Types of eating or feeding disorders in adolescents

Types of eating or feeding disorders in adolescents

According to experts, there are four types of eating disorders diagnosed among adolescents, namely anorexia, bulimia, binge and other specified feeding disorder (Lock & Grange, 2005). Anorexia refers to a prolonged disorder of eating due to loss of appetite.

This disorder affects adolescents who limit themselves to certain groups of foods for fear of being overweight (Hornbacher, 2009). This disorder is common among adolescents because at this stage people are very conscious about various developments in their body and the impacts they have on their image.

Some symptoms of this disorder include skipping of meals, prioritizing of exercise, making up excuses for not eating, watching ones diet, and avoiding eating food they prepare for others. Other notable red flags include obsession with nutrition shows, avoiding certain types of food, checking one’s weight regularly, and drinking a lot of water among others (Hornbacher, 2009).

The second disorder is bulimia. It refers to an eating disorder common among adolescent who engage in excessive eating, which is followed by acts of clearing their bodies from any form of stigma. This disorder is characterized by people eating a lot of food, which is followed by doing too much exercise to avoid gaining weight (Hornbacher, 2009).

Symptoms of this disorder include one using the bathroom during or after a meal, eating too much food, regular dieting, secretive disposal of used food wrappers, lack of control over the amount of food to eat and forceful vomiting (Hornbacher, 2009).

The third type of eating disorder is binge. It refers to an eating disorder that involves immoderate indulgence. Unlike in bulimia where victims engage in purging activities, binge eating disorder leads people to having feelings of culpability, despair and self-criticism (Lock & Grange, 2005).

According to experts, this disorder is common among adolescents suffering from depression and low self esteem. Symptoms of this disorder include eating even one is not hungry, eating alone, lack of emotional control over food, taking too much food in a single meal, as well as constant complaints from friends and family about ones eating habits. The final category is made up of other specified eating disorders.

This category involves a permutation of symptoms of all the other eating disorders (Lock & Grange, 2005). Adolescents suffering from this disorder often experience different phases in their eating habits where they are either obsessed about food or gaining weight.