Eating is a fact of life. We need to eat to live. And, if you're a kid, you need to eat healthy food - and enough of it - so that you grow and develop the way you should. But for some people, food becomes the enemy. Because they're worried about being fat, they severely limit what they eat or make themselves vomit right after eating.
Doing this can make someone very sick. People have even died due to eating disorders and the harm it did to their bodies. Why, then, would anyone do it? There isn't just one answer.
Some people point to the perfect-looking bodies of models, movie stars, and sports stars. We all see these images on magazine covers and on TV. That may be a piece of the puzzle, but it's more than that. Many people admire the way these people look, but don't change their eating habits so severely.
Anyone can have an eating disorder, though they most often affect girls and women. Let's find out more about eating disorders.
What Is Anorexia?
You've probably heard about anorexia, which is also called anorexia nervosa (say: ah-nuh-rek-see-uh nur-voh-suh). With this eating disorder, the person is so afraid of being fat, he or she almost stops eating. People who have anorexia nervosa are obsessed with food, sometimes measuring it and weighing it or counting calories. They eat only very small amounts and may exercise for hours every day to burn off the calories.
A person who has anorexia might lose weight or maintain a weight that's too low for his or her height. Someone who normally weighs 100 pounds might drop to 80 pounds or even lower. But no matter how thin people with anorexia get, they think they are fat.
People with anorexia often have depression or anxiety. Anorexia is a difficult illness because it's not easily understood - no one really knows what causes it, it's difficult to treat, and it tends to be a long-term condition. To help someone with anorexia, evaluation and treatment are usually necessary. Some of the symptoms include:
- dropping lots of weight
- denying feeling hungry
- exercising excessively
- feeling fat
- withdrawing from social activities
What Is Bulimia?
Instead of starving themselves, people who have bulimia nervosa (say: boo-lee-mee-uh nur-voh-suh) will binge and purge. That means they eat a huge amount of food in 2 hours or so (like a tub of ice cream, then a big bag of chips, then a box of cookies), then secretly trying to get rid of it by vomiting or taking laxatives.
Girls who have bulimia often feel depressed and helpless. Bingeing and purging is a way for them to have some control. Kids sometimes develop bulimia when something new or stressful enters their life, like a move to a new town or a parent's divorce. Kids with bulimia can sometimes be harder to spot than kids with anorexia because their weight is often in the range of what's normal. Some of the symptoms that kids with bulimia might have include:
- making excuses to go to the bathroom immediately after meals
- eating huge amounts of food without weight gain
- using laxatives or diuretics
- withdrawing from social activities
What Causes Eating Disorders?
There really is no single cause for an eating disorder. Most girls who develop anorexia do so between the ages of 11 and 14 (although it can start as early as age 7), and there are many reasons why. Some kids just don't feel good about themselves on the inside and this makes them try to change the outside. They might be depressed or stressed about things and feel as though they have no control over their lives. They see what they eat (or don't eat) as something that they can control.
Sometimes girls involved in certain sports, like ballet, gymnastics, and ice-skating, might feel they need to be thin to compete. Girls who model also might be more likely to develop an eating disorder. All of these girls know their bodies are being watched closely, and they may develop an eating disorder in an attempt to make their bodies more "perfect."
When boys develop eating disorders, it's usually because they're in a sport that emphasizes weight, such as wrestling. Wrestlers compete based on weight classes. For instance, there's one class for 75-pound boys and another for 80-pound boys. Wrestlers feel pressure to stay in their weight class, which is called "making weight."
Eating disorders also may run in families, which means if someone in your family has one, you might be at risk for developing one, too. A kid may be more likely to develop an eating disorder if a parent is overly concerned with the kid's appearance or if the parent isn't comfortable with his or her own body.
Can Somebody Catch an Eating Disorder?
You can't catch an eating disorder from someone the way you can catch a cold. But the friends who you spend time with can influence you and how you see yourself. If your friends think the most important thing is to be thin, you may start to feel that way, too. And if they are doing unhealthy things to be thin, you might feel pressure to do so, too.
Eating Disorders Do Damage
No one wants to be overweight, but your body needs some fat to work properly. If a person's weight gets too low, he or she will start having health problems. If this goes on too long, those problems may be severe and can cause death.
Someone who has anorexia may do damage to the heart, liver, and kidneys. A girl with anorexia may be delayed in getting her period or stop getting her period. Breathing, blood pressure, and pulse also may drop - this is the body's way of shifting into low gear to protect itself. Fingernails may break and hair may fall out, too.
Kids with anorexia often do not feel well - they suffer from headaches, dizziness, and concentration difficulties. They also may become withdrawn and moody. And people with anorexia will feel chilly even in warm weather because they don't have enough body fat to keep them warm.
For kids with bulimia, the most serious problem is that their purging means a loss of potassium, an important nutrient. Potassium is found in foods such as bananas, tomatoes, beans, and melons. Too little potassium can lead to dangerous heart problems.
Someone who has bulimia might have problems with tooth decay because puke is acidic. Too much throwing up also can cause "chipmunk cheeks," when glands in the cheeks actually expand. People with bulimia also may damage their stomachs and kidneys and have constant stomach pain. Like girls with anorexia, girls with bulimia may also stop menstruating.
In addition to the health problems, a person who has an eating disorder is probably not having much fun. Typically, these kids miss out on good times because they pull away from friends and keep to themselves. They don't want to have pizza with their friends or enjoy a birthday party.
Signs of Eating Disorders
Weight loss is not normal, or healthy, for kids. If you or someone you know is losing weight, you should talk with a parent or trusted adult. If a friend is skipping meals, becomes obsessed with how many calories are in food, or starts exercising all the time, these may be additional signs something is wrong. With bulimia, the signs would be someone who's spending a lot of money on food, then hiding out to binge and purge.
Because kids with eating disorders feel guilty and depressed, they may start abusing alcohol and drugs, too.
Getting Well
Admitting there's a problem and getting help is the first step to getting back to being healthy again. It's important to take action as soon as possible. The person may see a doctor, a dietitian, and a counselor or therapist. Together, the team can help the person achieve the goals of reaching a healthy weight, following a nutritious diet, and feeling good about himself or herself again.
Reviewed by: Barbara P. Homeier, MD
Date reviewed: October 2004
