Eating disorders in pop-music: When you are able to control the way you eat, then you feel you’re more in control

Demi Lovato had a wellness coach, dietician, nutritionist and therapist to keep her thin, Taylor Swift starved herself and excessively exercised to keep her body shape, Elton John suffered from bulimia, Zayn went for days without eating while feeling a lack of control over his life during his time in One Direction. In general, as Guardian reports, 32% musicians had experienced an eating disorder in their lifetime, while it affects 1.9% to 5.1% of the British population. Pop and R&B singer JoJo goes to the root of the problem - "the music industry is very unpredictable, so I think when you are able to control some aspect of your life – the way you eat, the way you look – then you feel you’re more in control”. Irish singer-songwriter James Vincent McMorrow echoes this sentiment - “When I can control the outcome of a situation, I feel good. And when I can’t, I feel terrible, and that manifests itself in how I see myself in the mirror”.