Mental health: eating disorders
Eating disorders are illnesses related to behaviour with food. They are associated with distressing thoughts and emotions. Common eating disorders are anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa and binge-eating disorder. This illness can affect the heart, digestive system, bones, teeth and mouth. Causes The exact causes are not known but they might be: - Genetics. Some people may have gens that increase their risk of developing eating disorders. - Biology. Biological factors may play a role in eating disorders. Anorexia Nervosa It's a condition where people avoid food, so there's a low weight for height and age. There are two subtypes: restricting typ e ( individuals lose weight primarily by dieting, fasting or excessively exercising) and purging type (individuals engage an intermittent binge-eating or purging behaviours). Anorexia nervosa can be fatal, it has a high death rate. Bulimia It's a condition where people have recurrent episodes of eating unusu...