Eating Disorders

Eating plays a very important role in our lives. Not only is eating necessary to survival, but it is also a recreational activity, associated with most holidays, bringing joy to many people. However, for nearly 10 million people in the U.S. alone, eating is an enemy.(Bell, 65) These 10 million people suffer from some sort eating disorder, most commonly Anorexia nervosa or Bulimia nervosa.

The first and most common eating disorder, affecting nearly seven million women and one million men each year, is Anorexia nervosa .(Kolodny, 40) Anorexia means the loss of apatite, however, this is often misleading because anorexics do not loose their apatite, they merely learn to suppress it. A more appropriate definition of anorexia is; a mental illness in which a person has an intense fear of gaining weight and a distorted perception of their weight and body shape (Encarta 1). Anorexia generally affects the same type of person, regardless of sex. The typical anorexic tends ...