Eating disorders affect nearly 10% of the population, and more than 30 million Americans will experience an eating disorder in their lifetime. It is one of the deadliest mental illnesses; about 26% of people diagnosed with suicide attempts.
But these statistics may be underestimated.
A lack of proactive detection and treatment leaves many struggling behind closed doors – largely due to harmful stereotypes of what it looks like to struggle with an eating disorder.
“It’s always thin white, middle-class, upper-class women,” Gloria Lucas, who leads a support group for people of color battling eating disorders, puts it in a PBS article, outlining the commonly accepted rhetoric.
Research shows BIPOC individuals are less likely to be asked about eating disorder symptoms.
“Stereotypes have been around for a long time and continue to perpetuate these gaps as well as the identification and treatment of eating disorders in the BIPOC community,” Dr. Toya Roberson-Moore, a psychiatrist and associate medical director with the Center for Eating Recovery, explains fortune.
Eating disorders in the BIPOC community
Blacks tend to develop anorexia at a younger age than whites and may suffer from the disorder for a longer period of time before recovery; Black teens are 50% more likely to have symptoms of bulimia compared to white teens; Hispanic individuals are more likely to develop bulimia nervosa than non-Hispanic individuals. Despite the need for intervention in the community, BIPOC individuals are less likely to be diagnosed with an eating disorder and seek treatment. However, research is sparse in this area.
At routine medical visits, BIPOC individuals who show symptoms of an eating disorder can be noticed, Roberson-Moore said.
“Come to the door, the disparity starts because they are not screened,
Roberson-Moore said, explaining the problem as two.
While screening may be rejected in some cases, others may face screening measurements that lack cultural sensitivity. Roberson-Moore works closely with BIPOC youth, and says that the measures used to diagnose eating disorders don’t provide specific experiences.
“This rating scale is not standardized or even validated with marginalized groups,” he said. “So they are unreliable when it comes to assessing risk.”
The experience of racism is a trigger for eating disorders
Roberson-Moore says the experience of racist events is a psychological stressor that can cause BIPOC youth and adults to take control of their environment in a more accessible way. This mindset can lead to the development of eating disorders, control over food, and struggles with body image. If these stressors are not shown in a medical evaluation, a whole subsection of people can go untreated, he explained.
“We have irregular eating levels because [it’s] the body’s way of dealing with trauma,” he said. “If they can’t control what happens to them, they can control what they eat.”
It starts with pediatricians and other research
Research on eating disorders to date has been centered in racially and ethnically disparate university settings, according to Equip, an eating disorder management and awareness platform.
“There is much room for research that explores minority stress and the occurrence of eating disorders, minority stress in the context of the treatment environment, media influences, and medical interactions that individuals encounter during the diagnosis process,” said Dr. Christyna Johnson, non-diet registered dietician and advisor at Equip in a blog post.
In her work, Roberson-Moore hopes to draw more attention to the persistent stereotypes surrounding eating disorders in order to create more inclusive treatment, especially since past research has shown that race-based stereotypes have altered doctors’ ability to detect eating disorders in Black people. . individual.
“Eating disorders are not racist, but the institutional exclusion and lack of resources around eating disorders in BIPOC people certainly is,” said Benjamin O’Keefe, an Equip advisor, in the post. “Only when we expand our understanding of those affected by eating disorders and mental health problems can we begin to create treatment and advocacy programs that can reach everyone who needs them.”
Beyond the research disparity, how eating disorders are described and discussed on popular platforms for youth, such as TikTok, also creates misunderstandings about diagnosis and treatment. Black TikTok creators with expertise in mental health have drawn attention to changing the narrative around eating disorders and combating misconceptions, CNN reported.
The platform can push the assumption that people with eating disorders must look weak and underweight. However, less than 6% of those diagnosed with an eating disorder are medically classified as “underweight”. Some people may not eat very little, says Roberson-Moore. However, the relationship with food and/or the body is dangerous.
“There are many misconceptions that we need to push back, which have been perpetuated in the literature and in the scientific community with a lack of awareness of eating disorders in the BIPOC community,” he said.
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