Dying from Anorexia Weighing 22 Kilos and Believing You're Overweight

Women account for nearly nine out of ten cases of eating disorders, conditions that are increasingly affecting men and appearing at younger ages. Specialists are now treating children aged between 6 and 11 with these health issues, according to the Royal Academy of Medicine of Spain (Ranme) on the eve of the International Day of Awareness of Eating Disorders, observed on November 30.

Anorexia and bulimia are the most well-known disorders, but binge eating is the most prevalent, affecting 3% of the population. "Binge eating can contribute to the development of obesity, although anorexia nervosa poses the highest mortality risk, followed by bulimia nervosa," explains Professor Mónica Marazuela, a member of Ranme and head of the Endocrinology and Nutrition Service at the Hospital de la Princesa in Madrid.

Experts are raising alarms about diseases that have spread alongside social media. "Many teenagers become obsessed with what others might think of them in relation to their appearance or the likes they receive on social media. They are unable to value themselves for their intelligence, kindness, skills, and values, instead focusing on superficial aspects," highlights Professor Celso Arango, a psychology academic who has encountered extreme cases of eating disorders.

"I have seen patients die in the ICU after many years with a restrictive eating disorder, weighing 22 or 23 kilos, just skin and bones, yet still utterly convinced they have excess weight on their buttocks, legs, or arms. This is because they not only have a pathological fear of weight gain but also suffer from a cognitive distortion of their image and an inability to perceive their body objectively," laments Arango. These disorders are associated with systemic diseases, cardiac arrhythmias, hormonal problems, and issues with all organs (thyroid, liver, or kidneys), leading to a 10% mortality rate among sufferers.

The head of the Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Service at the Gregorio Marañón General University Hospital in Madrid also sees increasingly younger patients, some as young as six, whereas "previously they appeared from the age of 12." "In this type of illness, the earlier they appear, the better the prognosis, but if not treated in time, girls may not even have their first period," notes Arango.

Among boys, professionals warn of the rise in vigorexia, a variant of eating disorders. "It is a distortion of body image caused by the obsession with having a 'bodybuilder' physique. They do not want to be thin but very strong, and everything revolves around this, turning into an addiction to the gym," Arango emphasizes.

Patients with eating disorders are often perfectionists, meticulous, obsessive, self-punishing, self-demanding, and rigid, according to the profile outlined by healthcare professionals. These factors are compounded by the possibility of being slightly overweight and having experienced bullying due to their appearance. From there, they realize they can lose weight by controlling food intake, losing more and more until it spirals out of control, and they develop a pathological fear of gaining weight, leading to cognitive distortion.

Specialists stress the importance of socio-emotional learning in schools to emphasize values related to the person, not how they appear or are perceived by others. They also remind that treating patients should involve a combination of psychological therapy, nutritional counseling, medical intervention, support group treatments, and, in some cases, medications to help establish a healthy relationship between food and the body.