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Eating Disorders

by Prof. Yael Latzer, Faculty of Social Welfare and Health Science, University of Haifa, Research Director, Eating Disorders Center, Rambam Health Care Campus
16 June 2025

Eating disorders have become a genuine epidemic in the modern world, particularly among young women. The phenomenon is associated with a cultural perception that views thinness as a sign of beauty and success, and overwhelming social pressure to achieve the perfect body. It is important to understand that eating disorders are attributed to severe emotional distress and is not a personal choice.  

Eating disorders are mental illnesses that are characterized by extreme eating behavior, such as self-starving, uncontrolled eating and induced vomiting. Attributed to severe emotional distress, they cause severe physical and emotional injury. The incidence of the disorder depends on the type of disorder.  

Important to emphasize: Every eating disorder begins with diet practices that restrict eating and involve problematic eating. All diet practices during adolescence must be seriously addressed and one must remain alert to prevent a deterioration into a full-blow eating disorder. 

Causes of eating disorders: The causes are complex and include biological, psychological and social factors. The main causes are generally social pressure, poor self-image and self-esteem related to external appearance. 

Repercussions; Eating disorders may cause serious medical complications including heart and skeletal problems as well as hormone disorders. They also affect mental health, resulting in depression, anxiety and suicidal thoughts. 

Treatment of eating disorders: Treatment is a complex process that requires a multidisciplinary approach that includes psychological, dietary and medical treatment. With the right treatment and support, one can recover and live a full and meaningful life. 

If you are coping with an eating disorder, recovery may seem distant dream to you at the moment but it is important that you remember that it is possible. With the right treatment and support, you can rediscover your inner strengths and grow from this challenge and live a full and meaningful life. Do not give up on yourself. The path may be challenging but there is ultimately light and hope. 

If your daughter is coping with an eating disorder, it is important to remember that you play a significant role in the path to recovery. Even if it sometimes seems like there is no solution to the challenges she faces, it is important to know that she and you, her parents, are not alone. Warm, loving support, coupled with involvement in a combined therapeutic process, can make the difference. And most important to remember: your love, presence, responsibility and involvement is more important than anything else. 

The article is written in female form since most individuals with eating disorders are adolescent females but the information is applicable to adolescent males and females as well as adult men and women of any age.

In recent decades, adolescent girls and young women have become increasingly preoccupied with their appearance, and men are gradually joining them. The incidence of eating disorders has been increasing since the beginning of the 1960s, and currently is reaching epidemic proportions. This trend, which characterizes modern Western society, is associated with the development of a culture of thinness that defines beauty, success, power and self-control through the body and weight. Concurrently, an entire industry of diet and problematic eating behaviors has evolved that may result in various eating disorders. 

Eating disorders are characterized by a strong desire to lose body weight while being obsessively preoccupied with food, in body shape and in weight - particularly in light of extremely poor self-image and self-esteem. These characteristics indicate severe mental distress. 

Anyone who has an eating disorder tends to assign excessive importance to their body shape and weight. She sees them as the only measure of her self-worth and tends to judge herself almost entirely in terms of her body shape and weight and the extent to which she can control them. This tendency is unusual, given the fact that most people evaluate themselves based on their skills and achievements in various areas of life, such as studies, work, relationships, artistic skills, etc. 

When food becomes a battlefield 

For individuals dealing with eating disorders, food loses its value as a source of pleasure and nourishment and becomes a means of control and security on the one hand, but also of punishment, purification, and a battlefield. The sense of control is an illusion. In reality, food becomes the center of life and completely takes over the adolescent's life, affecting her emotional, cognitive, and physical function, all of which involving great distress. The disorder actually manifests itself as irregular, unbalanced, restrictive eating, abuse of laxatives, diuretics, various weight loss products, and compulsive exercise. 

Dealing with eating disorders is a complex and challenging journey but it is important to remember that with the right help and appropriate guidance, the disorder can be successfully treated. If you have an eating disorder, it is important to know that it does not indicate weakness or a behavioral whim of a teenage diet but rather severe mental distress that requires understanding, patience, and support. For many women, the first step to recovery begins with acknowledging their distress and seeking help. 

  • If you are coping with an eating disorder

    recovery may seem a distant dream to you but one that is possible. With the right treatment and support, you can rediscover your strengths and grow from this challenge and live a full and meaningful life. Do not give up on yourself. The path may be challenging but there is ultimately light and hope.

  • If your daughter is coping with an eating disorder

    it is important that you know that you play a significant role in the path to recovery. Even if it sometimes seems like there is no solution to the challenges she faces, you, as parents, are not alone. Your involvement in the therapeutic process, alongside, warm, loving support, can make the difference. Your love, presence, responsibility and involvement is more important than anything else.

 Reasons for the development of eating disorders 

Despite research on the subject, the causes behind the development of eating disorders are still unclear. Most studies show that a combination of social, psychological and biological processes play a key role in their occurrence. These disorders largely affect adolescent females, during a critical period in terms of development, and are associated with high morbidity, numerous medical complications that involve all body systems, and unfortunately, high mortality rates.   

Incidence of eating disorders

  • 0.5% - 1%
    Anorexia nervosa
  • 2% - 4%
    Bulima nervosa
  • 2% - 3.5%
    Binge eating disorder

Research and clinical evidence indicates that most cases of eating disorders are among women (75%-90%). Having said that, recent decades have witnessed an increase in the incidence of the disorder among men as well.  

The spectrum of eating disorders   

Eating disorders are on a spectrum, with normal eating behavior based on natural hunger and satiety mechanisms on one end, and repetitive dieting behaviors with eating restrictions (referred to in the professional literature as "problematic eating") and dieting behaviors with symptoms of eating disorders (referred to in the literature as "eating disorder-related pathology") on the other that pose a risk for the development of eating disorders up to complete loss of control over eating, followed by the development of severe eating disorders. 

Important to emphasize

Important to emphasize

Every eating disorder begins with diet practices that restrict eating and involve problematic eating. All diet practices during adolescence must be seriously addressed and one must remain alert to prevent a deterioration into a full-blow eating disorder. There is no way to predict who will develop a full-blown eating disorder and who will not. Hence the importance of awareness among you, the parents, the family and the environment of any innocent diet practice being adopted by your daughter.   

The impact of eating disorders on life

Eating disorders can also affect mental, physical, family and social state of its victims: 

eating disorders develop as a result of severe mental distress, which occasionally subsequently worsens. The disorder itself is a manifestation of the distress that occasionally worsens as a result of symptoms of the eating disorder. Distress can manifest itself as depression, anxiety, compulsive behavior, suicidal thoughts and even suicide attempts, or other severe mental conditions. The duration of the disease is also reflected in a deterioration of mental symptoms and the distress that accompanies it.  

Eating disorders cause various injuries to the body, some of which are temporary and reversible once normal eating is restored, and some of which can cause long-term and irreversible damage to various systems in the body, such as: arrested sexual development, heart damage (e.g., arrhythmias), menstrual and fertility disorders, damage to kidney function, bone density (osteoporosis), the digestive system, etc.

Eating disorders affect not only the girl who is struggling with them but also all the other members of the family, who worry and invest time, energy, and money to provide for their loved one. Family members often experience tremendous frustration and even anger because of their inability, despite their many efforts, to "break the cycle of illness." Their hearts break at the sight of the beautiful and successful girl who is physically, mentally and functionally withering before their eyes. They see her worsening impact in all areas of life, how she neglects her studies and social life, and feel helpless, anger, frustration, and pain. 

Comorbidity of eating disorders

Eating disorders, which are included under the psychiatric diagnostic manual DSM-5 primarily affect adolescents and young women, involves physical and mental comorbidity. Unfortunately, of all mental health disorders, eating disorders has one of the highest mortality rates. 

Common mental disorder comorbidities: 

  • Mood disorders
  • Anxiety
  • Obsessiveness
  • Personality disorders
  • PTSD
  • Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (CPTSD)
  • ADHD and learning disabilities

These mental disorders make treatment difficult, complex, challenging and protracted. In severe cases, when hospitalization is necessary, the duration of hospitalization required to stabilize physical and mental health is significantly longer in comparison with other severe psychiatric hospitalizations.