Eating disorders are a group of disorders in which the individual may indulge in overeating or refrain from eating that tends to have a negative impact on the body and mind. The most common and eating disorders are anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa. Other eating disorders are binge eating disorder and Compulsive Obsessive Eating Disorder.

Causes of Eating Disorders:

Self idealization and distortion about body image: There is a widespread notion in the Western society that thin women are beautiful. This leads to the development of eating disorders in a number of teenage girls and women who want to maintain a slim figure. Most of the women with these disorders often develop misconceptions about themselves that they are fat even though their body weight and figure is perfect. Almost all instances of eating disorders begin with so called ‘normal’ dieting that is extremely common among young girls and women. This may be accompanied by starvation diets, crash diets and other techniques of slimming such as over exercising or intake of emetics, laxatives, diet pills etc. In severe cases, this can become a life threatening situation.

Hereditary Factors: The tendency to develop eating disorders seems to run in families and may therefore indicate a genetic linkage. Also, when young girls see their self-conscious mothers or aunts trying to reduce weight, they too develop the notion that slim is in and resort to various weight reduction techniques even when their body weight is fine or below what it should be.

Psychological factors: Some individuals are more prone to developing self-defeating mechanisms in response to unavoidable life challenges than others. Their vulnerabilities pave way for the development of various eating disorders. These can be inherited or based on the presence of stressors. For some individuals the only way out is to either gorge on food or avoid eating it.

Gender differences in Eating Disorders:

Anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa are adult eating disorders. Eating disorders tend to affect women more than men which may indicate to the fact that sex hormones have a role to play in the development of these disorders. Eating disorders can affect men as well, but they are extremely rare. Research also indicates that almost half of all anorexic or bulimic males are homosexual, bisexual or asexual in their sexual preference.