Why women?

by Bridget Dolan

Bulimia and anorexia nervosa are now so prevalent that they affect more than 1 in 100 women in Western Europe. Yet only a handful of specialist treatment centres exists and little funding is available for research to combat these problems. Is this because the majority of those people affected are women? If eating disorders affected 1 in 100 men would more be done to eradicate them? This book explores some of the crucial psychological, behavioural, cultural, sexual and political factors which may contribute to the gender specificity of eating disorders.