Eating disorders: What impact might you have?

Eating disorders such as anorexia nervosa and bulimia are becoming more common. They mainly affect adolescent girls and young women, but men and older women may also have eating disorders. Anyone with this medical/mental illness needs to be treated as early as possible to prevent serious health complications. Early detection and treatment can save lives.

There are certain signs and symptoms that indicate whether a person has an eating disorder. The most common list is as follows. If you or someone you know notices this, you or that person may need professional help. Talk to your parents, health advisors or adults you trust to help you get the right assessment and diagnosis and receive treatment if necessary.

Body signs and symptoms

• Obvious weight loss [for people with anorexia nervosa]
• Weight fluctuations [for people with bulimia nervosa]. The weight can be moved up and down or within the normal range.
• Not cold. This person is easy to feel cold.
• Frequent abdominal pain, constipation, acid reflux and other digestive problems
• Feeling dizzy, sometimes even fake
• Whether it is lethargy or excess energy, or the alternating experience of these two opposite states
• Irregular during menstruation
• Dental problems [such as tooth decay, tooth discoloration and tooth sensitivity]
• Dry skin, dry nails and hair. This person may also have sparse hair and fragile nails.
• Poor wound healing and poor immune function. She is very susceptible to flu and common infections.
• Swelling salivary glands [along the neck and jaw area]

Behavioral signs

• Wear layers or loose clothes to cover up weight loss [and keep warm]
• Focus on weight loss and dieting. The person is very concerned about food selection and nutritional data [calories, fat content, etc.]. She can refuse to eat certain types of food, such as carbohydrates or fat.
• Always comment that she is fat or overweight, even if this is obviously not true
• Often said that she is not hungry, including she should be hungry when eating
• Do not eat or eat very little during meals
• Western overeating [eat a lot of food in a short time]
• Cleaning. This is done by vomiting, vomiting or using laxatives and diuretics during or after a meal.
• Unusual food rituals, such as excessive chewing, do not allow contact with different foods on her plates, only certain food types [eg, only vegetables and salads]
• Excessive drinking water or non-calorie beverage
• Hoarding food in unusual places
• Excessive exercise
• Always look in the mirror to check her appearance
• Hard to sleep or sleep well

Emotional signs and symptoms

• Fear of eating in public, or feeling uncomfortable when eating with others
• Like to be alone, quit friends and social activities
• Extreme mood swings
• Have a strong and unreasonable fear of weight gain
• Her body has a distorted image
• May have poor self-esteem

The presence of these signs and symptoms does not indicate that the person does have an eating disorder. Only a professional doctor can correctly diagnose the condition, so it is best to see a doctor as soon as possible.

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