Eating Disorder Information

Unfortunately a single cause of eating disorders has not been found to date. There are a variety of influencers

with eating disorders including personality, genetic, socio-cultural, familial, and experiential factors. Each

individual is different and there are no two stories the same. It is important to educate yourself about eating

disorders and find the type of treatment that works best for each person.

A study from 2001 to 2003 with 2,980 in-person interviews about eating disorders published in the Journal of Biological Psychiatry showed that almost 6 in 100 women had reported having an eating disorder (anorexia, bulimia, and binge

eating) sometime in their lives. Almost 3 in 100 men reported their experience with the same eating disorders.

(The Toronto Star, 02/05/2007 B7)

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ANOREXIA NERVOSA

 

1-Weight is 15% below ideal body weight. Refusal to maintain a normal weight/above

normal weight for height and age.

Not everyone who is of a low weight is anorexic; it is important to recognize that it is the REFUSAL

to maintain a normal weight that is the key factor.

 

2-Intense fear of gaining weight or becoming fat, even if underweight.

A person with anorexia is hungry but he or she is afraid to eat because of the fear.

Often individuals will become vegetarians and want to eat healthily when indeed the issue is the fear

of gaining weight. A person with anorexia constantly thinks about food - how many calories, how many

fat grams, how much exercise do you need to do if you eat a cookie, etc. How many times do you

check the scale? There is always the attempt to try to control eating because of the fear of gaining weight.

Often meals are avoided or eaten very slowly, pondering each bite, fearing that surely it will make them fat.

 

3-Body image distortion

When a person with anorexia looks into a mirror he/she does not often see an accurate reflection.

A person with anorexia sees him/herself as fat, even if he/she is dangerously thin. It is difficult for him/her

to understand that a very low weight and dangerous dieting habits can actually be fatal. The death rate

for anorexia is higher than for any other psychiatric illness.

4-Amenorrhea or absence of menstruation

Missing 3 periods is usually the criteria for this definition. This criterion cannot apply to situations

where the person is a male, a young female who has not started her periods or a female who is on birth control pills.

 

BULIMIA NERVOSA

 

1-Binge eating

A binge is characterized by:

• A larger amount of food than most people would eat during the same time period (may consist of thousands calories)
• Consumed within a short period of time (typically 2 hours or less)
• A feeling that one CANNOT STOP or CONTROL one's eating
• Accompanied by physical or emotional distress

2-Purging

Following a binge, an individual may feel consumed with fear, guilt or shame and the need to try to undo

his/her behavior. Purging is a way to compensate for binging. Purge behaviors come in many forms:

vomiting, taking laxatives, water pills, starving or excessive exercise. It is important to recognize that

purging rarely works well for weight loss. Laxatives and diuretics make you lose water not weight.

3-Binging and purging occurs more than two times per week for atleast three months.

 

4-Body Image: Self evaluation and self esteem is overly influenced by weight and shape

Many people in our culture are concerned with how they look, what they weigh or how to change

the body parts they don't like. In bulimia, there is an intense connection between self respect and

the way the body looks. We can be great in a lot of things, but if our thighs are too big, well then,

we are just not good enough.

5-Weight can be normal, underweight, or overweight.

Unlike anorexics who can be often identified by their low weight, it is more difficult to identify bulimics.

Weight can also dramatically shift and large swings might be an indicator that someone is developing

an eating disorder.

 

BINGE EATING DISORDER (BED)

This was often referred to as compulsive overeating, typically characterized by:

1-A larger amount of food is eaten than would normally be eaten under the circumstances

  (usually at least over 2500 calories) within atleast a 2 hour period of time

2-Often accompanied by feelings of physical discomfort,emotional distress, and guilt

3-This occurs at least 2 times per week for 6 months. There is no purging associated with BED

4-Cravings feel out of control, and are not satisfied by normal eating patterns

 

In the same study discussed above, from 2001 to 2003 with 2,980 in-person interviews about eating disorders published in the Journal of Biological Psychiatry showed that 0.9 percent of women reported having anorexia at some point in their lives, and 1.5 percent reported to have had bulimia. 0.3 percent of men reported incidences of anorexia, while 0.5 percent reported bulimia. Researches did find that binge eating was much more common than these reports and stated statisics may be closer to 3.5 percent of women and 2.0 percent of men who have been binge eaters.Research showed that binge eating was more common than the other two diorders combined, and that binge eating was reported for an average of 8 years, compared to 1.7 years with anorexia. This data challenges the belief that binge eating is not as common as other eating disorders.

(The Toronto Star, 02/05/2007 B7)

EATING DISORDER NOT OTHERWISE SPECIFIED (NOS) 

Just because one does not meet these exact definitions does not mean that the person does not have an

eating disorder or disordered eating patterns. As a matter of fact, most people will not meet the full criteria.

Individuals may begin as anorexic but then not hold the low weight (15% below) and may go onto

develop bulimia. 50% of patients with anorexia develop bulimic symptoms. Some patients with bulimia

develop anorexic symptoms.Some patients with Binge Eating disorder may not be overweight.