Eating Disorders are known as Eating Disorders (ED) all those pathologies that are caused by an eating disorder and/or inadequate behaviors that revolve around food. Among the best known are anorexia and bulimia.
What is anorexia?
Anorexia is an ED that is based on three main pillars: interruption of food intake resulting in a lower than normal body weight; intense fear of gaining weight; and the patient’s distortion of his or her body image. In a care unit, the ratio between girls and boys with anorexia nervosa is one boy for every ten girls.
What is bulimia?
Bulimia is an ED that also has three pillars: disproportionate and uncontrolled food intake in specific periods; compensatory behaviors to avoid weight gain, such as making oneself vomit; and excessive importance of body weight and physical constitution that affects self-esteem. As with anorexia, for every boy, 10 girls suffer from bulimia.
Why do girls suffer more from ED?
There is no specific reason, but one factor does stand out: the social influence that objectifies the body and body image through aesthetic canons (toys, fashion magazines, advertisements, movies…). It has been observed how these influences are intensified when a woman receives them and to a greater extent if she is an adolescent, due to physical, hormonal, emotional and social changes.
The danger of anorexia or bulimia websites
Currently, there are websites on the Internet that promote this type of pathology, justify it or even deny that it is a disease. On these pages, advice is exchanged on how to lose weight, give support or reinforce an idyllic idea of the disease. It is therefore important to report them to the police and to close them down, as they seriously endanger the health of many ED patients.