Eating Disorders
In the United States 7 million women and girls suffer from eating disorders. The main three types of eating disorders are anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and binge eating.

What are eating disorders?

A person with an eating disorder is obsessed with food, body weight, and body shape. People with these disorders always see themselves as being overweight r egardless of their weight.

Who gets eating disorders?

People of all backgrounds and ages can have eating disorders. These problems are most common among girls and women. The average age is 11 through 20.

There is no single cause for a person to have an eating disorder. Dieting is a common factor in people with an eating disorder.

People with eating disorders often:

• Have a fear of being fat
• Have a distorted view of their body shape
• Have low self esteem
• Have depression
• Are unhappy with their bodies
• Are perfectionists

Anorexia A person with anorexia diets to extreme because they have a distorted body image. They always think they are too fat. Anorexia can cause severe health problems such as:

Irregular heart beat

Low blood pressure

Bone loss

Kidney problems

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