Eating Disorders

Anorexia

Anorexia is a psychiatric illness that describes an eating disorder characterized by extremely low body weight and body image distortion with an obsessive fear of gaining weight. Individuals with anorexia are known to control body weight commonly through the means of voluntary starvation, excessive exercise, or other weight control measures such as diet pills or diuretic drugs.

  • People who have anorexia, also called anorexics, think they are "fat" even if they are skinny.
  • They are afraid to gain weight.
  • People with anorexia also often have obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), a condition in which people have to control everything in their lives.
  • Controlling how much they eat gives them a feeling of control over their lives.
  • Anorexics starve themselves, over-excercise, or take diet pills to control their weight.
  • Anorexia can kill since the body does not get all the food and nutrients it needs to keep working.
Bulimia

Bulimia is an eating disorder characterized by recurrent binge eating, followed by compensatory behaviors.The most common form—practiced by more than 75% of people with bulimia nervosa—is self-induced vomiting, sometimes called purging; fasting, the use of laxatives, enemas, diuretics, and over exercising are also common.

  • Bulimics (people who have bulimia) eat a lot at one time then get rid of it through vomiting/purging, taking drugs that make you poop, and over exercising.
  • Usually bulimics vomit after eating so they have tooth decay, throat problems, and dehydration.
  • Bulimics usually don't loose much weight because they eat so much before they throw up.
Obesity

Obesity is a medical condition in which excess body fat has accumulated to the extent that it may have an adverse effect on health, leading to reduced life expectancy. Body mass index (BMI), which compares weight and height, is used to define a person as overweight (pre-obese) when their BMI is between 25 kg/m2 and 30 kg/m2 and obese when it is greater than 30 kg/m2.

  • Obese people eat so much that it hurts their bodies.
  • They live shorter lives because of the diseases that can come from a build up of fat in the veins.
  • For example, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, high cholesterol, certain types of cancer, and trouble sleeping are only a few of the problems that may come up with obesity.
  • An obese child may be obese because his/her parents are obese.

Eating Disorders Hotline:1-800-931-2237

For More Info on Eating Disorders