Analysis Shows More Americans Hospitalized for Eating Disorders

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The number of Americans hospitalized for eating disorders that caused anemia, kidney failure, erratic heart rhythms and other problems rose 18 percent from 1999 to 2006, a new federal analysis shows.

Using data from the Nationwide Inpatient Sample, a database of hospital inpatient stays, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) found hospitalizations for eating disorders rose most for children under 12 years of age (119 percent) and for those ages 45 to 64 (48 percent), according to an agency news release issued Wednesday. Women led hospitalizations for eating disorders (up 89 percent in 2006), and men's treatment visits were up 37 percent, according to the news release.

Treatments for anorexia, the most common of eating disorders, were steady, and hospitalizations for bulimia declined 7 percent, according to the AHRQ report. Hospitalizations for other, less common eating disorders also went up 38 percent, the news release said.