| Unhealthy eating patterns lead to an eating | | | | - Irregular menstrual cycle |
| disorder. This is very common among teenage | | | | |
| girls who are obsessed about becoming thin, | | | | - Brittle bones |
| and start harming their body by not eating. | | | | |
| Poor nutrition harms their body organs. This | | | | - Infertility |
| is a very serious problem as it affects them | | | | |
| mentally as well, and leads to depression and | | | | - Fainting and dizziness |
| anxiety. An eating disorder can be overeating | | | | |
| as well. | | | | - Dehydration leading to kidney damage |
| | | | |
| When a person finds refuge in food to cover | | | | - Slowed heartbeat |
| their mental disturbance, then they are | | | | |
| suffering from an eating disorder. | | | | - Low blood pressure |
| | | | |
| The three most common types of eating | | | | - Reduced body temperature |
| disorder are: | | | | |
| | | | - Hair loss |
| - Anorexia | | | | |
| | | | Compulsive eating: |
| - Bulimia | | | | |
| | | | When a person starts binging, leading to a |
| - Compulsive eating | | | | feeling of guilt and shame, she/he is said to |
| | | | be a compulsive eater. This is not like |
| Anorexia: | | | | bulimia where the person involves purging. |
| | | | This leads to weight gain and depression. |
| This is a psychological disorder, mostly seen | | | | Here the person has an uncontrolled urge to |
| in teenage girls, as a result of low self | | | | eat all the time. 40 percent of people who |
| esteem or emotional or physical abuse. | | | | are obese are binge eaters. |
| Obsession to become thin is the main reason | | | | |
| for these people to start over dieting. The | | | | How would you know if you are a compulsive |
| more they lose weight, the more they have the | | | | eater? |
| drive to push further. They stop worrying | | | | |
| about their body, and they become only | | | | These are common signs of a compulsive eater: |
| interested in losing weight. They starve so | | | | |
| as to take control over the body. They start | | | | - Eating uncontrollably |
| neglecting their health, which can sometimes | | | | |
| even lead to death. This disorder is also a | | | | - Depression |
| type of addiction. | | | | |
| | | | - Dieting frequently |
| They develop psychological fear of food and | | | | |
| fatness, which leads them to the extent of | | | | - Preoccupied about their weight |
| vomiting out anything and everything that | | | | |
| they eat. Some people also start using | | | | - Vigorous exercise or vomiting to lose |
| laxatives to reduce weight. No matter how | | | | weight |
| thin they grow, they are never satisfied. | | | | |
| | | | - Health problems like heartburn, dental |
| Bulimia: | | | | problems, fatigue, weight gain, insomnia and |
| | | | high BP. |
| This is also similar to anorexia, where the | | | | |
| person becomes obsessed with growing thin. | | | | Treatments: |
| Here the person may binge on food, then throw | | | | |
| up everything she/he just ate. They may first | | | | Recovery from these disorders is possible. |
| eat a large amount of food, and even indulge | | | | The person must undergo certain lifestyle |
| in rich food in a short period of time, then | | | | changes with the help of the people around |
| later force themselves to vomit. They may | | | | him/her. There are different kinds of |
| also start exercising excessively, use | | | | psychological therapy available to treat |
| laxatives, or fast to make up for the food | | | | these problems. For a person suffering from |
| they had, as they start to feel guilty about | | | | anorexia, hospitalization may be necessary in |
| having eaten food. Bulimia is most common in | | | | extreme cases; when due to severe weight loss |
| adolescent and young adult women. | | | | different parts of the body get affected. |
| | | | Intravenous feeding may be required, and the |
| Unlike anorexia where the person stops | | | | focus would be on gaining weight. Family |
| eating, bulimic people do eat food, but they | | | | support and assistance is very important. The |
| either force themselves to vomit or use | | | | person is given nutritional education for a |
| laxatives. | | | | healthy alternative to weight management. A |
| | | | lot of counseling is given, and therapy to |
| Health problems related to Anorexia/Bulimia | | | | boost up one's self esteem. Everyone has the |
| | | | right to love his own body. |
| They are: | | | | |
| | | | So with the help of medical, psychological |
| - Poor circulation of blood | | | | and nutritional assistance, people with |
| | | | eating disorders can be healed. |