A disease for the ages

When Claire Turnbull's grandmother died aged 93, her family found diet pills and diet shakes in her kitchen. To Turnbull, it was no surprise. Though her grandmother was never formally diagnosed with an eating disorder, it was obvious she lived with one her whole life. 

- NIKI BEZZANT

"She never got over it. She was always visibly semi-dieting, always doing funny things around food," Turnbull says.

When most of us picture a typical person with an eating disorder, chances are it's not a nonagenarian. It's far more likely to be an adolescent girl, painfully at war with a ravaged body. But contrary to the many myths about eating disorders, they affect people of all ages, genders and body sizes.

Young women do make up a large proportion of those suffering eating disorders including anorexia nervosa, bulimia and binge eating disorder. But there's a trend for these to show up in midlife and older women and this overlooked group is starting to become the focus of attention.

Evidence suggests up to 13% of women over 50 have disordered eating patterns. Other studies note it's likely this is an underestimate since older women are often underdiagnosed. A recent study of women over 60 diagnosed with binge-eating behaviour found a majority reported the onset of their illness came in midlife or later.

Experts in this field say it's no surprise this is coming to light. Specialist eating-disorder dietitian Amy Judd says she's noticed more older women seeking treatment both in her private practice and her work in the public health system.

"When you look at women across the spectrum, we see puberty and menopause as two specific time periods that are associated with lots of changes to your body that can happen outside your control. They're periods when we might see an increase in vulnerability to either developing an eating disorder or having a relapse  of symptoms if you'd had one previously."

IT'S IN THE GENES