When thinking of the stereotype of someone with an eating disorder, most people will describe an adolescent female who is underweight. We don’t think about women or men in their 40s and 50s with eating disorders, but this is a common period of life where a person can continue to suffer from an eating disorder they’ve had for many years or develop one for the first time.

An eating disorder is a severe mental health condition where a person is significantly distressed by and preoccupied with their size, shape and weight. This influences their eating (under or overeating), exercise behaviour (such as spending hours exercising to compensate for eating), as well as their happiness, anxiety and ability to socialise (not wanting to eat in front of others is common). Some even turn to the use of weight loss medications, which can be dangerous, or abuse of laxatives or diet pills or deliberately vomiting after eating.

The reason why it is common in middle age is due to all the changes occurring at this time. For women, it may be triggered by changes in hormones and metabolism associated with menopause or pre-menopause. For both men and women, it can be due to a perception that they are moving further and further away from ‘idealised’ images of youth and thinness portrayed in the media, or muscularity for men. Clients I see in my practice often talk about feeling invisible, no longer getting positive attention for their appearance or getting unwanted attention due to their size and feeling unattractive. It’s often harder in middle age to keep fit and healthy due to work and family commitments and so weight gain is common which can lead some to feel very dissatisfied with their bodies and preoccupied with losing weight. Binge eating, feeling a loss of control over one’s eating and eating for emotional reasons can become more common in middle age as stress builds up.

So, what can adults in middle and older age do to help themselves? It’s about recognising there may be a problem and being brave and getting help, talking to your doctor or a psychologist about your worries. As well as working on your perception of yourself and your body, celebrate your body for what it can do, not what it looks like. Focus on your qualities and strengths- what your friends and family love about you. Get away from social media that promotes diet culture and unrealistic images of what men and women are supposed to look like. Embrace your uniqueness, do nice things for your body, make it feel good and talk to it in respectful ways.

Some helpful resources for eating disorder specific help include the Butterfly Foundation.

You might also like to read my self-help book, Positive Bodies: Loving the Skin You’re In, on improving your relationship with your body.

Those with eating disorders and health professionals wanting to help people with eating disorders you might find the book, Eating Disorders: A Practitioner’s Guide to Psychological Care, helpful.