Nutrition disorders do not only affect teenagers. Risk can also raise around pregnancy and menopause

Eating disorders affect more than 1.1 million people in Australiarepresenting 4.5% of the population. These disorders include eating eating, bulimia and anorexia nerves.

Meanwhile, more than 4.1 million people (18.9%) affects the dissatisfaction with the body, and main risk factor For some types of eating disorders.

But what picture comes to mind first when you think about someone with eating disorders or body fears? Is she a teenage girl? If so, you are definitely not alone. It is often a picture that we see in popular media.

The most common are eating disorders and concerns about the body image Teenage girlsBut their dissemination in adults, especially in women aged 30, 40 and 50, is actually close.

What may happen with girls and women in these specific age groups to create this increased risk?

3 ‘P

We can consider women’s risk periods for problems with the image of the body and eating disorders as three “P”: maturation (teenagers), pregnancy (30s) and perimenopause and menopause (40s, 50s).

A recent report from the Butterfly foundation showed Three groups of the highest frequency of occurrence In the case of fears related to the image of the body, there are teens aged 15-17 (39.9%), women aged 55–64 (35.7%) and women aged 35–44 (32.6%).

We recognize that there is a wide age range when girls and women pass these phases of life. For example, a tiny part of women will experience Premature menopause Before 40 and not all women will get pregnant.

Differences in the manner measured by the symptoms of eating disorders in various studies may make it tough to withdraw direct comparisons, but here is a shutter of what evidence tells us.

Ripening

IN Review of research Looking at children of six people aged 18, 30% of girls in this age group reported disordered food, compared to 17% of boys. The indicators of disordered food were higher when the children aged.

Pregnancy

During pregnancy, Dissemination of eating disorders It is estimated at 7.5%. Almost 70% of women are dissatisfied with their body weight and drawing in the postpartum period.

Periomenopause

It is estimated more than 73% of middle -aged women At the age of 42–52 they are dissatisfied with their body weight. However, only some of these women would go through the passage of menopause at the time of this study.

The occurrence of eating disorders is nearby 3.5% in women over 40 years of age and 1-2% in men at the same stage.

So what’s going on?

Although we are not sure of the exact mechanisms underlying the eating disorders and the risk of body dissatisfaction during three “P”, it is probably a combination of factors.

These stages of life include Significant reproductive hormonal changes (For example, estrogen and progesterone fluctuations) that can lead Increase in appetite or food and changes into body composition. These changes can cause weight and shape fears.

These stages can also be a stern change in identity and self -perception. A girl undergoing puberty can worry about transforming into a “adult woman” and changing their attitudes around her, such as unwanted sexual attention.

Pregnancy, of course, has a significant body size and change of shape. Pregnant women can also feel that their body is no longer their own.

While social pressure, to be lean, can stop during pregnancy, social expectations will probably come back after birth, demanding women “Bounce back“To their shape and size before pregnancy.

Women passing menopause usually express concerns about the loss of identity. In combination with changes in body composition and perception, their appearance leaves teenage ideals of beauty, maybe it Intensify the body dissatisfaction and raise the risk of eating disorders.

These periods of life can also be extremely stressful, both physically and mentally.

For example, a girl undergoing maturation can be in the face of more adult duties and stress at school. A pregnant woman can look after her family, balancing work and other requirements. A woman undergoing menopause can potentially look after many generations (teenage children, aging parents) while moving on the complexity of medium life.

Studies have shown interpersonal problems and stressors can increase the risk eating disorders.

We have to do better

Unfortunately, most of the politics and research attention is currently focused on preventing and treating eating disorders in adolescents instead of adults. It also seems that there is no understanding among healthcare employees about these problems in older women.

In research and (gemma) he led with women who experienced Nutrition disorder during menopauseParticipants expressed frustration because of the lack of services that the people faced before the eating disorder at this stage of their lives. Participants often said that health care workers lacked education and training on eating disorders during menopause.

We must increase awareness Among healthcare employees and the general public that eating disorders and concerns about body image can affect women of all ages – not only teenage girls. I hope that this will allow more women to seek facilitate without a stigma and will allow better support and treatment.

Jaycee Fuller from Bond University contributed to this article.

If this article has raised problems for you or you are worried about someone you know, call Lifeline to number 13 11 14. In terms of fears related to eating disorders or body image Foundation website butterfly or call the national hotline at 1800 33 4673.