There is an increasing trend in cases against eating disorders, and legislators in several states seek to penalize the culprits.
Proposals across the U.S. include restricting social media algorithms from promoting potentially harmful content; prohibiting the sale of weight loss pills to minors; and adding eating disorder prevention into middle and high school curricula.
30 million Americans—about the population of Texas—who will struggle with an eating disorder in their lifetime. Every year over 10,000 die from an eating disorder, according to data cited by the National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders.
Anorexia, one of the most common eating disorders, typically involves restrictive eating habits and extreme thinness. It can cause abnormally low blood pressure and organ damage. Bulimia, another eating disorder, includes eating large amounts of food followed by self-induced vomiting. Still, an eating disorder diagnosis does not necessarily mean someone is overweight or underweight.
The slew of legislation follows a spike in eating disorder cases as pandemic lockdowns pushed youth into long bouts of isolation. Hospital beds filled and waiting lists swelled as many struggled to find treatment for an illness that already had few care options. In Colorado, only one hospital was equipped to offer inpatient care for Warford.
Colorado’s bill creates the new state office that is broadly charged with, in part, closing gaps in treatments, offering research grants to further research, and working to educate students, teachers and parents. Bills in New York and Texas similarly seek to educate students on mental illnesses including eating disorders.
Katrina Velasquez, chief policy officer of the Eating Disorder Coalition, said these policies will give students the tools to catch signs of disordered eating habits in themselves or their peers early — potentially giving them a critical head start in treatment.
Colorado is also taking a swing at axing the the use of body mass index, or BMI, even though it remains the industry standard. The measurement is often used to determine the level of care required for those with eating disorders, but mental illness is not invariably linked to body weight or BMI, said Claire Engels, program coordinator for the Eating Disorder Foundation.
“Eating disorders are not necessarily about food. It’s about mental illness, anxiety, depression, trauma” and control, Engels said.
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