Many fad diets are not actually sustainable or healthy — and some can lead to unhealthy obsessions and dangerous eating disorders. And critically, the majority of people living with eating disorders today do not fit the cookie-cutter stereotype of people with eating disorders. Among adults, people previously thought to be the least at risk for eating disorders — such as men, people over 45 years old and lower-income individuals, have demonstrated the most significant increases in eating disorders. As an eating disorder survivor, many parts of my story fit the eating disorder stereotypes. My journey with my eating disorder was long, and I struggled to get treatment during a time when eating disorder treatment programs were few and far between, and health care lacked mental health parity.

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