Anorexia, Bulimia Rates Soar in Japan
Excerpt By Charnicia E. Huggins, Reuters Health

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Anorexia, bulimia and other eating disorders are 10 times more common in Japan now than they were 20 years ago, according to a team of Japanese researchers.

What's more, there has also been an increased tendency towards earlier onset of such disorders, even among prepubertal children, study author Dr. Gen Komaki of the National Institute of Mental Health in Japan told Reuters Health.

Komaki and his colleagues investigated the number of patients diagnosed with eating disorders in a survey of over 1,000 medical facilities across the nation. They performed assessments of the facilities in 1980, 1985, 1993 and 1998.

In 1980, approximately 2 out of every 100,000 individuals were diagnosed with anorexia nervosa, the investigators found. That number increased slightly in 1985 to roughly 3 individuals per every 100,000.

In 1993, however, about 5 out of every 100,000 individuals were diagnosed with an eating disorder, including both anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa. And a mere 5 years later, that number jumped to almost 19 per every 100,000, Komaki's team reports.

Reasons for the dramatic increase in eating disorders include both socio-cultural and economic factors, according to the researchers.

In Japan, there has been a shift towards a more westernized and urbanized lifestyle, and a change from the traditional ''inner'' sense of value towards valuing of ``appearance'' or ''performance,'' Komaki said.

``One of the greatest reasons for the rapid increase of bulimia nervosa...is that 'weight and shape concerns' are strengthened among females by the mass media, as it always presents 'thinness is beauty,''' Komaki said. ``Besides, fast-food stores are mushrooming nationwide.''

Other possible contributing factors include accelerated physical and psychological maturation among Japanese youth, increased psychological stress among women and increasing reports of divorce and other family problems, all of which may interact to influence the rate of eating disorders, Komaki said.

The study findings were reported in August during the 16th World Congress on Psychosomatic Medicine in Goteborg, Sweden.

Reference Source 89

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