Eating Disorders Part 1 - Anorexia Nervosa

Reaching Out Against Eating Disorders (ROAED) is a wonderful orgainzation dedicated to helping individuals with eating disorders.  They have defined Anorexia Nervosa (AN) as:
Anorexia Nervosa


"...a disorder in which individuals exhibit significant weight loss and extreme restrictions in their food intake.
While it has been estimated that up to 90%1 of those suffering from this disorder are women and girls, the prevalence rate of eating disorders among men is on the rise."
"The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, 4th Edition (DSM-IV) lists the following criteria for diagnosis of anorexia nervosa:
• Refusal to maintain what is considered a normal body weight for that person’s age and height
• Intense fear of gaining weight
• Distorted view or denial of their actual body weight and/or shape
• Loss of menstrual cycle

Anorexia nervosa is specified into two types:
1. Restricted Type:
• This type of anorexia is categorized as a severe restriction of food intake with the absence of binge-eating or purging.

2. Binge-Eating/Purging Type:
• This type of anorexia is categorized as engaging in binge eating or purging behavior while exhibiting behaviors classified as anorexia. Purging is characterized as a way to eliminate food from your body either through self-induced vomiting, excessive exercise, or through laxatives, diuretics, or enemas.

In addition to the diagnostic criteria, the following are considered warning signs, or possible precursors, of anorexia nervosa:
• Restricting certain types of food and the amount of food intake
• Preoccupation with weight, body shape, and calorie and fat content of food
• Dramatic weight loss
• Excessive exercise
• Distress over body weight and shape
• Withdrawal from previously enjoyed activities, and from family and friends"

Here's Your Healthy Tip of the Day:  If the above description sounds like you or someone you know, log onto the website listed below and read a bit more about AN.  Give the ROAED people a call and have a chat with them.  AN is the leading cause of death with respect to mental health conditions and it affects men, women and children.
courtesy:  http://www.roaed.org/index.php?nav=4&subnav=7

The Beautiful/Handsome You

How annoying is it when you meet someone you haven't seen for awhile and the first sentence out of their mouths isn't 'how are you?'...it's more like...'wow, you gained weight' or 'wow, you lost weight'.  Why is our identity so hinged on our weight??
Recently, I watched a documentary about young girls in a particular African country who are of marriagable age.  They are sent to 'camps' with other girls where they are force fed over 10,000 calories per day whether they can sustain the intake or not.  The objective is to make them as obese as possible, because if they are as fat as a cow, their prospects of marriage are so much higher (obesity translates to wealth and fertility in some cultures).  These young girls suffer from diabetes, kidney failure, heart disease and a plethora of other health conditions as a result of this force feeding.  If they do not eat, they are beaten.  Conversely, here in the United States, although obesity has been steadily on the rise for the past 10 years, the 'ideal' body image is close to that of a starving dog. 

Here's Your Healthy Tip of the Day:  Beauty truly is in the eye of the beholder.  Healthy lifestyle - diet, exercise, rest and happiness from within is what  makes a beautiful/handsome person.  What do you see when you look at yourself in the mirror?  Write in annonymously and share with the group.
For the remainder of this week, I'm going to focus on eating disorders and will post various sites where, if you or someone you know has an eating disorder, help is out there for you.