the most extreme end of the spectrum, eating disorders can certainly also lead to death.

An individual suffering from an eating disorder will often try to hide their disorder…and may be in serious denial about the existence and risks of their disorder.  Many will also avoid seeking out help believing that their disordered behavior is just a “phase” and will go away…or that they are in control of their disorder rather than their disorder controlling them.  This is never the case.  A person with an eating disorder is a person in need of treatment and support. The most effective forms of treatment range from mental health counseling with a trained professional to intervention with prescribed medications.  In serious cases, it may even be necessary to hospitalize patients for medical and/or psychiatric care.

So what does all this have to do with LGBT health anyway?  Well, the data tells a pretty interesting, and disturbing, story.  While the majority of reported cases do remain among heterosexual females---they do not make up 100% of the population of people impacted by eating disorders. 

It’s suspected that approximately 10% of total eating disorder cases in the USA occur in men…and many of these may be gay and bisexual men.  In fact, numerous studies over the years have demonstrated that young gay men, including gay teens, are a leading risk group for eating disorders…and when compared to heterosexual men, they are nearly twice as likely to express dissatisfaction with their body and/or develop one or more of these disorders.   The data about lesbian and bisexual women is compelling, as well.  For a very long time it was assumed that lesbian women “cared less” about tradition norms of female beauty---meaning they didn’t want to have the stereotypical thin, feminine body type---and were, therefore, lower risk for body and eating disorders.  Research over the last decade, however, has proved this just simply isn’t the case.  Similarly, while there is less hard research about eating disorders in trans people, there are anecdotal reports from all over the country that trans people, especially young trans people, struggle with significant body dissatisfaction and high risk for eating disorders.

What is clear, is that eating disorders are a problem---for everyone…but perhaps especially for LGBT people.  As a culture we need to relearn how to love our bodies; and if we DON’T love our bodies, we have to learn how to make changes in a way that is healthy.   Doing so is just another piece of the puzzle in being…queer, proud, and HEALTHY!

If you want to learn more about eating disorders or National Eating Disorders Awareness Week, click here.