Seniors and Eating Disorders: How Common Is It?
Eating disorders are usually associated with young females. Anorexia and bulimia often plague teen girls because they feel as if they need to live up to the airbrushed images in magazines.
When you hear about eating disorders, you do not usually think about senior citizens. The truth is that eating disorders among the elderly is quite common. In fact, in the last few years, the majority of anorexia-related deaths were among the elderly – close to 78 percent.
Senior citizens usually aren’t worried about body image or staying on top of the latest trends. So why has it become so common?
Seniors can be vulnerable to eating disorders for a myriad of reasons. Dementia can lead a senior to forget to eat. Financial problems can lead a senior to skip meals to save money. Even health problems, such as bad teeth and stomach pain, can cause a senior citizen to avoid eating. The side effects of medication can also attribute to a senior citizen skipping a meal. Read more
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