Eating Disorder Prevalence by Race: 2025 Report

September 24th, 2025

This comprehensive analysis synthesizes data from leading research institutions, national health surveys, and clinical studies conducted between 2019 and 2025 to provide current estimates of eating disorder prevalence across diverse racial and ethnic communities in the United States. The data reveals that eating disorders affect all communities, with some showing notably higher prevalence rates than previously recognized.

Eating disorders affect individuals across all racial, ethnic, and cultural backgrounds with equal severity and complexity. This report presents estimated prevalence rates for different eating disorders across communities, highlighting patterns in documented rates and the varying presentations of these conditions. The findings underscore the universal nature of eating disorders while illustrating community-specific patterns that warrant attention in research and clinical practice.

Important Context: The majority of eating disorder research has historically centered white participants, particularly young women. While recent studies have increased inclusion of diverse populations, significant representation gaps remain. Additionally, systemic barriers including healthcare bias, cultural stigma, and economic factors may contribute to underreporting of eating disorders in many communities. These data should be interpreted within this broader context of healthcare inequity.

Eating Disorder Prevalence Across Communities

Research demonstrates that eating disorders occur across all racial and ethnic communities at similar or, in some cases, higher rates than previously recognized. These findings underscore the universal nature of these conditions while highlighting specific patterns that may reflect unique cultural contexts and systemic factors.

Eating Disorder Prevalence by Community: 2024-2025

Community	Estimated Prevalence	Expressed as Ratio	Notable Patterns
Hispanic/Latino/a/x	21%	1 in 5 people	Higher documented rates of bulimia nervosa and binge eating disorder
Black/African American	17%	1 in 6 people	Elevated rates of binge eating behaviors, particularly among adolescents
Asian/Asian American	18%	1 in 6 people	Higher documented rates of restrictive behaviors and body checking
White	15%	1 in 7 people	Higher rates of diagnosis and treatment engagement
Multiracial	32%	1 in 3 people	Highest documented prevalence, particularly among certain identity combinations

Key Insights:

• Multiple large-scale studies document similar or higher rates of eating disorder symptoms across diverse communities compared to white populations.
• Individuals with multiracial identities, particularly those identifying as American Indian/Alaska Native and Hispanic/Latino/a/x, show some of the highest documented prevalence rates.
• Different communities may experience different presentations of eating disorders, reflecting diverse cultural contexts and stressors.
• Significant disparities exist in diagnosis and treatment access, with many individuals from diverse communities being underdiagnosed despite similar or higher prevalence rates.

Patterns Across Different Eating Disorders

Different eating disorders show varying patterns of recognition and documentation across communities. While we would ideally compare each community's rates to overall population averages, most eating disorder research has historically used White populations as the comparison standard due to their overrepresentation in studies. This comparison approach, while methodologically limited, reflects the current state of research and helps identify patterns that may reflect both actual prevalence differences and systematic variations in diagnosis and reporting.

Documented Prevalence by Specific Disorder: 2024-2025

Eating Disorder	Hispanic/Latino/a/x	Black/African American	Asian/Asian American	White Communities (Comparison Group)
Anorexia Nervosa	Lower documented rates than White communities**	0.5-1.0% (similar to White communities)	Similar documented rates to White communities	0.6% (baseline)
Bulimia Nervosa	Higher documented rates than White communities	~5.0% (women) - 2x higher than White communities	Elevated documented rates vs. White communities	~2.5% (women) - baseline
Binge Eating Disorder	Elevated documented rates vs. White communities	Nearly 5% (women) - 2x higher than White communities	Variable by study vs. White communities baseline	2.5% (women) - baseline
ARFID	Higher documented rates than White communities	Limited research data for comparison	Limited research data for comparison	0.3-3.2% (baseline)

Key Insights:

• Binge Eating Disorder shows notably higher documented rates among Black women, suggesting either higher actual prevalence or better recognition of this disorder in this community.
• Lower documented rates of anorexia nervosa in Hispanic/Latino/a/x communities may reflect diagnostic bias rather than actual prevalence differences.
• ARFID (Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder) appears more frequently documented in Hispanic populations, but comprehensive research across all communities is needed.
• **Lower documented rates may reflect systematic underdiagnosis rather than actual lower prevalence

Sources:

National Eating Disorders Association. "Eating Disorder Statistics." October 2024.

Simone, M., Telke, S., Anderson, L. M., Eisenberg, M., & Neumark-Sztainer, D. (2022). Ethnic/racial and gender differences in disordered eating behavior prevalence trajectories. Social Science & Medicine, 294.

Raney, J. H., et al. (2023). Racial discrimination is associated with binge-eating disorder in early adolescents. Journal of Eating Disorders, 11(1), 139.

Cheng, Z. H., Perko, V. L., Fuller-Marashi, L., Gau, J. M., & Stice, E. (2019). Ethnic differences in eating disorder prevalence, risk factors, and predictive effects. Eating Behaviors, 32, 23–30.

National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders. "BIPOC Eating Disorder Statistics." 2024.

Alliance for Eating Disorders. "Eating Disorder Statistics: An Updated View for 2024." August 2024.