Eating Disorders

An eating disorder occurs when someone eats in a way that can make them ill or badly affect their health. This might mean eating too much or not enough, normal eating mixed with periods of purging (getting the food out of your body), or it may mean cycles of binging and purging.

What can I do?
If you think that you or someone you know might have an eating disorder, the first thing you should do is try and talk about it, either with the person or with your friends and parents.
You can also seek advice from:

• It is also important to try and seek medical advice if possible. Your family doctor will be able to tell you about the help people available and be able to arrange treatment.
• If an eating disorder is making someone look or feel ill, then it important to get medical help as quickly as possible.

These are some signs to look out for if you are worried about anorexia or bulimia:

• Weight loss or unusual weight changes.
• Periods being irregular or stopping.
• Missing meals, eating very little and avoiding ‘fattening’ foods.
• Avoiding eating in public, secret eating
• Large amounts of food disappearing from the cupboards
• Believing they are fat when underweight.
• Exercising excessively.
• Becoming preoccupied with food, cooking for other people.
• Going to the bathroom or toilet immediately after meals.
• Using laxatives and vomiting to control weight.

Who is affected by eating disorders?

Boys, girls, men and women from all types of background and can suffer from eating disorders, but in general it mostly affects women and especially adolescent girls in Western society.

Pro-Ana / Pro-Bulimia Sites
There are some online communities that try to make it seem that it is normal and healthy to have an eating disorder or encourage someone who is worried about their weight to become anorexic or bulimic. They might encourage people who have an eating disorder not to get help, or make them stop any treatment they are already having. Because of this there might be a risk that people could get really ill or even die.

Lots of people worry about their weight, shape and eating, especially young and teenage girls. A lot of young people who are NOT overweight in the first place, want to be thinner. For some, these worries about weight can become an obsession and turn into a serious eating disorder. That’s why anything that tries to encourage or maintain such behaviour is a problem, and there is a lot of concern about these sites.

These communities usually have online journals, tips and tricks to help people to be anorexic or bulimic, pictures of really thin women, quotes, and chat rooms or message boards where users can talk about and encourage each other to lose weight. They also have competitions for weightloss and ways to avoid being caught.

Who can I talk to about eating disorders?

beat
beat are a national charity helping people who have eating disorders.
Website: http://www.b-eat.co.uk
Email: fyp@b-eat.co.uk
Phone: 0845 634 7650