Anorexia, also known as Anorexia nervosa, is a psychological eating disorder that is mainly characterized by weight loss, and fear of gaining weight. People suffering from anorexia, are very conscious of their weight; they see themselves as overweight when in fact, they are the direct opposite. They eat small amounts of food on purpose and are very picky about the kinds/types of food they eat, especially foods that lack calories. They go as far as using laxatives to induce weight loss.
The physical signs and symptoms of anorexia are closely related to starvation. Below are the symptoms of anorexia:
1Dieting and Weight Loss
Weight loss in relation to health, is the reduction of a person’s total body mass, due to the loss of fluids, body fat or adipose tissue. Although, in some cases, it may be unintentional, however, other cases may be an attempt to cut down on weight or malnutrition. The latter is the case of people with anorexia. Resulting from their obsession with being thin, they could go extreme in a bid to lose weight. This is characteristic of people with the purge type anorexia who will exercise excessively purge or vomit by using abusing laxatives to alleviate the fear of gaining weight
While people with the purge type anorexia indulge corrective methods of weight loss, the individual suffering from restrictive anorexia has intense fear for weight gain and as such will constantly monitor his calorie intake. Being perceived as being highly self-disciplined, they restrict the quantity of food, calories and often high fat or high sugar foods. They consume far fewer calories than are needed to maintain a healthy weight. People with restrictive anorexia often pay close attention to every food item they consume, including water. Sometimes, they even memorize the calorie content of foods. Excessive concern about food and weight gain is a hallmark of anorexia. [1]
