Age of Risk for Onset of Eating Disorders

Conventional wisdom states that anorexia and bulimia most commonly affect those in their adolescent years. Those in their early to late teens are at higher risk for eating disorders.

The American Psychiatric Association says that the average age at which anorexia nervosa arrives is 17 years, with many cases clustering around ages 14 and 18. Most information on age for bulimia is less specific, although there has historically been a clear consensus that bulimia normally begins in the later adolescent years.

More and more sources, however, point to eating disorders affecting younger and younger children -- driving the average down.

Why Eating Disorders Arrive in Adolescence

The most common explanation for why eating disorders occur in the teen years is the amazing number of stressors that arise, especially for young women, at this time. Bodies change in early adolescence, so those who feel pressure from the demands of getting older may delay physical development through anorexia. The lack of nutrition slows sexual development and can even hinder growth in height.

For women, physical development that seems to come too early or too late can be a particularly big problem. An unkind comment from a man or woman about a girl's developing body can convince a vulnerable young woman that she's not "good enough." When this happens, an eating disorder is an easy way to deal with shame.

Age Extremes in Eating Disorders

Cases of even younger children engaged in disordered weight control are increasing. In a painful paradox, a common suspect blamed in part for this change is our obsession with obesity in both adults and kids. It's ever important that we focus on maintaining healthly weight in adults and children, and so this focus is indeed necessary. However, as the "obesity epidemic" and its publicity gain strength, so does fear of being fat -- a powerful backlash.

Boys seem to be as likely to develop eating disorders before age 12 as girls. The more "traditional" tendency of girls with eating disorders to heavily outnumber boys begins at age 12.

In older persons, eating disorders are less common, but they do occur. In some cases, the disordered eating is left over from similar behaviors begun even decades earlier. For others, the struggle is brand new. People in their sixties are capable of developing eating disorders.

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