It begins by regulating the quantity of food eaten at every meal and graduates to skipping meals completely. This is a psychological disorder.

Although most common amongst teenage girls, anorexia can develop at any age.

Is She Anorexic?
If you think that someone you know may be anorexic, here are a few signs to watch out for:

• Continuously skipping meals
• Making excuses to skip meals
• A drastic drop in weight
• Excessive exercising
• Eating only low calorie foods in small amounts
• Over reacting to a slight fluctuation in weight
• Missing three consecutive menstrual periods

Bulimia Nervosa
Bulimia Nervosa is a psychological eating disorder. While most bulimics maintain average weight, some are over weight.

A bulimic eats large amounts of fattening foods in a short while and then gets rid of the food through inappropriate weight-loss methods.

Over-exercising, continuous intake of laxatives and enemas, purging, vomiting and fasting are some of the ways used to lose weight.

Signs to Look For

• Eating unusually large amounts of food with no change in weight.
• Odd eating patterns regarding type of food.
• Odd and secretive behaviour after eating.
• Excessive and extremely rigid exercise routine.
• Stomach and intestinal problems.
• Irregular or no menstrual periods.