[NOTE: EMBARGOED FOR RELEASE UNTIL 11 A.M. CDT, AUGUST 17, 1997]
CHICAGO -- About six out of 10 high school girls with eating disorders or
related symptoms do not believe they need counseling for their behaviors,
a new study shows.
The results suggest that eating disorder behaviors have become so common
among adolescent girls that they are often not considered a problem, said
Dinah Meyer, author of the study and assistant professor of psychology at
Ohio State University's Marion campus.
"Eating disorders have almost become normalized in our culture because
of the emphasis on thinness," Meyer said.
Meyer presented results of her study Aug. 17 in Chicago at the annual meeting
of the American Psychological Association.
The study involved 238 junior and senior girls at high schools in the Midwest
and Southeast. The girls were given questionnaires that examined their eating
disorder behaviors and their feelings about seeking psychological help.
The results showed that 16 percent of the girls had
full-blown eating disorders, and an additional 33 percent showed serious
symptoms of such disorders.
"The girls who are classified as symptomatic were exhibiting severe
symptoms of eating disorders, not just a minor purging episode once in a
while," Meyer said.
These prevalence figures are similar to what other studies have found, Meyer
said.
The most common symptoms were purging behaviors, such as vomiting, fasting
and use of diuretics.
Meyer said she was most interested in finding out how many of the symptomatic
girls were seeking counseling or realized they needed such help.
She found that only two of the girls with eating disorders were currently
seeking counseling, and two reported seeking counseling for their eating
concerns in the past.
About 40 percent of the girls with full-blown eating disorders believed
they did not need counseling, as did 65 percent of those with serious symptoms
-- for an overall rate of 57 percent.
For those with eating disorders who did not believe they needed counseling,
the most common reason they gave was that the "problem was not worrisome
enough to me." The second-largest response was that they "don't
believe I have a problem at all." The third-largest response was that
they "don't want anyone to know" about their disorder.
Very few of them said they avoided getting help because they had a fear
of counseling.
The results suggest the need for a concentrated education program to emphasize
that eating disorder symptoms such as purging are not normal -- no matter
what other girls are doing, Meyer said.
"I think a lot of young girls start to believe disordered eating is
normal because they see their friends doing it," she said. "They
minimize the behavior and say it's no big deal.
"Many of the girls with serious symptoms may be on their way to developing
full-blown eating disorders," Meyer said. "It is important to
intervene before their eating behaviors get worse."
Parents also need to be educated about recognizing eating disorders.
"Just as parents are taught to look for drug use in their teens, they
should be taught to look for eating disorder behaviors too," Meyer
said.
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Contact: Dinah Meyer, (614) 389-6786; Meyer.5@osu.edu
Written by Jeff Grabmeier, (614) 292-8457; Grabmeier.1@osu.edu