1. EATING DISORDERS Celine Ninamou

2. INTRODUCTION  What is an eating disorder?  Eating disorders include extreme thoughts, emotions, and behaviors surrounding weight, food, and body shape.  There is a pronounced disruption in eating behaviors and weight management as well as intense anxiety about body weight and size. Eating disorders are often a dangerous response to stress.  They are serious emotional and physical problems that can have life-threatening consequences for both females and males.

3. INTERESTING FACTS!  Only a women’s thing?  NO! Though girls/women are often considered the only victims of eating disorders, new studies have found that guys/men are also falling victims of these illnesses. According to Bryan Krans from Healthline News, Researchers at Boston Children’s Hospital studied the responses of 5,527 teenage boys from across the U.S. involved in the Growing UP Today Study. They found that 17.9 percent of them were extremely concerned about their weight and physique. Besides those troubles, those boys were more likely to engage in risky behavior like drug use and binge drinking. Unlike girls, boys are often most concerned about their muscular build-up than being thin. Eating disorders are illnesses that can affect any human being whether male or female, or whether young or adult.

4. THREE TYPES OF EATING DISORDERS  Anorexia nervosa: is the disorder associated with fear of gaining weight or becoming fat. People with anorexia often skip meals, cut calories, or starve themselves. Symptoms include but are not limited to: resistance to maintaining body weight at or above a minimally normal weight for age and height and Intense fear of weight gain or being “fat,” even though underweight.  Bulimia Nervosa: is the disorder associated with intense fear of gaining weight, paired with eating large amounts of food (binge) followed by eliminating the calories by way of vomiting (purge). Symptoms include but are not limited to: regular intake of large amounts of food accompanied by a sense of loss of control over eating behavior, regular use of inappropriate compensatory behaviors such as self-induced vomiting, laxative or diuretic abuse, fasting, and/or obsessive or compulsive exercise, extreme concern with body weight and shape.  Binge Eating: is associated with frequently eating large amounts of food in one sitting until uncomfortably full. The person is unable to stop eating or control how much they eat. Symptoms include but are not limited to: frequent episodes of eating large quantities of food in short periods of time, feeling out of control over eating behavior during the episode, feeling depressed, guilty, or disgusted by the behavior.

5. HOW TO PREVENT EATING DISORDERS  According to ThirdAge.com, eating disorders can be prevented by having healthy attitudes towards your weight and how you think you look like. The following steps are few steps to help prevent eating disorders.  Maintain a healthy weight and body image.  Maintain a rational approach to dieting, food, and exercise.  Know and avoid triggers.  Receive treatment, as necessary.  Work on building a meaningful, fulfilling, and satisfying life.  Develop effective coping skills.

6. TREATMENT FOR EATING DISORDERS  Eating disorders can be effectively treated. The earlier they are detected, the easier it is to treat them. Recovery can take months or years, but the majority of people recover. Once diagnosed, treatment is a multidisciplinary approach.  The health care providers involved include psychiatrists, psychologists, physicians, dieticians or nutritional advisers, social workers, occupational therapists and nurses.  Treatment includes diet education and advice, psychological interventions and treatment of concurrent mental ailments like depression and anxiety disordersanxiety

7. CONCLUSION  Though eating disorders can become a life threat to an individual, there’s still hope to fight eating disorders. Eating disorders can be treated. Acknowledging that one has eating disorders is the first step in treatment. It is then required to seek help from professionals and be ready to go through the process of rehabilitation. It is more logical to prevent eating disorders. Help loved ones avoid eating disorders by being an example and setting a standard value for them.

8. SOURCES  http://www.nationaleatingdisorders.org/learn http://www.nationaleatingdisorders.org/learn  http://www.dosomething.org/tipsandtools/11-facts-about-eating-disorders# http://www.dosomething.org/tipsandtools/11-facts-about-eating-disorders#  http://www.thirdage.com/hc/c/eating-disorders-prevention http://www.thirdage.com/hc/c/eating-disorders-prevention