Obesity
and its Relationship to Weight Loss and Eating Disorders!
Obesity
itself is NOT an eating disorder, but people who are obese,
or who fear becoming obese, may develop one. So let’s
take a look at obesity and its relationship to special weight
loss and eating disorders.
Binge
Eating Disorder
The most
common eating disorder is binge eating and approximately 4
million Americans alone have this disorder.
Binge
eating disorder is more than just occasionally overeating.
It is characterized by eating uncontrollably or quickly eating
an unusually large amount of food at one sitting (even when
the person is not hungry) and eating in secret because the
person is embarrassed about the amount of food he or she eats.
More women
than men have binge eating disorder and most of the people
who have it are either overweight or obese. Binge eaters eat
mostly sugar and fat, and as a result, they may be lacking
certain vitamins and nutrients. Many of them also suffer from
depression.
Treatments
for this disorder include therapy and medications such as
antidepressants.
Bulimia
Nervosa
Binge
eating is also present in another eating disorder called bulimia
nervosa. It is estimated that 1.1 to 4.2 percent of females
will have bulimia nervosa within their lifetime. Bulimics
are caught in a binge/purge cycle. They binge eat, usually
in secret, then purge the food to get rid of the extra calories
they’ve just eaten as a form of weight loss.
Purging
may involve either self-induced vomiting after eating or using
laxatives, diuretics or enemas.
People
with bulimia may also exercise intensely for long periods
of time in attempt to burn off the extra calories taken in
during binge eating, or they may even go for long periods
of time without eating. It is not uncommon for many bulimics
do a combination of all of these things as part of their weight
loss plan.
Bulimia
affects more women than men, in particular younger women in
their teens and twenties. These women are usually obsessed
with their weight and truly believe that they are overweight,
even though most have a normal body weight.
Bulimia
can also cause a number of serious health effects, including
anaemia, dehydration, heart problems, ruptured esophageus,
stomach ulcers, and even death. Like binge eating disorder,
bulimia is treated with therapy and medications.
Anorexia Nervosa
On the
opposite side of binge eating is anorexia nervosa. This affects
around 1 to 2 percent of the female population. Anorexia is
characterized by self-starvation and obsession with food,
weight and appearance, weight loss of 15% or more below the
normal body weight and an intense fear of being fat.
While
many sufferers of anorexia look extremely emaciated, they’re
convinced that they are overweight and it can be a very difficult
process to convince them otherwise.
Because
anorexics literally starve themselves, their bodies are severely
depleted of nutrients. As a result, they develop muscular
atrophy, dehydration, low blood pressure, and brain and organ
damage to name a few. Unfortunately, as many as 10 percent
of anorexics die as a result of their disease.
Most anorexics
deny that they have a problem until the problem gets so bad
they have to be hospitalized. Because anorexia is so life-threatening,
the first stage of treatment is getting body weight back to
normal. Once this is on track, therapy and medications are
used.
As you
can see, eating disorders can pose very serious health risks
and they should not be taken lightly. If you suspect you have
one or think someone you love does, please seek medical advice…
it could be a matter of life and death.
Finding Help
Losing
and maintaining weight is a difficult and intimately personal
struggle, but it’s not one that anyone needs to go through
alone. There are literally millions of people forging their
own paths to their better selves, and together, they offer
support, advice, and inspiration to one another.
Here are
some of these organizations that may be able to help.
Compulsive
Eaters Anonymous HOW (CEA-HOW)
http://www.ceahow.org
Eating
Addictions Anonymous/SANE (EAA/SANE)
http://www.eatingaddictionsanonymous.org
Eating
Disorders Anonymous (EDA)
http://www.eatingdisordersanonymous.org
Food Addicts
Anonymous (FAA)
http://www.foodaddictsanonymous.org
Food Addicts
in Recovery Anonymous (FA)
http://www.foodaddicts.org
National
Association to Advance Fat Acceptance (NAAFA)
http://www.naafa.org
Overeaters
Anonymous (OA)
http://www.overeatersanonymous.org
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