Fernando Fernández Aranda

Position

Head of Section and Director of the Eating Disorders Unit within the Clinical Psychology Department at Bellvitge University Hospital, Professor at the University of Barcelona, Deputy Director of CIBERobn and ICREA Academia researcher

Bellvitge University Hospital, University of Barcelona, CIBERobn

Topics

psychology, eating disorders, adolescence

Cases of anorexia and bulimia have risen by 71 per cent since 1990 and mainly affect young people and women, according to a global study

eating disorders

Cases of anorexia and bulimia have risen by 71 per cent since 1990 and mainly affect young people and women, according to a global study

SMC Spain

28/10/2026 - 16:00 CET

A study published in the journal JAMA Psychiatry, which analysed the prevalence of anorexia and bulimia in 204 countries from 1990 to 2023 by age and sex, has found that the number of cases has risen by 71 per cent. In 2023, an estimated 18.1 million people worldwide were suffering from one of these two eating disorders, of whom 41.2 per cent were young people aged between 10 and 24, and 70 per cent were women. This figure is estimated to rise to 21.8 million by 2050.