Eating disorders statistics: According to the research compiled by the National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders, almost 50% of people with eating disorders meet the criteria for depression. Only 35% of people who receive treatment for eating disorders get treatment at a specialized facility for eating disorders. Up to 24 million people of all ages and genders suffer from an eating disorder (anorexia, bulimia and binge eating disorder) in the U.S, and eating disorders have the highest mortality rate of any mental illness.

Do not think that only ordinary people suffer from eating disorders; thus, they are the only ones being referred to in statistics. Even celebrities go through the same issues. Lindsay Lohan disclosed her battle with bulimia with Vanity Fair. She said, "I was sick, and I was scared too. I had people sit me down and say, 'You're going to die if you don't take of yourself.'"

Demi Lovato is among the few celebrities who are very open about her previous condition. "I was compulsively overeating when I was eight years old. So, I guess, for the past 10 years I've had a really unhealthy relationship with food," she said in an interview with ABC News.

She went to Timberline Knolls, where she learned to change her coping skills and to handle her emotions the proper way. She said she confessed her struggles to open up the eyes of so many young girls, that it doesn't have to be this way."

According to Mayo Clinic, eating disorders are caused by: biology (genes), psychological and emotional health, and society (peer pressure, modern Western culture that influences ones desire to become thin, and others).

With people like Demi coming out to talk about the issue, individuals who presently suffer from the same conditions should be able to think and change for the better. Eating disorders statistics, in turn, will show progress.