There are three main types of eating disorders: Anorexia Nervosa, Bulimia Nervosa and Binge-Eating Disorder.

• People with Anorexia Nervosa will refuse to maintain their weight within the healthy range, experience a preoccupation with food and an intense fear of weight gain, and display distorted body image.

• People with Bulimia Nervosa also place an unrealistically high level of importance on weight and shape. In additional they experience episodes of binging on large amounts of food (or what is subjectively perceived to be a large amount) followed by the use of a compensatory strategy(s) to reduce the subsequent anxiety caused by the binge.

• Binge-eating disorder is similar in that an excessive amount of food is consumed within a short period of time leading to feelings of being uncomfortable full and bloated. People with binge eating disorder do not typically use compensatory behaviours.

Some other facts:

• Although the onset of eating disorders more often occurs in adolescence, effecting a greater percentage of girls than boys, disturbed eating behaviour and clinical eating disorders can occur at any age. There are also an increasing number of boys and men affected.

• Eating disorders can be highly distressing leading to poor self-esteem, academic or occupational disruption, social isolation and serious medical problems. As a consequence someone with an eating disorder may also report feeling depressed and anxious with an obsessive focus on food. 

• There is also a high prevalence of unhealthy dieting behaviour and poor body image in our society. This can lead to self-worth being unduly tied to weight and shape, a preoccupation with food and avoidance of social situations where food is present. These problems may not be as severe as Anorexia or Bulimia Nervosa but can lead to various psychological and medical problems.