How Are Eating Disorders Affecting Our Health?

With Anorexia Nervosa, there is a strong fear of weight gain and a preoccupation with body image. Those diagnosed may show a resistance in maintaining body weight or denial of their illness. Additionally, anorexics may deny their hunger, have eating rituals such as excessive chewing and arranging food on a plate, and seek privacy when they are eating. For women, they go through immediate body changes from abnormal to no menstruation periods and develop lanugo all over their bodies. Characteristics of an anorexic individual also consist of extreme exercise patterns, loosely worn clothing, and maintain very private lives. Socially, to avoid criticism or concern from others, they may distant themselves from friends and activities they once enjoyed. Instead, their primary concerns revolve around weight loss, calorie intake, and dieting. In regards to health, many will have an abnormal slow heart rate and low blood pressure, some can develop osteoporosis, severe dehydration which can result in kidney failure, and overall feel weak (Robbins, 27-29). It has been reported that Anorexia Nervosa has one of the highest death rates in any mental health condition in America (www.NationalEatingDisorders.org).

Anorexia nervosa is an eating disorder and a mental health condition that could potentially be life-threatening. People with anorexia try to keep their weight as low as possible by restricting the amount of food they eat. They often have a distorted image of themselves, thinking that they're fat when they're not.  Some people with the condition also exercise excessively, and some eat a lot of food in a short space of time (binge eating) and then make themselves sick. People affected by anorexia often go to great attempts to hide their behaviour from their family and friends by lying about eating and what they have eaten. Anorexia is linked to

In the book “Boys Get Anorexia Too : Coping with Male Eating Disorders in the Family,” author Jenny Langley briefly describes about anorexia nervosa, and the short-term and long-term effects of it. Anorexia is a disease involving intentional starvation, an obsession with food and weight related issues, and extreme weight loss. Langley notes that people with anorexia will deprive themselves of vital nutrients through severely restricting food intake. Despite this excessive weight loss, the person will continue to feel overweight. They deny the fact that they are at a dangerously low body weight and fear being fat. Thus, the body is forced to slow down all of its processes to conserve energy, or resulting in serious medical consequences. Langley

According to the Mayo Clinic (2016), eating disorders are “conditions related to persistent eating behaviors that negatively impact your health, your emotions, and your ability to function in important areas of life.” One such eating disorder is anorexia nervosa. Not to be confused with anorexia, which is simply a general loss of appetite that can be attributed to many medical ailments, anorexia nervosa is a serious eating disorder and mental illness (Nordqvist, 2015). Anorexia nervosa is estimated to affect about .9% of women and .3% of men in their lifetime (“Eating Disorder Statistics & Research,” n.d.). In general, the disorder is commonly characterized by a distorted body image or self-concept, critically low weight (with respect to the patient’s height and age), and an irrational fear of becoming fat or an intense desire to be thin. There are two subtypes to this eating disorder: restrictive and binge/purge. In the restrictive type, the individual limits caloric intake and may compulsively over-exercise. In the binge/purge type, the individual consumes a considerable amount of food in a short period of time (binging) and then deliberately vomits (purging), takes laxatives, or fasts intensely in order to compensate for the food eaten (“General Information: Anorexia Nervosa,” n.d.). In either case, anorexia nervosa is undoubtedly a dangerous and alarming illness.

Anorexia nervosa is an eating disorder that is categorized by severe food restriction, excessive exercise and body dysmorphia, which leads those that suffer from it to believe that they are overweight. Anorexia nervosa is commonly misunderstood by the general public. Research has disproved many of the previous thoughts about anorexia nervosa. According to the scientific research anorexia nervosa has a genetic factor, is not just a disorder of teenage girls, and that recovery is not simply gaining weight.

Anorexia Nervosa is an emotional disorder that causes its victims to have an obsessive desire to lose weight by refusing to eat. It is known to be the third most common eating disorder among adolescents. Many who suffer from the disorder have a strong fear of gaining weight and they 're very determined to prevent any weight gain. AN patients are also incapable of recognizing the severity of their condition. In the article entitled, "A Factor Analysis of the Meanings of Anorexia Nervosa: Intrapsychic, Relational, and Avoidant Dimensions and Their Clinical Correlates", Enrica Marzola explains, "AN sufferers often refuse treatments, show poor compliance with therapy leading to high dropout rates, relapse, and high mortality" (Marzola 2). Marzola examines how many patients become very attached to their illness and do not wish to be recovered from it. In addition, Not only do many AN patients believe that the disorder has help them gain their ideal body image, but they 've also described their starvation as a way to escape from any negative emotions, strengthen their identity, and reveals their distress. Enrica Marzola also addresses, "These instruments confirmed that AN sufferers experience a

Anorexia Nervosa is a serious psychological disease where people develop a constant desire to lose weight and limit their daily energy intake. Anorexia results in declining body fat, unrealistic perceptions and exaggerations of your body image and usually involves an incline in exercise. People with Anorexia can either be restrictive with their food, count kilojoules and skip meals or binge eat and purge. Anorexia Nervosa is the most dangerous and harmful mental illness in Australia. 1 in 10 young adults

Anorexia nervosa is an eating disorder characterized by self-starvation and excessive weight loss (Anorexia Nervosa). Women and men who suffer with anorexia nervosa exemplify a fixation with a thin figure and abnormal eating patterns. There are two types of Anorexia, including Binge and Purge type,

Anorexia Nervosa Eating illnesses such as anorexia, bulimia, and binge eating sickness; contain life-threatening feelings, attitudes, and actions surrounding heaviness and diet problems. Eating ailments are severe expressive and physical difficulties that can have lethal penalties for females and males. Anorexia nervosa comprise of insufficient food consumption leading to a heaviness that is evidently too little, Strong terror of weight expansion, fixation with weight and determined performance to stop weight gain, Confidence excessively connected to body appearance, and incapability to appreciate the harshness of the condition.

Anorexia nervosa is an eating disorder that consists of self-regulated food restriction in which the person strives for thinness and also involves distortion of the way the person sees his or her own body. An anorexic person weighs less than 85% of their ideal body weight. The prevalence of eating disorders is between .5-1% of women aged 15-40 and about 1/20 of this number occurs in men. Anorexia affects all aspects of an affected person's life including emotional health, physical health, and relationships with others (Shekter-Wolfson et al 5-6). A study completed in 1996 showed that anorexics also tend to possess traits that are obsessive in nature and carry heavy emotional

Eating Disorders are conditions in which involves irregular eating habits, either insufficient or excessive food, that affects inimical the body’s image and mental health (Wikipedia). It affects men and women of all ages, but it has a greater impact among adolescences and young adults. In the United States, 24 million Americans are battling eating disorders, in which 1 million are males and 23 million are females. An individual who portraits this condition may have an irrational self-image thought that impinged on an individual’s life and affects their health by disrupting body functions and daily activities (National Eating Disorders Association).

An eating disorder is an illness some people suffer from due to an obsession with food, body image, or weight. These people struggle to have control over their bodies even if it means making decision that affects their overall health. Having a severe disturbance in eating habits and related thoughts and emotions can lead to death. Eating disorders have the highest mortality rate of any mental illness according to Eating Disorder Statistics. Anorexia nervosa and bulimia are two of the most common types of eating disorders in the United

Eating disorders are severe disturbances in eating behaviors, such as eating too little or eating too much. “Anorexia nervosa affects nearly one in 200 Americans in their lives (three-quarters of them female)” (Treating anorexia nervosa). Anorexia, when translated into Greek means “without appetite” which is not true for all suffering from anorexia most people with this disorder have not lost their appetite they simply have to ignore it. People with anorexia have an intense fear of gaining weight and have convinced themselves that they are overweight even if they are the opposite of overweight. Since the way that they view themselves is in a negative light they starve themselves and put their lives at risk. “In the most severe

Eating disorders greatly affect mental and physical health. Eating disorders start as a disordered way of thinking about food. This then leads to disordered actions relating to the topic. The actions which may include undereating, overeating or binging and purging, often lead to a very unhealthy body as well as way of life. Eating disorders almost always lead to some form of malnutrition from lack of necessary vitamins for the body as the person eats not enough food

As with most mental illnesses, eating disorders are not caused by just one factor, but rather by a combination of cognitive, sociocultural, and biological factors. There are many psychological causes and personality traits that may predispose people to developing eating disorders. Most people that suffer from eating disorders can be described as having low self-esteem, feelings of vulnerability, and penetrating dissatisfaction with the way that they look (Profile). Eating disorders can, and more likely than not, destroy the body. For example, problems associated with anorexia can include anemia, osteoporosis, constipation, and even damage to the heart and brain. Bulimia can result in a sore throat, acid reflux, and heart attacks. People that have a binge eating disorder could develop high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and other problems