National Eating Disorders Awareness Week

6 days ago4 min read

Introduction

The National Eating Disorders (ED) Awareness Week takes place from February 26 to March 3. So to raise awareness in this article, we will be going over 7 different eating disorders and their symptoms.

Anorexia nervosa

Anorexia nervosa is commonly known as simply anorexia, and it can happen to anyone, woman or man, old or young. However, it most commonly happens to young women, typically starting in their mid-teens. People with anorexia will try to keep their weight as low as possible, often not eating, exercising too much, taking laxatives, or forcing themselves to vomit. This is detrimental for health because they’ll often start to starve. People with anorexia will also have a distorted body image, seeing themselves as fat or overweight even when they’re underweight.

Symptoms include: being under the minimum expected weight for your height and age (if under 18), unusually low body mass index (especially in adults), missing meals or eating too little, being too careful around food, avoiding foods you see as fattening, periods stopping or not starting (in women and girls), believing you’re fat when you’re healthy or underweight, lightheadedness or dizziness from not eating, hair loss, etc.

Bulimia nervosa

Bulimia nervosa, commonly called bulimia (boo-lee-me-uh), is an eating disorder in which the person who is affected binge eats, meaning they overeat, and then they purge by forcing themselves to vomit or by using laxatives. People with bulimia often do this in secret, and they can also be affected by shame or guilt.

Symptoms include: fear of gaining weight and then losing weight in unhealthy ways, binge eating, not being able to control what you eat, forcing yourself to vomit or overexercising after binge eating, using laxatives even when they aren’t needed to lose weight, limiting calories or not eating certain foods in between binges, using dietary supplements for weight loss, having a bad body image, defining your worth by your weight or body shape, extreme mood swings, etc.

Binge Eating Disorder (BED)

Binge Eating Disorder, though similar, isn’t the same as Bulimia nervosa, since even though both binge eat, a person with BED won’t purge or use compensatory behaviors after overeating. During binge eating, the person will feel as though they can’t stop eating or they have no control over how much they eat, even if they’re already full. This binge eating is typically tied to feelings of distress. People with BED also typically binge to distract themselves from emotions such as boredom, stress, anger, loneliness, etc.

Symptoms include: frequent episodes of binge eating, eating very quickly, eating when not hungry, continuing to eat even when feelings of being uncomfortably full arise, feelings of guilt and shame, being secretive about food and choosing to eat alone, etc.

Pica

Pica (Pie-kuh) is an eating disorder characterized by the affected person compulsively eating non-edible things with no nutritional value. This could be harmless, but it can quickly turn dangerous when the person eats something that’s toxic.

Common objects eaten are: ash, baby powder, chalk, charcoal, clay, dirt, coffee grounds, eggshells, feces, hair or strings, ice, laundry starch, paint chips, paper, pebbles, pet food, soap, and wool or cloth.

Symptoms include: anemia (low iron), ascariasis (roundworm infection), constipation, electrolyte imbalance, irregular heart rhythms, lead poisoning, small and large intestine obstructions, etc.

Rumination

With rumination disorder, the people who are affected will regurgitate their food not long after eating and eat it again. This typically happens naturally, they don’t have to try to vomit.

Symptoms include: effortless regurgitation, usually within a few minutes of eating, belly pain is relieved through vomiting, a feeling of fullness, nausea, losing weight without trying, etc.

Avoidant/Restrictive food intake Disorder (ARFID)

People with ARFID will restrict themselves or avoid eating. This isn’t due to a desire to lose weight like it is common with many other eating disorders, rather, it is typically due to fear of choking with the food.

Symptoms of ARFID include: significant weight loss, constipation, abdominal pain, low body temperature, lethargy, irregular periods, fainting or dizziness, fine hair, muscle weakness, etc.

Unspecified Feeding or Eating Disorder (UFED)

Unspecified feeding or eating disorder is essentially what eating disorders are categorized as when it is known the person has an eating disorder but the symptoms don’t fully match one specific disorder. This label can be changed once the person is diagnosed.