Mature women battling eating disorders

Women with life-threatening BMIs as low as 12 are seeking help for eating disorders as the pandemic takes its toll on mothers.

Women with life-threatening body mass indexes (BMIs) as low as 12 are seeking help for eating disorders in Queensland as the pandemic takes a toll on mothers.

A Brisbane-based clinic reports a three-quarter surge in demand for residential and day programs for mature females since the onset of Covid-19, as the Butterfly Foundation reveals that research shows the greatest increase in disordered eating behaviours, particularly purging, is in over 40s.

The Banyans Healthcare Group has been forced to turn away the majority of the women seeking help at its Bowen Hills clinic as they have a BMI under 17 — at this perilously low weight they require hospital admission before the clinic experts can treat them.

One 34-year-old woman presented with a BMI of 12.4 and another 35-year-old with a BMI of 16.2.

The oldest woman to inquire was a 58-year-old.

A BMI of 13.5 can lead to organ failure and 12 is very life-threatening. BMI is calculated by dividing a person’s weight in kilograms by the square of their height in metres.

Banyans’ Dr Leanne Barron said: “Lockdowns mean we have all spent more time on media and there has been a focus on losing lockdown weight, neither of which have been helpful for those with disordered eating.

“The lockdowns have also meant many of those living with eating disorders were unable to hide their eating habits from families.

“For many women, they could clearly see the negative effects that their disordered eating was having on their children and partners.

“They became very aware that their children were starting to see their habits as ‘normal’ and this frightened many of them. I think this has been a catalyst for more women to seek help to treat their eating disorders as we emerge from lockdowns and border restrictions.

“Compulsive exercise also becomes a major issue, with mothers getting up at 2am to do hours of running or gym before their children wake up.”

Butterfly does not yet have pandemic data, but reports that anecdotally it is seeing an increase in women, particularly mothers, presenting with signs of an eating disorder.

Clinical director Dr Ranjani Utpala said: “These include women who have been experiencing an eating disorder for several years, and only recently presented for treatment or been diagnosed, women who have previously had an eating disorder and it has now reoccurred, and women who first develop an eating disorder as an adult.”