2004/05/02 by Casper Schoemaker · 1 citation
Health Professions · Mathematics · Medicine · Psychology · #Anorexia #Anorexia nervosa #Beauty #Classics #Eating Disorders and Behaviors #Eating disorders #Epistemology #History #Mathematics #Medicine #Mythology #Obesity and Health Practices #Philosophy #Psychiatry #Psychology #Statistic #Statistics
paper · doi:10.1080/10640260490444619
openalex publication_date 2004/05/02 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/29
In her first book, The Beauty Myth the American feminist writer Naomi Wolf wrote about an epidemic of anorexia nervosa in Western countries. Today, her statistics are still cited in the media and in scientific publications. When compared to the relevant epidemiological reviews, however, 18 of the 23 statistics are inaccurate and overdone. On average, a statistic on anorexia by Naomi Wolf should be divided by eight to get close to the real figure. Implications of this finding are discussed.