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People enjoy leisure activities at St Kilda Pier in Melbourne, Australia, on Jan. 3, 2025. /EPA-Yonhap

Four in 10 Australian women living with eating disorders are aged 35 or older, ABC News reported Thursday. With physical changes and appearance-related stress identified as factors that can worsen eating disorders, experts are calling for the conditions to be recognized as a women's health issue across the entire lifespan.

According to the Butterfly Foundation, an Australian eating disorder charity, and Women's Mental Health Australia, approximately 1.1 million Australians are estimated to be living with eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia. About 42% of women with eating disorders are aged 35 or older, while 16% are aged 50 or older.

Data released by the organizations in 2024 showed that approximately 15% to 16% of Australian women may experience an eating disorder during their lifetime. The proportion of women experiencing disordered eating behaviors, such as an obsession with weight, extreme dietary restriction, binge eating and compensatory behaviors, even without meeting the clinical criteria for an eating disorder, reached approximately 23% to 25%.

Experts point out that major life transitions in middle age, including perimenopause and menopause, can intensify women's anxiety and stress over their body image.

They explain that environmental factors, such as children leaving home, caring for aging parents and changes in relationships, combined with societal pressure portraying aging as an illness, can significantly increase the risk of eating disorders.

Sue Cody, an Australian woman in her 50s who was diagnosed with anorexia and is undergoing treatment, described the loneliness and social stigma experienced by middle-aged women.

"As I got older, it became increasingly difficult to find healthcare professionals who would take symptoms of bulimia or anorexia seriously," she said.

The growing preference for thin bodies on social media and the widespread use of weight-loss medications, including GLP-1 drugs such as Ozempic, have also been identified as factors undermining body confidence among middle-aged women.

Trevor Steward, an associate professor at the University of Melbourne and director of its Brain and Mental Health Hub, said these trends were creating a "perfect storm."

"On the one hand, people are exposed to images telling them they should look a certain way. On the other, they see advertisements from online pharmacies promising to deliver GLP-1 medications to their doorsteps the next day," he explained.

Katrina Locandro, chief operating officer of Women's Mental Health Australia, said the figures on eating disorders among middle-aged women were likely underestimated.

"People expect that concerns about appearance will diminish as women get older, but it is clear that this is not the case," she said.

"Body image concerns do not have an expiry date," she added. "We need to recognize them as a women's health issue throughout their lives."

                                                                                                            Lee Dae-won