Anorexia Nervosa

Arlene Mejia
HLT/ Nutrition
06/21/2014

What is Anorexia Nervosa?

Anorexia is a complex eating disorder
that has three main key factors:
Refusal to maintain healthy body
weight
Intense fear of gaining weight
A distorted body image

What are the types of Anorexia?

There are two types of anorexia:
restrictive type and purging type.
Restricting type is when weight loss
is achieved by restricting calories
followed by drastic diets, fasting and
excessive exercising.
Purging type is when weight loss is
achieved by vomiting or using
laxatives and diuretics.

What are the signs and symptoms?

Dieting despite being thin
Obession with calories, grams and nutrition
Pretending to eat or lying about eating
Strange or secretive food rituals
Dramatic weight loss
Feeling fat, despite being underweight
Fixation on body image
Compulsive exercising
Throwing up after eating

What are the risk factors?

Body dissatisfaction
Strict dieting
Low self esteem
Diificulty expressing feelings
Perfectionism
Troubled family relationships
History of physical and sexual abuse
Family history of eating disorders

What are the effects?

Depression
Lack of energy and weakness
Slowed thinking and poor memory
Dry yellowish skin and brittle nails
Constipation and bloating
Tooth decay and gum damage
Dizzines, fainting and headaches

More effects!

What are the treatments?

Treating anorexia involves three
steps:
Getting back to a healthy weight
Starting to eat more food
Changing how you think about
yourself and food
These steps involve medical,
nutritional and counseling treatments.