Introduction

• Eating disorders are becoming widespread with even children in the first to third grades having eating disorders. While eating disorders affect adults, teenagers and children of both genders, most who suffer from these diseases are teenage girls. Eating disorders stem from a preoccupation with how you look, which is particularly important during puberty. Eating disorders can be prevented if parents and friends recognize the symptoms. If left untreated, eating disorders cause both psychological and physical difficulties. In extreme cases, eating disorders can lead to death. But there are ways to treat these disorders.
  
  

Types of Eating Disorders

• There are three main types of eating disorders. All involve negative feelings about food, eating and physical appearance. People with eating disorders have a distorted view of how they look, and this differs from how others see them. Anorexia nervosa is a serious disease in which a person starves herself to become thin. There is usually a dramatic weight loss. With anorexia, a person barely eats anything. She may fast, diet or do aerobic exercise excessively to keep the weight off.
  Bulimia nervosa is a disorder involving binge eating followed by purging. To remove the food eaten, the person induces vomiting by sticking fingers or objects down the throat. Or the person takes laxatives frequently. Bulimics are obsessed with weight, although they never lose as much weight as anorexics. Bulimics are frequently of normal weight. Some are even slightly overweight, but, like anorexics, they are obsessed with body image.
  Binge eating is excessive eating at lot a food during stressful time. While an unhealthy approach to life, this disorder does not typically lead to the types of health problems anorexic and bulimics have.
  
  

Causes of Eating Disorders

• Researchers do not know what exactly causes a person to have an eating disorder. According to Kids Health, "A combination of psychological, genetic, social, and family factors is thought to be involved." Another factor for children may be athletics. Those who are involved in swimming, gymnastics, track or dance where fewer clothes are worn may be more susceptible to eating disorders. Some researchers think that media images in movies, advertising and music video give a false idea of what attractiveness is and establishes these images as the ideal way to look which is impossible to achieve. Other issues like OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder) and anxiety may also be present in those with eating disorders.
  
  

Treatment

• Once an eating disorder is recognized or suspected, a medical exam is needed to make a proper diagnosis. With children, a parent or guardian needs to talk to the child and convince her that she has a problem without pressure and without blame. The treatment for eating disorder is similar for both adults and children. If a person is severely malnourished, medical supervision is needed to get the person healthy again. A nutritionist is also needed to teach the person about food and the proper way to eat food to maintain health. People are also taught how to gain and lose weight safely. Therapy with a counselor trained in eating disorder is the most important for emotional healing. The person needs to understand how she developed a negative image of herself and work towards having more self-esteem and a positive feelings about her body. This process takes time. There are residential facilities for eating disorder, but most people are treated on an outpatient basis.
  
  

Prevention

• Eating disorders can be prevented if parents help their children to feel good about themselves and help them to have high levels of self-esteem. Paying attention to a child's eating habits and teaching her about proper nutrition is also helpful. If an eating disorder runs in the family, then a parent needs to be aware of the signs and symptoms of an eating disorder. Many children and teens manage to hide their eating disorders so they grow up to be adults with eating disorders.