Anorexia: A serious health issue
Anorexia and other eating disorders are a very serious concern of late due to the push to eat healthy. While eating healthy is paramount, there are those who take it to obsessive levels, or use food as a control mechanism in their lives. There are a range of causes, including being genetically predisposed to the condition.
"There is an enormous lack of understanding in the community in relation to the true cause and nature of eating disorders. The negative stigma brought about by this lack of understanding provides a barrier to the recovery of sufferers by contributing to the reluctance of some sufferers to seek help and treatment and to the hardship faced by both sufferers and carers. Eating disorders are a serious, life-threatening mental illness. THEY ARE NOT A LIFESTYLE CHOICE and are about feelings, not food." - The Butterfly Foundation.
According to the Royal Children's Hospital Melbourne, an anorexic may display a range of the following symptoms and warning signs:
Dieting or overeating
Weight loss or change, mostly due to dieting, but sometimes from a stressful situation or illness
Preoccupation with body appearance or weight
Loss or disturbance of menstrual periods (females)
Sensitivity to the cold
Faintness, dizziness, fatigue
Increased mood changes, irritability
Social withdrawal/isolation
Anxiety, depression
Increased interest in preparing food for others
Mental list of 'good' and 'bad' foods
Obsessive rituals (only drinking out of a certain cup, eating certain foods on certain days)
Wearing baggy clothes/change in clothing style
Excessive or fluctuating exercise patterns
Avoidance of social situations involving food
Making frequent excuses not to eat
Slow eating/eating with teaspoons
Fast eating
Hoarding food
Rearranging food on plate
Disappearance of large amounts of food, food wrappers in bins
Feelings of being out of control with food
Trips to the bathroom after meals
A person's BMI is also used to determine if they are anorexic. Some people are naturally thin - and you can tell that they are not anorexic because they keep themselves healthy through eating a balanced diet that sustains their body and energy needs. A doctor or health professional may use a variation of the BMI calculation on children (anyone aged under 18).
How to Find your BMI (for men and women aged 20+)
Weight in kilograms is divided by height in metres squared.
Weight (kg) / height2 (m)
If your BMI is under 18 or under you're underweight and need help to get into the healthy range of 18.5-24.9. If you are 15 or below you're in dire need of medical intervention before you starve yourself to death.
Anorexia and other eating disorders are SERIOUS. If left untreated the sufferer faces organ failure, death from malnutrition, and long term body damage.
If you know someone who may be anorexic or have an eating disorder, THEY NEED HELP. Quite often they do not see themselves as having a problem, and sometimes their families are unwilling to seek help due to the percieved shame, lack of knowledge where and how to get help, or because they are simply in denial about the issue. Without help, they could die or face irreversable damage. Being fit and healthy is not about starving yourself or causing yourself damage just to be in control.
To people who have eating disorders: the people who confront you about this issue are NOT trying to make you feel bad. They are trying to help because you are a very special person to them. They do not want to see you slowly kill yourself, they want you here in this life enjoying every day with them.
For more info:
The Butterfly Foundation - www. thebutterflyfoundation. org. au
Royal Children's Hospital Melbourne Fact Sheet - http://www. rch. org. au/kidsinfo/factsheets. cfm?doc_id=11198
"There is an enormous lack of understanding in the community in relation to the true cause and nature of eating disorders. The negative stigma brought about by this lack of understanding provides a barrier to the recovery of sufferers by contributing to the reluctance of some sufferers to seek help and treatment and to the hardship faced by both sufferers and carers. Eating disorders are a serious, life-threatening mental illness. THEY ARE NOT A LIFESTYLE CHOICE and are about feelings, not food." - The Butterfly Foundation.
According to the Royal Children's Hospital Melbourne, an anorexic may display a range of the following symptoms and warning signs:
Dieting or overeating
Weight loss or change, mostly due to dieting, but sometimes from a stressful situation or illness
Preoccupation with body appearance or weight
Loss or disturbance of menstrual periods (females)
Sensitivity to the cold
Faintness, dizziness, fatigue
Increased mood changes, irritability
Social withdrawal/isolation
Anxiety, depression
Increased interest in preparing food for others
Mental list of 'good' and 'bad' foods
Obsessive rituals (only drinking out of a certain cup, eating certain foods on certain days)
Wearing baggy clothes/change in clothing style
Excessive or fluctuating exercise patterns
Avoidance of social situations involving food
Making frequent excuses not to eat
Slow eating/eating with teaspoons
Fast eating
Hoarding food
Rearranging food on plate
Disappearance of large amounts of food, food wrappers in bins
Feelings of being out of control with food
Trips to the bathroom after meals
A person's BMI is also used to determine if they are anorexic. Some people are naturally thin - and you can tell that they are not anorexic because they keep themselves healthy through eating a balanced diet that sustains their body and energy needs. A doctor or health professional may use a variation of the BMI calculation on children (anyone aged under 18).
How to Find your BMI (for men and women aged 20+)
Weight in kilograms is divided by height in metres squared.
Weight (kg) / height2 (m)
If your BMI is under 18 or under you're underweight and need help to get into the healthy range of 18.5-24.9. If you are 15 or below you're in dire need of medical intervention before you starve yourself to death.
Anorexia and other eating disorders are SERIOUS. If left untreated the sufferer faces organ failure, death from malnutrition, and long term body damage.
If you know someone who may be anorexic or have an eating disorder, THEY NEED HELP. Quite often they do not see themselves as having a problem, and sometimes their families are unwilling to seek help due to the percieved shame, lack of knowledge where and how to get help, or because they are simply in denial about the issue. Without help, they could die or face irreversable damage. Being fit and healthy is not about starving yourself or causing yourself damage just to be in control.
To people who have eating disorders: the people who confront you about this issue are NOT trying to make you feel bad. They are trying to help because you are a very special person to them. They do not want to see you slowly kill yourself, they want you here in this life enjoying every day with them.
For more info:
The Butterfly Foundation - www. thebutterflyfoundation. org. au
Royal Children's Hospital Melbourne Fact Sheet - http://www. rch. org. au/kidsinfo/factsheets. cfm?doc_id=11198