1 in 5 British women suffers from eating disorder

London, Jan 30 (ANI): One in five British women suffers from an eating disorder, according to a new survey.

An NHS survey showed that nearly 20 pct of the 16 to 25-year-olds females suffer from an eating disorder be it anorexia or bulimia.

Anorexia is a condition where patients start to starve themselves while in bulimia, they binge on food and then purge. Experts have warned that both conditions typically start in childhood or adolescence and can vary greatly in severity.

The study also shows that one on four men have a problem with food.

It also found that while nine per cent of women appeared to have a problem, so did three per cent of men.

Overall the findings revealed that around 6.4 per cent of adults had an eating disorder.

While the problem appeared to diminish with age, one woman in a 100 over the age of 75 are still believed to have some form of eating disorder.

"These statistics reflect a worrying trend that there is a generation of young people growing up unhappy and depressed, leading often to problems such eating disorders," the Telegraph quoted Lucie Russell, from the YoungMinds campaign as saying.

"We have to start intervening early. One in three children in every classroom has a diagnosable mental health disorder and that's just the ones that have been classified.

"There is still a huge stigma around mental health which means children and young people are not getting the support they need," she added. (ANI)