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Identifying Eating Disorders

© Bonny Yokeley

As parents of adolescent daughters, you probably have hundreds of concerns for their well being. We try to protect these young women from dangerous situations and failures. Unfortunately, our society seems to encourage an extremely serious and constantly growing danger for these girls. Anorexia Nervosa and Bulimia are illnesses with no known cause although society's views of the ideal body seem to play an important role in its development. Since Feb. 25 through March 4 is Eating Disorders Awareness Week, it seems appropriate to learn about this problem that five million Americans suffer from.

Other risk factors include dieting, having relatives of people with eating disorders, having a low self-esteem, having body image problems, and being a perfectionist. See Natalia Zunino's article for a more detailed explanation at www.aabainc.org/riskfactors

Anorexia Nervosa is defined as an eating disorder caused by distorted body image, which makes the person lose weight by reducing calorie intake. While the number of people to have this disorder is only four out of 100,000, it is most prevalent among female Caucasians from middle to upper socioeconomic backgrounds with goal-oriented families. According to "Yahoo! Health," common symptoms include:

1. 25% or greater weight loss
2. cold intolerance
3. constipation
4. absence of menstruation
5. muscle reduction
6. oss of fatty tissue
7. low blood pressure
8. dental cavities
9. increased susceptibility to infection
10. blotchy or yellow skin
11. dry hair or hair loss
12. depression

Bulimia is defined as an illness that caused uncontrolled episodes of overeating following by self-induced vomiting. This illness is also most common among adolescent females but is much more common than anorexia. Two in 10,000 people battle bulimia.

"Yahoo! Health" lists symptoms as:

1. binge eating
2. self-induced vomiting
3. inappropriate use of diuretics and laxatives
4. absence of menstruation
5. overachieving behavior

For more information about possible causes, symptoms, and cures, go to www.aabainc.org or www.mentalhealth.com. This information is provided to inform you of the basics of these two eating disorders and should not be a substitute for speaking with your doctor.

The copyright of the article Identifying Eating Disorders in Secondary Education is owned by Bonny Yokeley. Permission to republish Identifying Eating Disorders in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.