Eating disorders are alarmingly becoming more and more common among teens and tweens and can have serious health risks. It’s important to be aware of the signs to watch out for.The three most common forms of eating disorders are:
- Anorexia: It’s a condition where a child refuses to eat sufficient food out of an extreme irrational fear of gaining weight.
- Bulimia: A condition where the sufferer binge eats and then rids the food from the body by using laxatives or by vomiting to prevent any weight gain.
- Binge eating: A condition where the sufferer will gorge rapidly on food but won’t purge afterwards.
In tweens and teens, eating disorders can often overlap. For instance, some children will alternate between periods of anorexia and bulimia.Typically, eating disorders will develop during adolescence or early adulthood. However, they can begin in childhood, too. Females are much more vulnerable to eating disorders.Most anorexia or bulimia sufferers are female while a larger percentage of binge eaters are female. However, there are a larger percentage of male binge eaters.
