We refer to disturbed or abnormal eating habits as “eating disorders”. A number of conditions can express themselves in these harmful behaviors. Causes for eating disorders are usually found in an obsession with body weight, body shape or food. These disorders can often have serious health effects. They can even cause death in some cases. There are a number of factors that can lead to eating disorders, including brain biology, personality, cultural ideals and in some cases, genetics. Anyone can succumb to eating disorders, no matter their age or gender. Nevertheless, adolescents and young women are especially likely to develop them. About 13% of young people up to the age of 20 may be affected by at least one kind of eating disorder. Here’s a list of the most harmful eating disorders as well as the serious consequences that can arise from them.
Contents
Night Eating Syndrome
This disorder is as common among women as among men. It is less well known than others but occurs often enough to merit attention. Simply put people with this disorder eat food during the night. They might hide food to eat when they are unobserved. They may also be overweight or have once had a substance abuse problem. Night eating syndrome can lead to high cholesterol levels high blood pressure and diabetes. Many people diagnosed with this disorder also suffer from depression and a range of sleep disorders. Anxiety also afflicts many of them which can even exacerbate their night eating habits. What is especially interesting is that this disorder often manifests itself in people after they have failed to stick to a diet. These sufferers in order to lose weight limit their caloric intake during the day. Hunger, however, overcomes them at night and compels them to make up for the missing calories.
Nocturnal Sleep –Eating Disorder
People with this disorder literally get out of bed during the night and eat often excessively. One rather unique aspect of this disorder is that most people can’t remember actually getting out of bed and eating. Even people who do remember their nocturnal activity are unable to prevent it by themselves. This disorder is very similar to sleepwalking in the sense that it can be very difficult to wake someone who is sleep-eating. During a sleep-eating event peoples eating habits can be very different from their normal eating behavior. They may for example eat food items that they normally only eat in combination with other foods. Sugar, butter, jam are just a few examples. When suffers are sleep-eating, they usually eat foods that are very high in calories especially sugary foods. As a result of the additional calories these sufferers often gain weight. There are other dangers too. Sleep eaters might unintentionally eat something non edible or combine foods in unhealthy ways.
Pregorexia
Some pregnant women act to prevent or regulate their weight often to prevent gaining too much weight. Pregorexia describes behavior and symptoms during pregnancy that are similar to those exhibited in others suffering from eating disorders. Pregnant women who are more worried about their weight than about their health often engage in excessive exercise. Of course due to their different physiques and physical condition what is “excessive” for one woman might not be so for another. Yet women who typically train to the point off collapse are engaging in excessive behavior. What can make things even worse is that this obsession with weight will also affect how a woman eats. If she takes in too few calories she could endanger the health of the unborn child. This can result in insufficient weight at birth growth retardation and even serious birth defects.
Bigorexia
Also known as Muscle Dysmorphia, Bigorexia is a variant of body dysmorphic disorder. This occurs in people who think that their body is too small or skinny insufficiently muscular or lean. This type of behavior most often occurs in males but some females also have this disorder. These sufferers find defects in their body or figure that are not defects at all. They may also inspect their bodies for hours in a mirror and obsess over some tiny “flaw”. People with Bigorexia engage in repetitive activities and rituals meant to increase muscle mass. What’s interesting is that people with this disorder will often hide their sculpted physique under loose clothing rather than show it off. This is because they believe that anyone would be able to spot the physical flaws that they obsess over. Although this disorder involves other behavior an obsession with one’s body will often affect a person’s eating habits. In an effort to attain or maintain their figures sufferers might insist on eating specific foods. These people are typically fickle about what they eat and when and they obsess about their diet most of the day. Many of them will get extreme with their diets in order to gain muscle mass or eliminate body fat. They may also turn to steroids. This disorder actually arises from a powerful sense of inadequacy. This lack of self-worth can negatively affect other areas of their lives including their relationships with others.
Avoidant Restrictive Food Intake Disorder
This is a new name for what was previously known as “selective eating disorder”. The diagnosis for this disorder was once made exclusively in children seven years old and younger. Although this disorder usually manifests in children during infancy or early childhood, it can persist into adulthood; and its equally common in both men and women. People with this disorder often experience a distaste for certain smells, tastes, colors, textures or temperatures. You can watch your favorite movie on Movie Hustle. They may also simply lack interest in eating. Sufferers often lose a significant amount of weight, which can lead to nutritional deficiencies. Their psychological health might also be negatively affected and they may lean on nutritional supplements to maintain their health.
Orthorexia Nervosa
This disorder describes people who are obsessed with eating only pure and healthy foods. Such foods often include organic or health store foods. Sufferers of this disorder are extremely preoccupied with what they eat how much they eat and how their food is prepared. Their obsession with the ideal diet can reach such an extreme that should they violate their own dieting rules they will actually punish themselves.
