Overview

An eating disorder is a compulsion to eat, or avoid eating, that negatively affects both one's physical and mental health. Eating disorders are all encompassing. They affect every part of the person's life. According to the authors of Surviving an Eating Disorder, "feelings about work, school, relationships, day-to-day activities and one's experience of emotional well being are determined by what has or has not been eaten or by a number on a scale." Anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa are the most common eating disorders generally recognized by medical classification schemes, with a significant diagnostic overlap between the two. Together, they affect an estimated 5-7% of females in the United States during their lifetimes. There is a third type of eating disorder currently being investigated and defined - Binge Eating Disorder. This is a chronic condition that occurs when an individual consumes huge amounts of food during a brief period of time and feels totally out of control and unable to stop their eating. It can lead to serious health conditions such as morbid obesity, diabetes, hypertension, and cardiovascular disease.

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Overview of Anorexia Nervosa

Anorexia nervosa is an intense fear of gaining weight. Someone with anorexia thinks about food a lot and limits the food she or he eats, even though she or he is too thin. Anorexia is more than just a problem with food. It is a way of using food or starving oneself to feel more in control of life and to ease tension, anger, and anxiety. Most people with anorexia are female.

Characteristics are:

A low body weight for her or his height
Resists keeping a normal body weight
Has an intense fear of gaining weight
Thinks she or he is fat even when very thin
Misses 3 menstrual periods in a row (for girls/women who have started having their periods)

Anorexia mostly affects girls and women (85-95 percent of anorexics are female), however, it can also affect boys and men. It was once thought the women of color were shielded from eating disorders by their cultures, which tend to be more accepting of different body sizes. It is not known for sure whether African American, Latina, Asian/Pacific Islander, and American Indian and Alaska Native people develop eating disorders because American culture values thin people. People with different cultural backgrounds may develop eating disorders because it is hard to adapt to a new culture (a theory called "culture clash"). The stress of trying to live in two different cultures may cause some minorities to develop their eating disorders.

There is no single known cause of anorexia. Eating disorders are real, treatable medical illnesses with causes in both the body and the mind.

Things that may play a part are:

Culture: Women in the U.S. are under constant pressure to fit a certain ideal of beauty
Families: If you have a mother or sister with anorexia you are more likely to develop the disorder
Life change or stressful events
Biology



Autor: Connie Limon

Written by: Connie Limon. For more information about this eating disorder and others visit my website at: http://smalldogs2.com/EatingDisorders


Added: February 2, 2010
Source: http://ezinearticles.com/

Posted by admin at 4:56 AM

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