Embedded Files
Healthcare and Eating Disorders
Written by: Makayla Sutter
“You’re just active”
“It’ll come back”
“That’s normal, it’s probably nothing”
These are all things I was told by healthcare professionals when I lost my period, had chest pains and trouble breathing, gastrointestinal issues, and abnormal lab results.
It was written off as normal.
I was written off.
For over six years, I struggled with anorexia. I restricted, starved, and compensated for anything I felt would put me at risk for gaining weight. My thoughts were consumed by food, fitness, and control. I was consumed. And I was miserable.
I am fortunate enough to have access to healthcare and insurance. I am grateful and I know many individuals are not as fortunate as I am. That being said, I was still failed.
I was just another “highly active” teen.
When in reality, I was ignored.
I had no period for over five years—but I was just active.
I had low blood pressure—but I was just active.
I lost significant weight rapidly—but I was just active.
I had chest pain, dizziness, trouble breathing, and gastrointestinal issues—but again, I was just active.
That seemed to be their explanation for everything. Everything that was a direct result of my eating disorder was because I was “just active”.
Yet these were classic signs of low energy availability and eating disorder pathology, including functional hypothalamic amenorrhea, cardiovascular strain, and gastrointestinal dysfunction (De Souza et al., 2014; Mountjoy et al., 2018).
My doctors had every opportunity to recognize the signs. And they didn’t.
For six years, I believed I didn’t deserve help because I wasn’t “sick enough.”
But I was sick.
Both, mentally and physically.
And the people who were supposed to recognize it failed me.
But this is not simply an individual failure.
It is a systemic one.
Less than 2 hours.
That is, on average, the amount of time physicians receive training on eating disorders across medical school, residency, and clinical training (Eddy et al., 2022).
Less than 2 hours.
So the question becomes:
How can doctors be expected to diagnose and treat something they were never adequately trained to recognize?
The consequences of this lack of education are clear.
In one study:
Only 28% of medical residents felt confident diagnosing eating disorders.
In another:
Only 17.4% felt confident treating them.
(Neumark-Sztainer et al., 2017; Linardon & Messer, 2019).
This is not a minor gap. It is a critical failure in medical education.
Eating disorders are not rare.
They are not mild.
And they are not harmless.
Anorexia has one of the highest mortality rates of any psychiatric disorder, and eating disorders account for approximately 10,200 deaths per year in the United States. That’s equivalent to about one every 52 minutes (ANAD, 2023).
Every 52 minutes.
I could have been one of those people.
You could be.
Someone you love could be.
And unlike other diseases, eating disorders are treatable.
But something can only be treated if it is first recognized.
That requires education.
There are clear, actionable solutions:
Train medical students to include eating disorders in differential diagnoses when patients present with symptoms like fatigue, weight changes, menstrual irregularities, or gastrointestinal issues
Educate providers on identifying malnutrition in non-underweight bodies
Address weight stigma as a barrier to care
Provide foundational training on assessment, treatment pathways, and levels of care
These are not complex changes.
They are curriculum changes.
Another major issue is stigma.
Eating disorders are not a choice.
Eating disorders are not only found in underweight individuals.
Eating disorders are often seen as a matter of willpower or personal choice, but they are not.
They are serious psychiatric illnesses with biological, psychological, and social components (American Psychiatric Association, DSM-5).
This stigma exists not only in the general population, but within healthcare itself.
Ultimately, negatively affecting the diagnosis and treatment of many patients with an eating disorder.
Additionally, the misconception that eating disorders only affect underweight individuals is both harmful and false.
Research shows that fewer than 6% of individuals with eating disorders are medically underweight, and individuals in larger bodies may actually be at higher lifetime risk (NEDA, 2023).
When we tell someone they are not “sick enough,” what we are really saying is:
“You need to get worse and put your mental and physical health further at risk, before you deserve help.”
Eating disorders are deadly.
And the only way to address them is by addressing the systems that delay diagnosis and treatment.
This is not just a patient issue.
It is a healthcare issue.
It is an education issue.
And it is a problem we have the power to fix.
Works Cited
American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (5th ed.).
Association for Eating Disorders Awareness (ANAD). (2023). Eating disorder statistics. https://anad.org
Churruca, K. et al. (2023). Medical training and eating disorder competency. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12662879/
De Souza, M. J. et al. (2014). Female Athlete Triad Coalition Consensus Statement.
Eddy, K. T. et al. (2022). Eating disorder education in medical training.
Mountjoy, M. et al. (2018). Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport (RED-S): IOC Consensus Statement.
National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA). (2023). Statistics & research.
Page updated
Report abuse