Eating disorders

Eating disorders are serious often-fatal illnesses that cause severe disturbances to a person’s eating behaviors. The two most common types of eating disorders are anorexia and bulimia nervosa. An eating disorder is not a fad, a passing phase or a lifestyle choice. They are real complex conditions, which if left untreated can have serious consequences for physical and mental health, productivity and relationships. Potentially, they may also be life threatening. Anorexia nervosa refers to an unhealthy obsession to stay thin and sufferers go to the extremes to lose and maintain dangerously low body weight. The person body image is so distorted that even a skeleton like body seen as fat. Another common disorder is bulimia nervosa. This is a condition in which instead of starving, the individual stuff himself/herself with food and then forces it out via induced vomiting or the use of laxatives. However, unlike those suffering from anorexia, a bulimic eats enough to maintain a healthy body weight and at times can be overweight.

Body dissatisfaction remains the best-known contributor to the development of eating disorders such as anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa. Contrary to popular belief, eating disorders are not restricted to women only. An estimated 10-15 percent of people with eating disorders are male and they are less likely to seek treatment for it because of the perception that these are 'women's diseases'. The media has to play a vital role to divert people’s perspectives of being beautiful and being too skinny. Awareness must be given to everyone from the start, from school and colleges.

Hadia Aziz

Islamabad