BodiMojo Teen Health Blog – Teenage Nutrition, Fitness, Stress, Relationships & More

Eating disorders are often depicted as the tragic consequence of  teen fame, but women of all ages can suffer from its hold. A surprising number of “Desperate Housewives” in their late 40s and 50s are relapsing after having overcome an eating disorder in their youth, while others are experiencing them for the first time in mid-life. Experts are treating an increasing number of women who are engaging in self-destructive behaviors – starving themselves, abusing laxatives, exercising to dangerous extremes – that have been considered problematic teenage behaviors for many years. Whether it’s empty nesting, late-in-life divorce, menopause, studies have shown a positive relationship between fear of age and disordered eating.  “For many women, there is a sense of lack of control as our bodies change with age, even if you eat well and exercise regularly,” said Boston nutritionist Hillary Wright, who has seen more and more older women struggling with body image and pressures toward thinness. “Anorexia and bulimia can start with a genetic susceptibility and be triggered by sensitivity to all the messages around us that constantly tell us we need to be slim,” said Wright.

In a recent New York Times article, Margo Maine, co-author of “The Body Myth: Adult Women and the Pressure to Be Perfect” (Wiley, 2005), said, “I think the degree of despair we are seeing among adult women about their bodies is unrivaled.” Eating disorders tend to creep up during periods of developmental transitions, and nutritionist Wright has seen many women come to see her during times of stress when they fear their eating disorder behaviors may re-emerge. Yet not all women suffer from eating issues despite being awash in media messages. Why? There are certain characteristics that can make a girl or woman vulnerable to eating disordered behavior, such as anxiety, perfectionism and obsessive tendencies that can be expressed through extreme dieting when stress or other pressures begin to increase.

BodiMojo founder Tara Cousineau, Ph.D, recently attended a meeting of the Academy of Eating Disorders, in Salzburg Austria. “Recent research suggests that there may be a breakdown in reward system in the brain where control of one’s eating actually reduces anxiety,” she reports. “It can hard to wrap your mind around this. Think of it as ‘eating food increases anxiety, so starving yourself calms you down.’ Once this neuro-physiological pattern is set, it is very difficult to stop. So it’s not just about cultural pressures to look beautiful and young; there’s more going on in the mind and body that makes relapse likely.”

As a midlife woman myself, I understand the pressure not only to be thin – but also to look youthful, both which can be a losing battle as the birthdays add up. Luckily, I fall in the fairly healthy range.  But here’s some food for thought: whether teen or adult, I believe one of the remedies for an eating disorder lies in developing a mind-body-soul connection where approval comes not from the mirror but from an inner depth and creativity. But I understand that suffering – and recovering – from an eating disorder is a complex and difficult process. Personally, I would love to be a size 6 again, erase wrinkles and shave off the belly muffin top from my jeans. Sure, as Kate Moss said, nothing tastes as good as skinny. But I think life is too short to be lived without chocolate.