Lecture Notes

Although white, middle, and upper class women are singled out with having eating disorders, these problems transcend ethnic and socioeconomic boundaries. Among minorities, females who are younger, have more body weight, are better educated, and identify with middle class values are at higher risk for eating disorders than their peers. Anorexia nervosa is a specific type of eating disorder where there is an all controlling desire for thinness. One has a distorted image of one's own body and diets obsessively. Sexual dysfunction often accompanies anorexia and includes amenorrhea, which is the delay of menarche or cessation of menstrual periods for at least three menstrual cycles. The woman may also not be able to achieve secondary sex characteristics or experience hypothermia, which is the body's inability to maintain heat.

There are two types of anorexia nervosa: restricting and binge eating and purging. Restricting is weight loss as a result of dieting, fasting, or excessive exercise, but no regular binge eating or purging. Binge eating and purging is done at least weekly. Bulimia and binge eating disorder is a type of eating disorder with uncontrolled overeating. With bulimia, the individual overeats but then purges by vomiting, dieting, exercising excessively, or taking laxatives which exemplifies a sense of lack of control. With binge eating disorder, the individual may overeat without purging and use food to cope with stress, conflicts, and other difficult emotions.