Facts and Figures

• Recurrent dieting can eventually lead to weight gain. 95% of people who go on weight loss diets regain everything they have lost plus more within two years.

• Weight loss dieting research shows that: 1/3 to 2/3 of the weight is regained within one year, and almost all is regained within 5 years.

• Adolescent girls who diet only moderately are 5 times more likely to develop an eating disorder than those who don’t diet, and those who diet severely are 18 times more likely to develop an eating disorder.

• The chances of an active Australian woman (18-35 years) having the same weight, height, waist and hip measurements of a mannequin is 1.1%, and she has no chance at all of matching the measurements of Barbie.

• A Melbourne survey of 1,800 teenagers found that near-ly 20% of boys had dieted to lose weight.

• It is important that you eat a balanced diet with foods from each of the five major food groups. Choosing a variety of foods within and across food groups is also important. (p.15)
The ideal Body Mass Index (BMI) is between 18.5 and 24.9. Your risk of a number of health problems rises significantly from a BMI of 27 while anything over 29.9 is a serious health concern.

• Women with a waist circumference of over 88 cm (35 inches) and men with waists of more than 102 cm (40 inches) are at much greater risk of disease.

• Abdominal body fat, the ‘apple shape’, is a higher health risk than the ‘pear shape’.

• You only need a total of 30 minutes of moderate physical activity each day (e.g. by putting together 3 lots of 10 minutes), to improve your health.

• Women who exercise primarily for weight or appearance concerns tend to have a poorer body image.

• 45% of women and 23% of men in the healthy weight range think they are overweight.

• At least 20% of women who are underweight think that they are overweight and are dieting to lose weight.

• Eating disorders can be found in people as young as seven and as old as 70 years.

• Approximately one in 100 adolescent girls develop anorexia nervosa.

• Anorexia nervosa is the third most common chronic illness for adolescent girls in Australia (after obesity and asthma).

• The incidence of bulimia nervosa in the Australian population is 5 in 100. Only about one-tenth of the cases of bulimia in the community are detected. The true incidence is estimated to be as high as 1 in 5 in the student population.

• The prevalence of binge eating disorder in the general population is estimated to be 4%. The incidence of binge eating disorder in males and females is almost equal.

• 1 in 20 Australian women admitted to having suffered from an eating disorder while 1 in 4 individuals know someone who has an eating disorder.

• Onset of anorexia is generally in adolescence with bulimia and binge eating more likely to first occur in late adolescence or early adulthood. The average time that someone suffers from anorexia is five years.

• Low self-esteem increases the chance of developing disordered eating. More than half of anorexia sufferers have been sexually abused or experienced some other major trauma.

• 40% of people with anorexia nervosa are at risk of developing bulimia nervosa.

• It is common for people suffering from bulimia to keep their disorder hidden for 8-10 years, at great cost to their physical and psychological health.

• 83% of bulimic patients vomit, 33% abuse laxatives, and 10% take diet pills.

• One in ten young adults and approximately 25% of children diagnosed with anorexia nervosa are male.

• Anorexia is the most fatal of all psychiatric illnesses. Mortality rates after 20 years are between 15-20%. The mortality rate for bulimia nervosa is estimated to be up to 19%.

• About 50% of people who develop anorexia will return to a normal body weight within 6 months of treatment. 25% will have a low but stable weight, and the remaining 25% will be chronically ill with the condition or die.

• The best outcomes are achieved for those whose condition is identified early and receive appropriate treatment. 70% of individuals who undertake treatment for bulimia nervosa report significant improvement in their symptoms.

• Young Australian women who start dieting before the age of 15 are more likely to experience depression, binge eating, purging, and physical symptoms such as tiredness, low iron levels and menstrual irregularities. Women who diet frequently (more than 5 times) are 75% more likely to experience depression.

• Dieting is the greatest risk factor for the development of an eating disorder. 68% of 15-year-old females are on a diet, of these, 8% are severely dieting.

• 31% of young women surveyed between 18 and 23 reported that at some time they had at least experimented with unhealthy eating behaviours including making themselves purge, deliberately abusing laxatives or diuretics, or fasting for at least 24 hours in order to lose weight.

• Australians spend about $1 million a day on weight loss attempts with little success.