Eating Disorders Among Menopausal Women Are on the Rise – ryan

Amy GoldsmithRDN, LDN, is the founder of Kindred Nutrition & Kineticsa private practice that provides evidence-based medical nutrition therapy in sports nutrition and eating disorders/disordered eating. With more than 25 years of experience, Goldsmith is an expert in understanding the human body’s biochemistry and works collaboratively with each client’s performance and clinical care team to help them reach their health and wellness goals. In the space of eating disorders, she creates a nonjudgmental, safe space, meeting patients where they are and advocating or modeling how to advocate for their needs.

According to Goldsmith, perimenopause and menopause cause changes to sleep, body composition and mood, all at a potentially hectic part of life. “(They happen at) a time of life when women are at the height of their careers, working through empty nesting and potentially caring for their own parents,” she tells me. When everything feels out of control and a woman feels exhausted or not happy with her body, Goldsmith says they sometimes use nutrition and exercise intake as a maladaptive coping mechanism that can lead to disordered eating. As for whether this is a new phenomenon or one that’s always existed, Goldsmith posits that the link has probably always existed, but is exacerbated with misinformation, fad diets and comparison through social media.

Since we often most closely link eating disorders to adolescent or young adult women, I was curious whether women who have struggled previously with disordered eating are at a higher risk for slipping back into those habits during menopause. That’s not necessarily the case. Per Goldsmith, “If someone has had an eating disorder in the past and does not have a relapse prevention plan or support, menopause can trigger a recurrence. It also can trigger things for the first time as eating disorders do not discriminate with age, sex or race.”