Eating disorders can affect people of all ages, racial/ethnic backgrounds, body weights, and genders. Eating disorders frequently appear during the teen years or young adulthood but may also develop during childhood or later in life. These disorders affect both genders, although rates among women are higher than among men. Like women who have eating disorders, men also have a distorted sense of body image.
Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID)
Anorexia nervosa, often called anorexia, is a type of eating disorder. People with anorexia eat so little that they have unhealthy weight loss and become dangerously thin. They may think they are overweight or fat even when they are underweight or thin. Anorexia affects more girls and women than boys and men. Anorexia is a serious health problem that can increase the risk of early death. But people with anorexia can get better with treatment.
Anorexia nervosa, often called anorexia, is a type of eating disorder. People with anorexia eat so little that they have unhealthy weight loss and become dangerously thin. They may think they are overweight or fat even when they are underweight or thin. Anorexia affects more girls and women than boys and men. Anorexia is a serious health problem that can increase the risk of early death. But people with anorexia can get better with treatment.
The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)
Danielle Johnson, M.D., FAPA, Psychiatrist, Medical Staff President, Chief of Adult Psychiatry, Director, Women’s Mental Health Program, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience, University of Cincinnati
Cassidy Gutner, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Psychiatry, Boston University School of Medicine; National Center for PTSD, Women’s Health Sciences Division, VA Boston Healthcare System, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
Mark A. Lumley, Ph.D., Professor and Director of Clinical Psychology Training, Department of Psychology, Wayne State University, and his Stress and Health Laboratory team: Jennifer Carty, Heather Doherty, Hannah Holmes, Nancy Lockhart, and Sheri Pegram
Mark Chavez, Ph.D., Chief, Eating Disorders Research Program, NIMH
Kamryn T. Eddy, Ph.D., and Jennifer J. Thomas, Ph.D., Associate Professors of Psychology, Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School; Co-Directors of the Eating Disorders Clinical and Research Program, Massachusetts General Hospital
Kendra Becker, M.S., Clinical Fellow in Psychology, Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital
Michael Kozak, Ph.D., Division of Adult Translational Research and Treatment Development, NIMH
Alicia Kaplan, M.D., Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, Temple University School of Medicine and Drexel University College of Medicine, and Staff Psychiatrist, Division of Adult Services, Department of Psychiatry, Allegheny Health Network, Allegheny General Hospital
All material contained on these pages are free of copyright restrictions and may be copied, reproduced, or duplicated without permission of the Office on Women’s Health in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Citation of the source is appreciated.
Bulimia nervosa, often called bulimia, is a type of eating disorder. People with bulimia eat large amounts of food at one time, then try to get rid of the food or weight gain by throwing up, taking laxatives, fasting (not eating anything), or exercising a lot more than normal. Bulimia affects more girls and women than boys and men. Bulimia is a serious health problem, but people with bulimia can get better with treatment.
What is bulimia?
Bulimia nervosa, often called bulimia, is a type of eating disorder. Eating disorders are mental health problems that cause extreme and dangerous eating behaviors. These extreme eating behaviors cause other serious health problems and sometimes death. Some eating disorders also involve extreme exercise.
Women with bulimia eat a lot of food in a short amount of time and feel a lack of control over eating during this time (called binging). People with bulimia then try to prevent weight gain by getting rid of the food (called purging). Purging may be done by:
Making yourself throw up
Taking laxatives. Laxatives can include pills or liquids that speed up the movement of food through your body and lead to bowel movements.
Women with bulimia may also try to prevent weight gain after binging by exercising a lot more than normal, eating very little or not at all (fasting), or taking pills to urinate often.
Women with bulimia usually have self-esteem that is closely linked to their body image.
What is the difference between bulimia and other eating disorders?
Women with eating disorders, such as bulimia, anorexia, and binge eating disorder, have a mental health condition that affects how they eat, and sometimes how they exercise. These eating disorders threaten their health.
Unlike women with anorexia, women with bulimia often have a normal weight. Unlike women with binge eating disorder, women with bulimia purge, or try to get rid of the food or weight after binging. Binging and purging are usually done in private. This can make it difficult to tell if a loved one has bulimia or another eating disorder.
It is possible to have more than one eating disorder in your lifetime. Regardless of what type of eating disorder you may have, you can get better with treatment.
Who is at risk for bulimia?
Bulimia affects more women than men. It affects up to 2% of women1 and happens to women of all races and ethnicities.
Bulimia affects more girls and younger women than older women. On average, women develop bulimia at 18 or 19.3 Teen girls between 15 and 19 and young women in their early 20s are most at risk. But eating disorders are happening more often in older women. In one recent study, 13% of American women over 50 had signs of an eating disorder.
What are the symptoms of bulimia?
Someone with bulimia may be thin, overweight, or have a normal weight. It can be difficult to tell based on a person's weight whether someone has bulimia. This is because binging and purging is most often done in private. However, family or friends may see empty food wrappers in unexpected places or vomit in the home.
Over time, some symptoms of bulimia may include:
Swollen cheeks or jaw area
Calluses or scrapes on the knuckles (if using fingers to induce vomiting)
Teeth that look clear instead of white and are increasingly sensitive and decaying
Broken blood vessels in the eyes
Acid reflux, constipation, and other gastrointestinal problems
Severe dehydration
Girls or women with bulimia may also have behavior changes such as:
Often going to the bathroom right after eating (to throw up)
Exercising a lot, even in bad weather or when hurt or tired
Acting moody or sad, hating the way she looks, or feeling hopeless
Having problems expressing anger
Not wanting to go out with friends or do activities she once enjoyed
People with bulimia often have other mental health problems, including depression, anxiety, or substance abuse.
What causes bulimia?
Researchers are not sure exactly what causes bulimia and other eating disorders. Researchers think that eating disorders might happen because of a combination of a person's biology and life events. This combination includes having specific genes, a person's biology, body image and self-esteem, social experiences, family health history, and sometimes other mental health illnesses.
Researchers are also studying unusual activity in the brain, such as changing levels of serotonin or other chemicals, to see how it may affect eating. Learn more about current research on bulimia.
How does bulimia affect a woman's health?
Purging through vomiting or taking laxatives can prevent your body from getting the important nutrients it needs from food. Over time, bulimia can affect your body in the following ways:
Stomach damage from overeating
Electrolyte imbalance (having levels of sodium, potassium, or other minerals that are too high or too low, which can lead to heart attack or heart failure)
Ulcers and other damage to your throat from vomiting
Irregular periods or not having periods, which can cause problems getting pregnant
Tooth decay from vomiting
Dehydration
Problems having bowel movements or damage to the intestines from laxative abuse
Long-term studies of 20 years or more show that women who had an eating disorder in the past usually reach and maintain a healthy weight after treatment.
How is bulimia diagnosed?
Your doctor or nurse will ask you questions about your symptoms and medical history. It may be difficult to talk to a doctor or nurse about secret eating, purging, or exercise behaviors. But doctors and nurses want to help you get better. Being honest about your eating behaviors with a doctor or nurse is a good way to ask for help.
Your doctor may do blood or urine tests to rule out other possible causes of your symptoms. Your doctor may also do other tests to see whether you have any other health problems caused by bulimia. These tests may include kidney function tests or an electrocardiogram (ECG or EKG) to see if or how repeated binging and purging has affected your health.
How is bulimia treated?
Your doctor may refer you to a team of doctors, nutritionists, and therapists who will work to help you get better.
Treatment plans may include one or more of the following:
Nutrition therapy. People who purge (make themselves throw up or take laxatives) regularly should be treated by a doctor. Purging can cause life-threatening electrolyte imbalances. Some people with bulimia may need to be hospitalized if they have serious heart or kidney problems.
Psychotherapy. Sometimes called "talk therapy," psychotherapy is counseling to help you change harmful thoughts or behaviors. This type of therapy may focus on the importance of talking about your feelings and how they affect what you do. For example, you might talk about how stress triggers a binge. You may work one-on-one with a therapist or in a group with others who have bulimia.
Nutritional counseling. A registered dietitian or counselor can help you eat in a healthier way than binging and purging.
Support groups can be helpful for some people with bulimia when added to other treatment. In support groups, girls or women and sometimes their families meet and share their stories.
Medicine. Fluoxetine (Prozac) is the only medicine approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for treating bulimia, but only in adults. It may help reduce binging and purging and improve your thoughts about eating. Some antidepressants may help girls and women with bulimia who also have depression or anxiety.
Most girls and women do get better with treatment and are able to eat and exercise in healthy ways again. Some may get better after the first treatment. Others get well but may relapse and need treatment again.
How does bulimia affect pregnancy?
Bulimia can cause problems getting pregnant and during pregnancy.
Repeated purging and binging can make your menstrual cycle irregular (your period comes some months but not others) or your period may stop for several months. Irregular or missing periods mean you may not ovulate, or release an egg from the ovary, every month. This can make it difficult to get pregnant.13 However, if you do not want to have children right now and you have sex, you should use birth control.
Bulimia can also cause problems during pregnancy. Bulimia raises your risk for:
Miscarriage (pregnancy loss)
Premature birth (also called preterm birth), or childbirth before 37 weeks of pregnancy
Delivery by cesarean section (C-section)
Having a low birth weight baby (less than five pounds, eight ounces at birth)
Having a baby with a birth defect
Depression after the baby is born. (postpartum depression)
If I had an eating disorder in the past, can I still get pregnant?
Women who have recovered from bulimia and have normal menstrual cycles have a better chance of getting pregnant and having a safe and healthy pregnancy.
If you had an eating disorder in the past, it may take you a little longer to get pregnant (about six months to a year) compared to women who never had an eating disorder.
Tell your doctor if you had an eating disorder in the past and are trying to become pregnant.
If I take medicine to treat bulimia, can I breastfeed my baby?
Maybe. Some medicines used to treat bulimia can pass through breastmilk. Certain antidepressants can be used safely during breastfeeding.
Talk to your doctor to find out what medicine works best for you. Learn more about medicines and breastfeeding in our Breastfeeding section. You can also enter a medicine into the LactMed® database to find out if the medicine passes through breastmilk and any about possible side effects for your nursing baby.
Did we answer your question about bulimia?
For more information about bulimia, call the OWH Helpline at 1-800-994-9662 or contact the following organizations:
MentalHealth.gov
National Institute of Mental Health, NIH, HHS
Phone Number: 866-615-6464
American Psychological Association (link is external)
Phone Number: 800-374-2721
National Eating Disorders Association (link is external)
Phone Number: 800-931-2237
Sources
Smink, F.R.E., van Hoeken, D., Hoek, H. W. (2013). Epidemiology, course, and outcome of eating disorders. Current Opinion in Psychiatry; 26(6); 543-8.
Marques, L., Alegria, M., Becker, A.E., Chen, C., Fang, A., Chosak, A., et al. (2011). Comparative Prevalence, Correlates of Impairment, and Service Utilization for Eating Disorders across U.S. Ethnic Groups: Implications for Reducing Ethnic Disparities in Health Care Access for Eating Disorders. International Journal of Eating Disorders; 44(5): 412-420.
National Collaborating Centre for Mental Health (UK). Core Interventions in the Treatment and Management of Anorexia Nervosa, Bulimia Nervosa and Related Eating Disorders. NICE Clinical Guidelines, No. 9. The British Psychological Society & The Royal College of Psychiatrists: Leicester, UK; 2004.
Gagne, D.A., Van Holle, A., Brownley, K.A., Runfola, C.D., Hofmeier, S., Branch, K.E., et al. (2012). Eating disorder symptoms and weight and shape concerns in a large web-based convenience sample of women ages 50 and above: Results of the gender and body image (GABI) study (link is external). International Journal of Eating Disorders; 45(7): 832-844.
Source: OWH, HHS
Unlike people with anorexia or bulimia, people with binge eating disorder do not throw up their food, exercise a lot, or starve themselves. People with binge eating disorder are often overweight or obese. But not all people with binge eating disorder are overweight, and being overweight does not always mean you have binge eating disorder.
Binge eating disorder is the most common type of eating disorder in the United States. People with binge eating disorder often feel out of control and eat a large amount of food at one time (called a binge). Unlike other eating disorders, people who have binge eating disorder do not throw up the food or exercise too much. Binge eating disorder is a serious health problem, but people with binge eating disorder can get better with treatment.
Binge eating disorder is a type of eating disorder. Eating disorders are mental health problems that cause extreme and dangerous eating behaviors. These extreme eating behaviors cause other serious health problems and sometimes death. Some eating disorders also involve extreme exercise.
According to the American Psychiatric Association, women with binge eating disorder feel out of control and eat too much (binge), at least once a week for at least three months. During binges women with binge eating disorder usually eat faster than normal, eat until they are uncomfortable, eat when they are not physically hungry, and feel embarrassed, disgusted, or depressed because of the binges. Women with this type of eating disorder may be overweight or obese.
Women with eating disorders, such as binge eating disorder, bulimia, and anorexia, have a mental health condition that affects how they eat, and sometimes how they exercise. These eating disorders threaten their health.
Unlike people with anorexia or bulimia, people with binge eating disorder do not throw up their food, exercise a lot, or starve themselves. People with binge eating disorder are often overweight or obese. But not all people with binge eating disorder are overweight, and being overweight does not always mean you have binge eating disorder.
It is possible to have more than one eating disorder in your lifetime. Regardless of what type of eating disorder you may have, you can get better with treatment
Binge eating disorder affects more than 3% of women in the United States. More than half of people with binge eating disorder are women.
Binge eating disorder affects women of all races and ethnicities. It is the most common eating disorder among Hispanic, Asian-American, and African-American women.
Some women may be more at risk for binge eating disorder.
Women and girls who diet often are 12 times more likely to binge eat than women and girls who do not diet.
Binge eating disorder affects more young and middle-aged women than older women. On average, women develop binge eating disorder in their early to mid-20s.6 But eating disorders are happening more often in older women. In one study, 13% of American women over 50 had signs of an eating disorder.
It can be difficult to tell whether someone has binge eating disorder. Many women with binge eating disorder hide their behavior because they are embarrassed.
You may have binge eating disorder if, for at least once a week over the past three months, you have binged. Binge eating disorder means you have at least three of these symptoms while binging:
Eating faster than normal
Eating until uncomfortably full
Eating large amounts of food when not hungry
Eating alone because of embarrassment
Feeling disgusted, depressed, or guilty afterward
People with binge eating disorder may also have other mental health problems, such as depression, anxiety, or substance abuse.
Researchers are not sure exactly what causes binge eating disorder and other eating disorders. Researchers think that eating disorders might happen because of a combination of a person's biology and life events. This combination includes having specific genes, a person's biology, body image and self-esteem, social experiences, family health history, and sometimes other mental health illnesses.
Studies suggest that people with binge eating disorder may use overeating as a way to deal with anger, sadness, boredom, anxiety, or stress.9,10
Researchers are studying how changing levels of brain chemicals may affect eating habits. Neuroimaging, or pictures of the brain, may lead to a better understanding of binge eating disorder.
Learn more about current research on binge eating disorder.
Many, but not all, women with binge eating disorder are overweight or obese. Obesity raises your risk for many serious health problems:
Type 2 diabetes
Heart disease
High blood pressure
High cholesterol
Gallbladder disease
Certain types of cancer, including breast, endometrial (a type of uterine cancer), colorectal, kidney, esophageal, pancreatic, thyroid, and gallbladder cancer13
Problems with your menstrual cycle, including preventing ovulation, which can make it harder to get pregnant
People with binge eating disorder often have other serious mental health illnesses such as depression, anxiety, or substance abuse. These problems can seriously affect a woman's everyday life and can be treated.
Your doctor or nurse will ask you questions about your symptoms and medical history. It may be difficult to talk to a doctor or nurse about secret eating behaviors. But doctors and nurses want to help you be healthy. Being honest about your eating behaviors with a doctor or nurse is a good way to ask for help.
Your doctor may also do blood, urine, or other tests for other health problems, such as heart problems or gallbladder disease, that can be caused by binge eating disorder.
Your doctor may refer you to a team of doctors, nutritionists, and therapists who will work to help you get better.
Treatment plans may include one or more of the following:
Psychotherapy. Sometimes called "talk therapy," psychotherapy is counseling to help you change any harmful thoughts or behaviors. This therapy may focus on the importance of talking about your feelings and how they affect what you do. For example, you might talk about how stress triggers a binge. You may work one-on-one with a therapist or in a group with others who have binge eating disorder.
Nutritional counseling. A registered dietitian can help you eat in a healthier way.
Medicine, such as appetite suppressants or antidepressants prescribed by a doctor. Antidepressants may help some girls and women with binge eating disorder who also have anxiety or depression.
Most girls and women do get better with treatment and are able to eat in healthy ways again.Some may get better after the first treatment. Others get well but may relapse and need treatment again.
Binge eating disorder can cause problems getting pregnant and during pregnancy. Pregnancy can also trigger binge eating disorder.
Obesity raises the level of the hormone estrogen in your body. Higher levels of estrogen can stop you from ovulating, or releasing an egg from the ovary. This can make it more difficult to get pregnant. However, if you do not want to have children right now and have sex, you should use birth control.
Overweight or obesity may also cause problems during pregnancy. Overweight and obesity raises your risk for:
Gestational hypertension (high blood pressure during pregnancy) and preeclampsia (high blood pressure and kidney problems during pregnancy). If not controlled, both problems can threaten the life of the mother and the baby.
Gestational diabetes (diabetes that starts during pregnancy). If not controlled, gestational diabetes can cause you to have a large baby. This raises your risk for a C-section.
Pregnancy can raise the risk for binge eating disorder in women who are at higher risk for eating disorders. In one study, almost half of the women with binge eating disorder got the condition during pregnancy. The research suggests that binge eating during pregnancy may be caused by:
Worry over pregnancy weight gain. Women may binge because they feel a loss of control over their bodies because of the pregnancy weight.
Greater stress during pregnancy
Depression
History of smoking and alcohol abuse
Lack of social support
After pregnancy, postpartum depression and weight from pregnancy can trigger binge eating disorder in women with a history of binge eating. Women with binge eating disorder before pregnancy often gain more weight during pregnancy than women without an eating disorder. Researchers think that weight gain during pregnancy may cause some women who had binge eating disorder before pregnancy to binge eat during pregnancy.
Yes. Women who have recovered from binge eating disorder, are at a healthy weight, and have normal menstrual cycles have a better chance of getting pregnant and having a safe and healthy pregnancy.
Tell your doctor if you had an eating disorder in the past and are trying to become pregnant.
Maybe. Some medicines used to treat binge eating disorder can pass through breastmilk. Certain antidepressants can be used safely during breastfeeding.
Talk to your doctor to find out what medicine works best for you. Learn more about medicines and breastfeeding in our Breastfeeding section. You can also enter a medicine into the LactMed® database to find out if the medicine passes through breastmilk and about any possible side effects for your nursing baby.
For more information about binge eating disorder, call the OWH Helpline at 1-800-994-9662 or contact the following organizations:
MentalHealth.gov
National Institute of Mental Health, NIH, HHS
Phone Number: 866-615-6464
Weight-control Information Network, NIDDK, NIH, HHS
Phone Number: 877-946-4627
American Psychological Association (link is external)
Phone Number: 800-374-2721
National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA) (link is external)
Phone Number: 800-931-2237
The Obesity Society (link is external)
Phone Number: 301-563-6526
Hudson, J.I., Hiripi, E., Pope, H.G., Jr., Kessler, R.C. (2007). The prevalence and correlates of eating disorders in the National Comorbidity Survey Replication. Biological Psychiatry; 61: 348-58.
Nicdao, E.G., Hong, S., Takeuchi, D.T. (2007). Prevalence and correlates of eating disorders among Asian Americans: results from the National Latino and Asian American Study. International Journal of Eating Disorders; 40: S22-S26.
Alegria, M., Woo, M., Cao, Z., Torres, M., Meng, X.-l., Streigel-Moore, R. (2007). Prevalence and correlates of eating disorders in Latinos in the United States. International Journal of Eating Disorders; 40: S15-S21.
Marques, L., Alegria, M., Becker, A.E., Chen, C., Fang, A., Chosak, A., et al. (2011). Comparative Prevalence, Correlates of Impairment, and Service Utilization for Eating Disorders across U.S. Ethnic Groups: Implications for Reducing Ethnic Disparities in Health Care Access for Eating Disorders. International Journal of Eating Disorders; 44(5): 412-420.
Mental Health Resources:
The Office on Women's Health is grateful for the medical review 2016 by:
The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)
Danielle Johnson, M.D., FAPA, Psychiatrist, Medical Staff President, Chief of Adult Psychiatry, Director, Women’s Mental Health Program, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience, University of Cincinnati
Cassidy Gutner, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Psychiatry, Boston University School of Medicine; National Center for PTSD, Women’s Health Sciences Division, VA Boston Healthcare System, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
Mark A. Lumley, Ph.D., Professor and Director of Clinical Psychology Training, Department of Psychology, Wayne State University, and his Stress and Health Laboratory team: Jennifer Carty, Heather Doherty, Hannah Holmes, Nancy Lockhart, and Sheri Pegram
Mark Chavez, Ph.D., Chief, Eating Disorders Research Program, NIMH
Kamryn T. Eddy, Ph.D., and Jennifer J. Thomas, Ph.D., Associate Professors of Psychology, Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School; Co-Directors of the Eating Disorders Clinical and Research Program, Massachusetts General Hospital
Kendra Becker, M.S., Clinical Fellow in Psychology, Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital
Michael Kozak, Ph.D., Division of Adult Translational Research and Treatment Development, NIMH
Alicia Kaplan, M.D., Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, Temple University School of Medicine and Drexel University College of Medicine, and Staff Psychiatrist, Division of Adult Services, Department of Psychiatry, Allegheny Health Network, Allegheny General Hospital
All material contained on these pages are free of copyright restrictions and may be copied, reproduced, or duplicated without permission of the Office on Women’s Health in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Citation of the source is appreciated.
Page last updated: August 28, 2018.
Source: OWH, HHS
Pica is another eating disorder that involves eating things that are not considered food.
Individuals with pica crave non-food substances, such as ice, dirt, soil, chalk, soap, paper, hair, cloth, wool, pebbles, laundry detergent, or cornstarch .
Pica can occur in adults, as well as children and adolescents. That said, this disorder is most frequently observed in children, pregnant women, and individuals with mental disabilities (
Individuals with pica may be at an increased risk of poisoning, infections, gut injuries, and nutritional deficiencies. Depending on the substances ingested, pica may be fatal.
However, to be considered pica, the eating of non-food substances must not be a normal part of someone's culture or religion. In addition, it must not be considered a socially acceptable practice by a person's peers.
Summary Individuals with pica tend to crave and eat non-food substances. This disorder may particularly affect children, pregnant women, and individuals with mental disabilities.
Rumination disorder is another newly recognized eating disorder.
It describes a condition in which a person regurgitates food they have previously chewed and swallowed, re-chews it, and then either re-swallows it or spits it out (
This rumination typically occurs within the first 30 minutes after a meal. Unlike medical conditions like reflux, it’s voluntary (14).
This disorder can develop during infancy, childhood, or adulthood. In infants, it tends to develop between 3–12 months of age and often disappears on its own. Children and adults with the condition usually require therapy to resolve it.
If not resolved in infants, rumination disorder can result in weight loss and severe malnutrition that can be fatal.
Adults with this disorder may restrict the amount of food they eat, especially in public. This may lead them to lose weight and become underweight (8, 14).
Summary Rumination disorder can affect people at all stages of life. People with the condition generally regurgitate the food they've recently swallowed. Then, they chew it again and either swallow it or spit it out.
Avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID) is a new name for an old disorder.
The term replaces what was known as a "feeding disorder of infancy and early childhood," a diagnosis previously reserved for children under 7 years old.
Although ARFID generally develops during infancy or early childhood, it can persist into adulthood. What's more, it’s equally common among men and women.
Individuals with this disorder experience disturbed eating either due to a lack of interest in eating or distaste for certain smells, tastes, colors, textures, or temperatures.
Common symptoms of ARFID include:
avoidance or restriction of food intake that prevents the person from eating sufficient calories or nutrients
eating habits that interfere with normal social functions, such as eating with others
weight loss or poor development for age and height
nutrient deficiencies or dependence on supplements or tube feeding
It's important to note that ARFID goes beyond normal behaviors, such as picky eating in toddlers or lower food intake in older adults.
Moreover, it does not include the avoidance or restriction of foods due to lack of availability or religious or cultural practices.
Summary ARFID is an eating disorder that causes people to undereat. This is either due to a lack of interest in food or an intense distaste for how certain foods look, smell, or taste.
Source: Healthline
Summary
Eating disorders don’t discriminate; it doesn’t matter if you’re a girl or boy, young or old, black or white. Instead of hating our bodies we should learn to celebrate every body.
Anorexia nervosa is characterized by weight loss, an intense fear of weight gain, food restriction, inappropriate eating habits, and obsessing over a thin figure. People suffering have the inability to see what their body truly looks like because they have a distorted body image. As the person becomes more emaciated, their image of themselves becomes more distorted.
Bulimia nervosa is episodes of binging and purging. A person will binge by consuming a large amount of calories in a restricted period of time almost always carried out in secret. The person is also afraid of weight gain, so they undo the binge by purging. Most common is self-induced vomiting, meanwhile others are overdosing on laxatives and excessive exercise.
Binge eating is an eating disorder in which a person consumes an abnormally large amount of food in a short period of time. During the binge, the person also feels a loss of control and is not able to stop eating. In this instance, they don’t undo the binge by purging. Afterwards, they typically feel disgusted, depressed, and guilty.
Pica is persistently eating nonfood items, such as soap, cloth, talcum powder or dirt, over a period of at least a month. Eating these nonfood items can result in medical complications such as poisoning, intestinal problems or infections.
Rumination disorder is repeatedly and persistently regurgitating food after eating, but it’s not due to a medical condition or another eating disorder such as anorexia, bulimia, or binge-eating disorder. Food is brought back up into the mouth without nausea or gagging. Sometimes regurgitated food is rechewed and reswallowed or spit out.
Source: RSRP.org
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