Patient Education: Diseases Conditions Treatments & Procedures

Eating Disorders

Anorexia

People with the eating disorder anorexia are obsessed with food and being thin. They don't maintain a body weight that's normal for their age and height. Indeed, they may be skeletally thin but still think they're fat. To prevent weight gain or to continue losing weight, people with anorexia may starve themselves or exercise excessively.

Although anorexia centers around food, the disease isn't solely about food. Anorexia is also a way to try to cope with emotional problems, perfectionism and a desire for control. People with anorexia often equate their self-worth with how thin they are.

Anorexia may seem very common because of media attention and television specials, but in truth, its prevalence is hard to narrow down. Some estimates say only about 1 percent of American girls and women have anorexia. Others suggest that up to 10 percent of adolescent girls have anorexia. It may seem particularly common among teens because that's often when anorexia begins, and many teens do experiment with diets. Boys and men also can develop anorexia, but they do so far less often than women.

Anorexia, technically called anorexia nervosa, can be chronic and difficult to overcome. But with treatment, people with anorexia can gain a healthier sense of their self, return to healthier eating habits and reverse some of the disease's serious complications.