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The Quad City Eating
Disorders Survey Results |
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Nearly two-thirds of the
sample (62%) named Anorexia as the most prevalent form of an eating disorder while nearly
half of the sample (49%) named Bulimia. The data seems to suggest the general
population has a basic awareness of the classic eating disorders vocabulary. |
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More women (69%) named
Anorexia as an eating disorder than men (56%). |
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There is a significant difference
between subjects under 61 and over 61 in naming anorexia and bulimia as eating disorders.
Nearly three-fourths (72%) of the 18-30 year olds mentioned anorexia and 60% of
them named bulimia as a common form of eating disorder. Of the respondents over 61,
only 47% named anorexia and 37% mentioned bulimia. In addition, nearly one-quarter
(21%) of those over 61 stated a belief that over-eating is an eating disorder. This
is significantly different from the other age groups. |
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In terms of race, there were no
significant differences in naming anorexia as an eating disorder with 63% of Caucasians,
52% of Hispanics and 57% of African Americans naming the disorder. However, there
was a significant difference between African Americans and Caucasians in their perceptions
of bulimia and over-eating as an eating disorder. While 50% of Caucasians cited
bulimia, only 31% of African Americans did so. By contrast, nearly a third (29%) of
African Americans named over-eating as a disorder compared to 15% of Caucasians. |
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More Henry County residents named
both anorexia and bulimia as common eating disorders than those residents in Rock Island
or Scott County. Nearly three-quarters (72%) of Henry County residents named
anorexia and 61% cited bulimia as an eating disorder. By comparison, approximately
60% of Scott County and Rock Island County residents named anorexia. Fewer than half
of Scott County (47%) and Rock Island County (46%) residents named bulimia as a disorder. |
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Nearly one of every five
respondents (19%) view self-esteem as the leading cause of eating disorders followed by
emotional or mental problems (14%) and the self-perception of being too fat (14%). Depression
(11%), stress (10%) and peer pressure (10%) were frequently named as well. |
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In terms of racial differences, more
than twice the proportion of Caucasians (20%) than African Americans (10%) cited
self-esteem as a cause. The most frequent cause of eating disorders listed by the
African American group was depression (24%) which was significantly different from the
Hispanic (4%) response. Eleven percent of the Caucasians cited depression as a cause
of eating disorders. |
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The most common symptoms associated
with eating disorder included loss of weight, skipping meals and vomiting / purging. More
women (25%) than men (18%) viewed loss of weight as the most common symptom they associate
with eating disorder. More subjects over the age of 61 viewed being overweight as a
symptom when compared to all subjects under the age of 45. |
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Most subjects view eating disorders
to be the result of mental problems (60%) rather than physical problems (4%). Just under a
third of the respondents believe the cause of eating disorders is about equally split
between physical and mental problems. When viewed from a County residence perspective,
nearly two thirds of the residents from Scott (64%) and Henry Counties (64%) viewed mental
problems to be a causation of eating disorder compared to only (54%) of the residents in
Rock Island County. More Rock Island county residents viewed the cause of eating disorder
to be equally split between mental and physical problems (38%). |
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When asked where persons with
eating disorders turn for help, nearly a quarter of the respondents (24%) indicated they
would seek out their family doctor and just over twenty percent (21%) indicated they would
go to a hospital or clinic. Psychologists ranked next in order as a resource for
help with eating disorders (16%). More persons in the > $75,000 income range would seek
out a psychologist when compared to the lower income groups. |
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Most persons (65%) believe that
persons they have known to have received treatment for eating disorders were satisfied
with the treatment they received. |
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When subjects were asked if they
thought persons being treated for eating disorders were being treated inside or outside of
the Quad-Cities, most seemed to think (45%) that the persons were going outside of the
area. |
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Nearly two-thirds of the total
sample (64%) believes eating disorders requires treatment but a quarter believe it depends
on the severity. Very few (6%) believe eating disorders can be solved on their own. |
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Most subjects (60%) would recommend
a friend or family member seek help at the first sign of an eating disorder and this was
especially true of Henry County residents. Nearly three – quarters of Henry
County residents (72%) compared to 56% of Rock Island and 59% of Scott County residents
would make an immediate suggestion of treatment. |
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More persons in the youngest 18
– 30 age group (70%) than the > 61 age group (53%) would recommend treatment at
the first sign of a problem. By contrast, more persons in the > 61 group
wouldn’t say anything at all when compared to those from 31 - 60 years old. |
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Half (50%) of the total respondents
would recommend their family doctor as the place to seek assistances for an eating
disorder. This result is interesting because most persons think that eating
disorders are the result of mental rather than physical problems. Just over 10% would
recommend a hospital or clinic for treatment. |
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There seems to be a stigmatization
associated with eating disorders as most subjects (75%) believe there is a shame
associated with seeking treatment associated with eating disorders. Interestingly,
it is the younger groups who believe there is a shame associated with seeking treatment
while there are significantly fewer persons in the > 61 group (63%) who believe this to
be true. |
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An overwhelming number of the
participants in the survey (85%) know that eating disorders could be fatal while a mere 2%
of the total sample believe eating disorders to not be fatal. When asked how
eating disorders could be fatal there were three primary responses: (1) death / starvation
/ other forms of suicide (27%); (2) heart strain / failure (24%); and, (3) organ failure /
body shuts down (21%). |
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Most all subjects (99%) believe
women to be the most likely to experience an eating disorder closely followed by persons
with depression (95%). The respondents ranked teens third (92%), followed by
persons who worry about their weight (88%), overweight people (87%) and people who always
try to look good (83%). |
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More than 90% of Henry County
residents believe persons who usually try to look good are more likely or somewhat more
likely to have an eating disorder and this compares to 83% from Rock Island County and 81%
from Scott County. More women (87%) than men (79%) believe persons who usually
try to look good are more likely or somewhat likely to have an eating disorder. |
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The question of which age group is
more likely to have an eating disorder was asked of the subjects and consistent with other
questions in the survey, nearly half (47%) of the respondents believe teenagers are most
likely to have an eating disorder. This was followed by younger adults (23%). |
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Most of the subjects did not
believe income level had much to do with eating disorders as nearly half think all the
income levels were all about the same. |
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The vast majority of subjects (79%)
believe health insurance should pay for eating disorders at the same level as any other
health problem with few in disagreement (7%). |
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Subjects where asked if they thought
eating disorders were a widespread problem in society. They were offered a choice
from a belief the disorder was widespread, common, somewhat rare or very rare. Nearly
three – quarters of the sample (70%) think eating disorders are common or widespread.
Nearly half of the pool (47%) considered eating disorders as a common problem with
just under a quarter (23%) believing it to be widespread. Only 2% of the sample
believed eating disorders to be rare in society. |
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An overwhelming proportion (89%) of
the sample agreed prevention and education should be offered in local schools. This is
not surprising given the fact nearly half of the respondents stated previously that
teenagers were the most likely age group to have an eating disorder. Looking at
county breakdown of the interest in education and prevention issue in schools, most of the
Rock Island County residents (91%) believe programs should be offered in the schools
compared to 82% of Henry County residents and 89% of the Scott County residents. |
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Nearly all the respondents in the
younger age groups (92% and 93%) desire prevention programming in the schools compared to
86% of the 46-60 year old age groups. |
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Subjects were asked if they thought
the general community would benefit by having a greater awareness of the symptoms and
warning signs that are typically associated with eating disorders. Eighty-four
percent (84%) agreed the community would benefit and only 3% disagreed. |
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Over half (52%) of the subjects
said they get healthcare information from their physician followed by friends and
neighbors (20%) and the internet (20%). About one of every ten respondents report
getting health information from magazines (10%), newspapers (9%) and television (9%). |
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