English
SpanishEating Disorders
It’s important to have a positive body image, to be comfortable in your own body, and to feel good about the way you look.
Teen
What is an eating disorder?
Each year, thousands of young teens develop problems with weight, eating, or body image. A coping mechanism for some people who can’t overcome a negative body image is disordered eating. Eating disorders are more than just going on a diet to lose weight or trying to exercise every day. Instead, eating disorders represent extremes in eating behavior and ways of thinking about eating. They are diets that never end and gradually become more restrictive.
Sometimes you might view yourself differently than others do because we are our own best critics. It’s important to have a positive body image, be comfortable in your own body, and feel good about the way you look. A negative body image will often lead to the following eating disorders.
Causes extreme thinness, unwillingness to maintain a normal weight, fear of gaining weight, lethargy, sluggishness, brittle hair and nails, dry and yellowish skin, growth of fine hair all over the body (lanugo), and severe constipation.
Often causes a fear of gaining weight, feelings of disgust and shame, a purging cycle that can happen from several times per week to many times a day, worn tooth enamel, decaying teeth, and severe dehydration from purging liquids.
Guilt, shame, and distress. People are typically overweight.