How much do eating disorders cost Alabama each year? Harvard study says could be nearly $1B

MOBILE, Ala. (WKRG) — A Harvard study that looked at data from fiscal year 2018-19 found that the economic cost of eating disorders in Alabama was $966.6 million. The annual loss of well-being was another $4.9 billion per year in the state.

The most recent study of the correlation between economic impact and eating disorders was done in 2021. This study revealed that 9% of Alabamians–or roughly 430,271 people– will have an eating disorder in their lifetime.

The cost breakdown is as follows:

Productivity loss – $726.1 million
Informal Care – $100.1 million
Efficiency Losses – $71.7 million
Health System – $68.7 million

The study showed that in Alabama, an average of 805 visits will be made to the ER, costing $437,741. 351 people will be placed in impatient hospitals, which costs $3.1 million.

The Alabama government lost $264.4 million, employers lost $243.5 million, individuals and families lost $351.1 million and the society lost $106.1 million.

The three eating disorders most known are Anorexia Nervosa, Bulimia Nervosa and Binge Eating Disorder. Although these three are the main ones discussed in society, there are actually nine different forms of eating disorders. The National Eating Disorders Association website provides information on all nine.

Eating Disorder	Details
Anorexia Nervosa	Anorexia nervosa is an eating disorder characterized by weight loss (or lack of appropriate weight gain in growing children); difficulties maintaining an appropriate body weight for height, age, and stature; and, in many individuals, distorted body image.
Bulimia Nervosa	Bulimia nervosa is characterized by a cycle of binge eating and compensatory behaviors such as self-induced vomiting designed to undo or compensate for the effects of binge eating.
Binge Eating Disorder	Binge eating disorder, the most common eating disorder in the United States, is characterized by recurrent episodes of eating large quantities of food; a feeling of a loss of control during the binge; experiencing shame, distress or guilt afterwards; and not regularly using unhealthy compensatory measures to counter the binge eating.
Orthorexia	Orthorexia was coined in 1998 to describe an obsession with proper or ‘healthful’ eating.
Other Specified Feeding or Eating Disorder	OSFED, known as Eating Disorder Not Otherwise Specified (EDNOS) in previous editions of the DSM, was developed to encompass individuals who do not meet strict criteria for anorexia or bulimia but still have a significant eating disorder.
Avoidant Restrictive Food Intake Disorder	ARFID, previously referred to as “selective eating disorder,” involves limitations in the amount and/or types of food consumed but does not involve any distress about body shape or size, or fears of fatness.
Pica	Pica is an eating disorder that involves eating items that are not typically thought of as food and that do not contain significant nutritional value, such as hair, dirt, and paint chips.
Rumination Disorder	Rumination disorder involves the regular regurgitation of food that occurs for at least one month. Regurgitated food may be re-chewed, re-swallowed, or spit out.
Unspecified Feeding or Eating Disorder	Unspecified feeding or eating disorder (UFED) applies to presentations where symptoms characteristic of a feeding and eating disorder that cause clinically significant distress or impairment predominate but do not meet the full criteria for any of the disorders in the feeding and eating disorders diagnostic class.