Illnesses characterized by obsessions with weight and body image. Eating disorders are most common in young adolescent females but can affect males. In anorexia nervosa, patients, despite being painfully thin, perceive themselves as fat and starve themselves. Binge-eating followed by self-induced vomiting is a major feature of bulimia, although, in this disorder, weight may be normal. Both conditions may occur together. In morbid obesity, there is a constant desire to eat large quantities of food.
Eating disorders |
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