Original story: Texas Public Radio
By: Bonnie Petrie
(April 20, 2025) — When you imagine a person who might have an eating disorder, what do they look like? Lisa Kilpela, PhD, co-director of the Center for Research to Advance Community Health at UT Health San Antonio, says there’s a stereotype. It’s called the Golden Girl myth.
“It’s a thin, young, white woman or girl who is fairly affluent,” Kilpela said. “And that stereotype, for decades, drove where all of the resources, the energy, the time, the money, everything was spent in terms of understanding eating disorders, how they affect people, and how you treat them.”
That has left a lot of people out. Kilpela said 30 million Americans a year will develop an eating disorder. Ten percent will experience one in their lifetime. Most of them won’t fit that stereotype.
“So we’re looking at folks who are struggling and whose quality of life is pretty significantly impaired, and yet they don’t realize they might have an eating disorder because of the stereotypes,” Kilpela said..
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