A growing number of older women are seeking treatment for eating disorders.
Many have struggled without help for decades.
Sally Odenheimer starved herself because she was an athlete and thought she’d run faster on an empty stomach. Karla Wagner starved herself because she wanted to be in charge of at least one aspect of her life. Janice Bremis simply felt too fat. They all sought perfection and control. Not eating helped. They are women in their 60s and 70s who have struggled with anorexia nervosa since childhood or adolescence. Years later, their lives are still governed by calories consumed, miles run, laps swum, pounds lost. “It’s an addiction I can’t get rid of,” said Ms. Odenheimer, 73, a retired teacher who
lives outside Denver. For decades, few people connected eating disorders with older people; they were
seen as an affliction of teenage girls and young women. But research suggests that an increasing number of older women have been seeking treatment for eating…Read More
