Eating Disorders

Overview of Eating Disorders

The overall term Eating Disorder refers to a variety of disorders that include Anorexia Nervosa, Bulimia Nervosa, and Binge Eating Disorder. The common feature of all the disorders is abnormal eating behavior, often accompanied by a distorted body image. Anorexia Nervosa is diagnosed when a youngster's food restriction causes weight to drop 15% below what is normal. Bulimia Nervosa and Binge Eating are characterized by binge eating and attempts to get rid of food already eaten. Unhealthy eating behaviors can lead to serious medical problems. Eating disorders are likely to start during puberty, when adolescents are dealing with body changes and faced with new social and academic demands.

Symptoms include compulsion to exercise, restriction of food, use of diuretics and laxatives, vomiting after meals, and a focus on eating but little pleasure in food. For youngsters with Anorexia restricted calorie intake may be accompanied by a feeling similar to the high induced by a release of opioids, a brain chemical.

Cause: There is no conclusive evidence that poor parenting or negative experiences with eating are the single cause of any of these disorders. Rather there is an array of risk factors - neurochemical, psychological, familial and sociocultural. Although a genetic factor may render a youngster prone to an eating disorder, other contributants, such as depression, peer pressure, unrealistic images in the media, abuse, overcritical and rejecting parents, or the use of food to show love, can all lead to or exacerbate the problem.

Treatment: A combination of medication and multi-focused treatment which includes cognitive behavior therapy, individual therapy to relieve symptoms of anxiety or depression, and family therapy aimed at improving communication and expression of feelings, are the most common forms of treatment.

Related Articles

The following articles are arranged chronologically, according to the date of publication or last update.

Organizations

Browse through a list of staff-selected organizations and online resources to learn more about Eating Disorders

About the NYU Child Study Center

The New York University Child Study Center is dedicated to increasing the awareness of child and adolescent psychiatric disorders and improving the research necessary to advance the prevention, identification, and treatment of these disorders on a national scale. The Center offers expert psychiatric services for children, adolescents, young adults, and families with emphasis on early diagnosis and intervention. The Center's mission is to bridge the gap between science and practice, integrating the finest research with patient care and state-of-the-art training utilizing the resources of the New York University School of Medicine. The Child Study Center was founded in 1997 and established as the Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry within the NYU School of Medicine in 2006. For more information, please call us at (212) 263-6622 or visit us at http://www.aboutourkids.org/