How to Recognize an Eating Disorder

An eating disorder can be deadly disease that has a serious negative impact on the health of its victim. If you're worried that someone you love--like a sister or a daughter--has an eating disorder, it's important that you keep your eyes open for some common signs. Although some of these signs may indicate something other than an eating disorder, these are general warnings that you should be aware of if you're worried about a loved one. If you notice any of these signs, you should do everything possible to get help for the individual who may be suffering from an eating disorder.

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Instructions

1. Look for weight loss. A serious or dramatic loss of weight can be a sign of an eating disorder, especially if the person tries to hide the weight loss beneath baggy and oversized clothing.

2. Watch for food avoidance. Some people with eating disorders will avoid food by skipping dinner or declining social invitations to events that center around food.

3. Watch for food hiding or manipulating. Sometimes, when trying to avoid food, an individual with an eating disorder may attempt to hide food in napkins or move food around on a plate. This is to create the illusion that the food has been eaten when in fact it hasn't.

4. Keep an eye out for binging behavior. If you notice a huge quantity of food missing at one time--or an extremely large amount of food packages, cans or wrappers in the trash--someone may have "binged." Binging generally means the person consumed a very large amount of food in a short period of time.

5. Watch for purging behavior. Often, after binging, a person might "purge" by throwing up. If someone spends a lot of time in the bathroom after a meal, they might be purging.

6. Look for extreme exercise. Some people with eating disorders will "purge" through extreme exercise. Any excessive exercise that seems to be for the purpose of weight loss rather than fitness should be carefully monitored.

7. Check recently viewed websites. Unfortunately, there are quite a few websites out there that encourage eating disordered behavior. Check the computer's Internet history to find out if any of these websites have been recently viewed.

Tips & Warnings

• Words like "Ana" and "Thinspiration" are common lingo among girls with eating disorders.