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What Is An Eating Disorder

Eating disorders are recognized mental health disorders where emotional issues manifest through harmful eating habits rather than simply being poor eating habits. The three most common eating disorders are anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and binge eating disorder, which all involve an inability to separate emotions from eating that skews eating behaviors and amounts. Eating disorders can affect anyone but are more likely to impact women, especially younger women. Anorexia involves being terrified of weight gain and severely limiting food intake to the point of starvation. Binge eating disorder similarly involves consuming large amounts of food but without purging afterwards, increasing risks of obesity, diabetes and other health issues. Eating disorders are both physically and mentally harmful.

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116 views2 pages

What Is An Eating Disorder

Eating disorders are recognized mental health disorders where emotional issues manifest through harmful eating habits rather than simply being poor eating habits. The three most common eating disorders are anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and binge eating disorder, which all involve an inability to separate emotions from eating that skews eating behaviors and amounts. Eating disorders can affect anyone but are more likely to impact women, especially younger women. Anorexia involves being terrified of weight gain and severely limiting food intake to the point of starvation. Binge eating disorder similarly involves consuming large amounts of food but without purging afterwards, increasing risks of obesity, diabetes and other health issues. Eating disorders are both physically and mentally harmful.

Uploaded by

thurai_raja
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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What is an Eating Disorder?

“Eating disorder” is a phrase that describes conditions in which individuals engage in


disordered eating. Eating disorders are not simply poor eating habits but are recognised
mental health disorders in which emotional issues manifest in harmful eating habits.

The three most common eating disorders are anorexia nervosa (anorexia), bulimia nervosa
(bulimia), and binge eating disorder. Though each of these disorders result in different eating
behaviours, each occurs when sufferers can not separate their emotions from their eating
habits and this skews the way, and the amount, that they eat. Eating disorders can strike
young or old, male or female, any race and any income level. However, eating disorders are,
by some estimates, eight times more likely to affect women than men and are also more
frequently found among younger women.

Anorexia
Anorexia is an eating disorder in which the sufferer is terrified of gaining weight and decreases the
amount of food that (s)he will eat in an attempt to limit weight and body fat. If left unchecked, some
anorexics decrease their daily food intake to the point that they literally starve themselves. Even
when they are physically wasting away, anorexics perceive themselves as heavy and continue eating
as little as possible. Without proper nutrition an anorexic’s internal organs can become damaged
and in extreme cases death can result.

“Eating disorder” is a phrase that describes conditions in which individuals engage in


disordered eating. Eating disorders are not simply poor eating habits but are recognised
mental health disorders in which emotional issues manifest in harmful eating habits.

The three most common eating disorders are anorexia nervosa (anorexia), bulimia nervosa
(bulimia), and binge eating disorder. Though each of these disorders result in different eating
behaviours, each occurs when sufferers can not separate their emotions from their eating
habits and this skews the way, and the amount, that they eat. Eating disorders can strike
young or old, male or female, any race and any income level. However, eating disorders are,
by some estimates, eight times more likely to affect women than men and are also more
frequently found among younger women.

Anorexia
Anorexia is an eating disorder in which the sufferer is terrified of gaining weight and decreases the
amount of food that (s)he will eat in an attempt to limit weight and body fat. If left unchecked, some
anorexics decrease their daily food intake to the point that they literally starve themselves. Even
when they are physically wasting away, anorexics perceive themselves as heavy and continue eating
as little as possible. Without proper nutrition an anorexic’s internal organs can become damaged
and in extreme cases death can result.

Binge Eating Disorder


Similarly to bulimics, those suffering from binge eating disorders consume vast amounts of food at
one sitting. However, unlike bulimics, they do not follow this by purging or ridding themselves of this
food afterwards. Binge eaters can suffer from side effects such as obesity, diabetes, high blood
pressure, high cholesterol and heart disease and are also at risk of developing bulimic tendencies to
investigate methods of purging and anorexic behaviours such as avoiding food and severely limiting
calories. Unfortunately, because many binge eaters are severely overweight, these behaviours are
not often discovered until a significant amount of weight has been lost through unhealthy means.

Eating disorders are both physically and mentally harmful, but it is very rare that someone
suffering from an eating disorder will recognise these risks and ask for help on their own.
Instead, it is often family and friends who will need to intervene and find help for anorexics,
bulimics and binge eaters. For further information on eating disorders, visit your GP or
contact the National Centre for Eating Disorders or the Eating Disorders Association.

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