Reducing the state budget does not mean cutting the fat necessarily. The proposed budget of the governor removes funding for eating disorders in order to keep the focus on obesity and diseases related to obesity.

Claudia Hutton, spokesperson for the state Department of Health said, “In comparison to obesity and diabetes, eating disorders affect relatively few New Yorkers.”

The budget of the governor will bring an end to the $1.7 million annual subsidies to the state’s three eating disorder centers which include $500,000 to Albany Medical Center.

The cut would remove Albany Med’s entire budget and close the eating disorder program.

Dr. Sharon Alger-Mayer, medical director of the Northeast comprehensive Care Center for Eating Disorders at Albany Med said, “It creates a huge void in the services we’ve been able to develop.”

Under the program, about 2,000 people are served through outpatient services and 50 people who need to be hospitalized every year at Albany Med for dehydration, malnutrition and organ problems related to eating disorders.