The two most common eating disorders are anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa.  Both conditions can affect either males or females and are extremely serious.  To protect someone you love or care about, learn the warning signs of eating disorders.

An eating disorder develops from an unhealthy view of yourself and your relationship to food.  Food is a vehicle for delivering nutrients to the body.  That doesn’t mean that food can’t taste good but that eating the right foods is important for growth, health and a positive body image.

Anorexia nervosa involves a fear of gaining weight.  No matter how slim the person is, when they look in the mirror they see someone who is too fat.  In an attempt to control their weight, a person with anorexia nervosa will eat small portions of food.  The problem here is that the portions are not big enough to provide any type of good nutrition.

Warning signs of anorexia are easy to miss if you are not careful.  Sufferers usually explain their extremely small portions as dieting to get in shape.  At first no one will question that since teenagers are always in conflict about their body.  If your child used to eat with the family but now says that they are eating elsewhere, be concerned.