2. What is eating disorders ?
• Eating disorders are associated with
psychological that affected seriously the body.
People who suffer from these disorders are
commonly teenagers and more specific girls.
• The most common forms of eating disorders
are: Bulimia nervosa, anorexia nervosa and
binge eating disorder.
3. Main causes
• The main causes of eating disorders are
emotional and personality problems. A great
role plays the family pressure and the stress
that in most cases is a result of the many
responsibilities of teenagers. Moreover
genetics and biological factors may also play a
role.
4. Bulimia nervosa
The term bulimia comes from Greek βουλιμία (boulimia;
ravenous hunger), a compound of βους (bous)=ox
+ λιμός (līmos)=hunger.
• Bulimia is an eating disorder characterised by repeated
episodes of consuming a large amount of food in a
short amount of time (binge eating) and by behaviour
intended to cause rapid weight loss (including
vomiting, purging, fasting or excessive exercising).
• Binge eating is accompanied by a feeling of loss of
control over eating.
5. Anorexia nervosa
• Anorexia nervosa, commonly referred to simply
as anorexia, is also a type of eating disorder.
More importantly, it is a psychological disorder.
• Anorexia is characterized by excessive weight
loss, irrational fear of gaining weight and a
distorted body self-perception. Anorexia nervosa
usually develops during adolescence and early
adulthood. Due to the fear of gaining weight,
people with this disorder restrict the amount of
food they intake. This restriction of food intake
causes metabolic and hormonal disorders.
6. Causes of bulimia nervosa and
anorexia nervosa
The causes of bulimia nervosa and anorexia
nervosa are the same. The most common causes
are emotional problems such as :
• Low self-esteem
• Poor body image
• Depression
• Difficulty expressing feelings
• Perfectionism
• Stress
• Need to feel special or unique
7. Statistics
Amount of people affected by specific eating disorders:
0.5% - 3.7% of females suffer from Anorexia Nervosa in their
lifetime
1.1% - 4.2% of females suffer from Bulimia Nervosa in their
lifetime
10%-25% of all those battling anorexia will die as a direct result
of the eating disorder
Up to 19% of college aged women in America are bulimic Age at
onset of an eating disorder:
10% report onset at 10 years or younger
33% report onset between ages of 11-15
43% report onset between ages of 16-20
86% report onset of illness by the age of 20
