Several maladaptive eating behaviors, beyond anorexia, can affect women. Indeed, some 10 to 15 percent of women have maladaptive eating behaviours and attitudes according to a new study published in the International Journal of Eating Disorders.
I’d actually argue that “disordered eating” as a general category affects many more women than this. If we conceptualize DE as a spectrum that includes a variety of behaviours, not just extreme, extended restriction or purging, but also periodic purposeful overeating and/or restriction, food anxieties, avoidance behaviours, a morally-tinged “good and bad foods” mindset, guilt and distress associated with eating, focus on body weight as the primary outcome of eating (and focus on a very thin body weight as ideal), eating when not actually hungry and not stopping when satiety is achieved, etc. then I would argue that 90-95% of North American women fall into this group.