Anorexia nervosa is one of the most prevalent of all eating disorders and one of the most life threatening. A person suffering from anorexia refuses to maintain a healthy body weight. Anorexics have an intense fear of gaining weight or becoming fat and strive for perfection. Due to the loss of fat and weight, girls and women may suffer repeated missed menstrual cycles. People suffering from anorexia are generally very restrictive in their eating habits.
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A person who suffers from bulimia binges and purges. Bulimics will eat a large quantity of food in a short amount of time and then self-induce vomiting. They do this to punish themselves or because they feel overwhelmed, sometimes with feeling fat but sometimes out of frustration or anger. Binging and purging will occur at least twice a week for three months. People with bulimia don't usually lose as much weight as people with anorexia.
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A person who suffers from binge eating disorder periodically goes on a large binge (like with bulimia) but does not purge afterwards. They are typically at a normal weight or overweight. They often binge to hide their emotions, fill a void in their lives, or as self-punishment. To be diagnosed as binge eating, this behavior will need to occur at least twice a week for six months. Binge eating disorder is probably the most common eating disorder.
Compulsive overeaters use food to fill a void, hide from their emotions or cope with their problems. They tend to be overweight and use their physical appearance as a barrier. People who suffer from compulsive eating typically have very low self-esteem and feel shame about their weight. Unfortunately, they comfort themselves with food when they feel this shame, creating a cycle of emotional highs and lows.
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Obesity is currently defined as anyone who has a body mass index (BMI) that is 30 or greater and is considered a disease by many medical professionals who work with this population.
Some of the causes of obesity are glandular malfunctions, malnutrition, emotional tension, boredom, habit, and love of food. It has also been linked to food sensitivities or food allergies and may be the result of either binge eating disorder or compulsive eating.
Obesity results from a complex interaction between genes and the environment characterized by long-term energy imbalance. Hereditary plays a primary role in the development of overweight and obesity, but lifestyle choices can be the most influential. These include lack of physical activity, a diet high in fat, sugar, and low in fiber, smoking, and stress.
Obesity develops in a society characterized by sedentary life style, mechanization, and good access to abundant food. The average American is less physically active. We are attempting to lose weight or control our weight by reducing the amount of food we eat (dieting through restriction) rather than increasing our activity levels. Americans also now consume 15-20 pounds more fat each year than we did 100 years ago. Eating fat can make you fat. So can dieting. As we've heard many times, frequent dieting is related to weight gain. A Finnish study conducted in 1999 reported that dieters were several times more likely than non-dieters to experience major weight gain (considered more than 22 pounds) during follow-up.
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Night-eating syndrome is a pattern that consists of morning restricting, evening overeating and insomnia. It seems to be precipitated by stress and can predict the failure of attempts at weight reduction. A complaint among night eaters is the inability to stop eating once they have started — as long as there is food available.
Thank you, Mirasol, for saving my daughter's life.
My beloved daughter had been active in her eating disorder for over three years, in spite of two lengthy treatment episodes and years of outpatient treatment. We knew from past experience that just any treatment program would not work for our daughter.
