Middle age and eating disorders
We all know the trope—a young, white, affluent woman is underweight, struggling with eating, and can’t recover unless her parents send her away to a treatment facility that costs a fortune. But this is hardly an accurate representation of who eating disorders afflict. Unfortunately, they don’t discriminate based on gender, race, socioeconomic status, or age.
Because of the blurred lines between what we’ve come to accept as diet culture vs. a full-blown eating disorder, it’s easy for seemingly harmless diets presented to us by the media to start small and eventually snowball into disordered eating, without us ever knowing, and regardless of age, education, and life experience.
But the population of people over 50 population is often overlooked and unreported. Why?
Let’s explore.
Why do midlife eating disorders often go untreated?
Eating disorders after age 50 may go undetected and untreated for a few reasons.
The individual who is engaging in the disordered eating behaviors doesn’t think it’s an issue.
It’s worth examining that fine line between what you think may be a harmless diet vs. behavior that requires you to restrict your food intake, exercise to “get rid of” or “make room for” calories, or obsess about anything that has to do with meals, food, and your body.
And unfortunately, just because you’re over a certain age, doesn’t mean you can’t develop an eating disorder.
3. You assume it’s just a normal part of aging.
Yes, weight fluctuations are common at any stage of life, particularly when there’s a shift in hormone production. But the development of disordered eating behaviors has less to do with your hormones and more to do with your mind.
So what’s happening in midlife that increases the risk of developing an eating disorder?
Middle age risk factors for developing an eating disorder
Middle age can be a challenging time of transition for people. Whether they’re facing an empty nest with children who’ve flown the coop, they’ve decided to separate from their partners, or they’re dealing with the loss of their own parents or loved ones, middle age is a significant time for reflection. What’s more, bodily changes and mortality become frightening realities.
Here are a few other reasons why middle aged people might be at a higher risk for developing an eating disorder.
A cultural obsession with youth.
If you’re a member of the Western world, it’s likely your culture has a blinding fixation on youthfulness. Wrinkle-free skin; long, thick locks of hair; and a svelte figure are still considered desirable physical traits, at least according to the beauty companies trying to sell their products (most of which are, by the way, run by men).
At an older age, individuals may feel pressure to adhere to these standards of “beauty” even though in other cultures, age is seen as an accomplishment and an honor.
Unpleasant circumstances that are out of our control.
Our bodies are changing, our health may be declining, and we may be losing loved ones who had been around for most of our lives. These circumstances remind us that we don’t have control over life events, which can be a frightening concept for someone whose life had been stable for a long time.
Loss of a sense of purpose.
With kids out of the house, retirement on the horizon, and the sudden onset of free time, we can feel directionless as we get older. These feelings may contribute to a lack of control over the inevitable aging of our bodies and minds. And all of this can be really scary.
When life events and inevitabilities feel out of our control, we might turn to activities or hobbies to shift our attention to something else, something that we think will be a pleasant distraction from the tumult around us.
As a personal example, I leaned on such activities during a stormy period in my life:
I write this from my own experience as a 21-year-old woman who had just lost her mother to cancer, was starting her first adult job, and had moved to a new city where she didn’t know a soul. I sought solace in activities around food and exercised that I thought were “healthy” but that slowly and quietly descended into disordered behavior. These symptoms only got worse the longer I resisted addressing what was really going on for me at that time.
But what if I’ve never had an eating disorder?
Even if you’ve never struggled with an eating disorder and therefore don’t have to worry about being one of the one-third of women who relapse in their later years, you still should be wary of signs and symptoms of disordered eating at any age.
Signs of disordered eating in middle age
Eating disorders are sneaky and aren’t always as black and white as some might think. Just because you’re not starving yourself and are underweight doesn’t mean you don’t have anorexia nervosa. And just because you only binge every so often doesn’t mean your behavior is worry-free.
Here are a few signs to keep an eye out for:
An increased focus on diet and exercise. This might look like:
Weighing your food, weighing yourself
Counting calories; an increased focus on the calorie content of food
Exercising excessively, every day, or more than once per day
Exercising in extreme conditions (snow, rain, heat)
Skipping meals or only eating small amounts at mealtime
Deceiving your loved ones. Not only are eating disorders sneaky symptomatically, but they’re also something we prefer to keep hidden from our friends and family. You might find yourself hiding food, lying about eating, denying you’re hungry, or sneaking snacks in the middle of the night so your partner doesn’t see.
New stricter rules around food. Maybe you’ve suddenly cut out entire food groups or are eliminating carbs because of what they might do to your figure. When these mindsets start taking shape, they warrant a pause and a ponder.
Health hazards of eating disorders in middle age
As your body changes with age, so do the harmful side effects of disordered eating.
Eating disorders in middle age can even be more harmful to your body and mind, and can affect your body in the following ways:
Bone loss and osteoporosis
Gastrointestinal complications
Cardiac arrhythmias, heart failure
Poor dental health
Depression, anxiety
What should I do if I recognize these symptoms in myself?
First off, remember that eating disorders are not a choice. They are not your fault.
Second, it is very difficult (if not impossible) to get better without professional help. Reach out to a health professional, ideally one who has experience treating eating disorders. Or, if you’re not quite ready for that, reach out to someone you trust.
Third, you’re not alone. Millions of men and women of all ages around the world are going through the same thing you are.
And finally, you can get better.