Modern society has started imposing more and more standards on us humans. Because of that people are making great effort to fit in certain groups and they do that sometimes by radically modifying their physical aspect. Weight and appearance are starting to become more and more important among people. Some of the most common eating disorder are anorexia and of course bulimia.

Studies have shown that about one in a hundred teenage girls have anorexia. This is actually sad if you sit and think that all those young women starve themselves in order to cope with high levels of stress and sadness. Sometimes the anorexia case is very severe resulting in the death of the patient. Cases of anorexia in young children and older adults are extremely rare.

Bulimia nervosa on the other hand is not as threatening as anorexia, but still cases are more common in teenage girls and young women. Results to tests made on women show that some 4 out of a hundred have bulimia. More than half of the people that have first had anorexia develop bulimia afterwards or symptoms related to bulimia. being more of a mental problem, it is very hard o know haw many people have bulimia, because it is very easy to hide it. People with anorexia and bulimia have been found out to be very secretive. As with the first eating disorder, cases in older people and children are very rare.

As with women men also suffer from this disorders, although not as many. Only 10% of all people suffering from bulimia are actually men. This is a clear indication that society has a big role to play in the lives of people. Unlike women, males are supposed to be strong and powerful, and rely a great deal on their strength. One would almost certainly feel ashamed if he had a skinny body. Women on the other hand are expected to be tiny and slim almost waif-like. Many of them undergo a lot of diets, sometimes exposing them selves to the risk of binge eating. It is not unlikely for some to develop compulsive over control. dieting and hunger are proving to be more and more problematic. Still, studies done by certain universities now show that there is a great increase in men with eating disorders. This is a clear indication that men are now much more concerned with their physical appearance than they where in the past.

Although the vast majority of people suffering from anorexia or bulimia are either teenagers or very young adults, cases of this disorders have been encountered in children of 6 years old and in older people, in their 70 s. Cases of older women are starting to be more and more common, because of the importance of physical image.