Eating disorders

Abstract

An “eating disorder” is a set of interrelated and very unhealthy (1) eating behaviors; (2) weight management practices; (3) attitudes about food, weight, and body shape; (4) struggles with self-concept and self-control; and (5) disruptions in the neuroanatomical processes underlying hunger, satiety, and emotions. Obesity in adolescents is a risk factor for various forms of disordered eating (Neumark-Sztainer, Wall, Story, & Sherwood, 2009), and obesity may be the outcome of disordered eating in a minority of adolescents. Nevertheless, obesity is not an eating disorder per se.