Anyone can sufer from an eating disorder, however some people are at a higher risk than others. Females are more likely to suffer than males, and people certain sports professions such as atheltics and dance are also more likely to develop an eating disorder.

It is estimated that almost 90 000 people are currently receiving treatment for an eating disorder in the UK. If people who are yet to be diagnosed are included in this estimation, the figure rises to 1.15 million.

For many, the recovery from an eating disorder is a life long challange. However it is completely possible to make a full recovery with the right treatment. Half of anorexia sufferers will recover fully over a time scale of ten years, and over half of bulimic sufferers will also make a full recovery. 

All eating disorders present symptoms which impact negatively on the sufferers health. In terms of mortality rate, anorexia causes more deaths than any other psychiatric disorder. As many as ten percent of female sufferers will die from anorexia (or related problems).

There is certainly evidence to suggest the media plays a fairly influential role. A survey taken in 1998 for the Bread for Life Campaign revealed that 61% of women aged 18-24 felt inadequate when comparing themselves to the media's portrayal of beauty (out of the 900 surveyed). In 2002, a journal by Dr. Anne Becker was published which highlighted the rise in eating disorders in Fiji as a result of the introduction of TVs to the area. It is findings like these which cause many to blame the media as the sole causes of eating problems, due to the increased pressure it puts on people to look a certain way. However, cases involving anorexic-like symptoms were  present from 1669. There is no doubt that social pressure regarding body image did exist in those days, however it is unlikely to have been on the same scale as today.

In answer to the question, the media does have a definite role to play in body image, although eating disorders are far too complex to be caused by this alone.