Genes & Eating Disorders:
Health Story

Aired on Lifetime Television for Women
Sunday, June 4 and September 24
Show 315

Tonna Junker has a lot in common with her family. "I've been told that I look like my mom, and I act like my aunt," she says. Tonna also shares something else with her aunt. They both have struggled with eating disorders. According to Dr. Cynthia Bulik, Director of the Eating Disorders Program at the University of North Carolina, "There are six genetic traits that put you at risk for eating disorders. Previously, we thought they were only socio-cultural disorders. You have a 50 to 80 percent risk of a disorder due to genes." "Social influences still come into play," says Dr. Ted Weltzin, Director of Eating Disorder Services at Rogers Memorial Hospital. "They are the tipping point," he adds. But there is hope for gene carriers. According to Dr. Martin Binks, Director of Behavioral Health at Duke, "Even if you have a genetic disposition, it doesn't mean you will get the disease." "I now put moderation into my life," says Tonna.