“Size Zero” epidemic in the UK
According to the Daily Mail, “size zero” is now an epidemic as numbers of patients with eating disorders rise throughout hospitals in the United Kingdom.
Official statistics from Hospital Episode Statistics, which records data on Health Service wards, show eating disorders have become so widespread they are putting serious pressure on the number of beds available to other patients.
Last year, 84,377 bed days were taken up by those suffering from eating disorders - the equivalent to about 232 beds a day - up from 51,878 in 2002.
Some 1,484 patients with anorexia were admitted to wards in 2006/7 compared with 1,338 the previous year, an increase of 11 per cent.
While the average age of sufferers was 24, under-15s made up a fifth of the total, 25 per cent more than 2005/6.
The findings also reveal that NHS hospital admissions for bulimia increased 9 per cent to 150.
Experts believe the true figures are likely to be much higher, however, because they do not include those patients who have not sought medical treatment.
I wonder how Ukrainian model Nataliya Gotsii feels right now as that (old) image of hers is used throughout media outlets worldwide every time we hear something on the news that pertains to anorexia, eating disorders, “size zero”, skinny models, etc.
