Anorexia
Anorexia is a condition in which a girl's diet does not allow her to maintain her weight within 15% of the mean for girls her age and height. (Remember: daily requirements for calories, carbohydrates, and protein are greater for athletes).
- Warning Signs:
- Sudden weight loss or gain
- Distorted body image
- Obsession with weighing oneself
- Avoidance of social eating (i.e. a girl who likes to eat alone)
- Preoccupation with food and dieting/unreasonable fear of being fat (girls on severe diets in one Australian study were 18 times more likely to develop an eating disorder; moderate dieters were 5 times more likely than those who did not diet; a Harvard researcher says 44% of high school girls and 15% of boys diet)
- Hair loss
- Intolerance to cold
- Obsessive exercising
Bulimia
Bulimia is where a girl engages in "binge eating" (i.e. eating too much uncontrollably in one sitting) and then purging (vomiting, exercising intensely) to get rid of the food just eaten.
- Warning Signs:
- frequent use of bathroom after eating
- Fluctuating weight
- Bloodshot eyes
- Swollen glands
- Swollen extremities
- Discolored teeth (i.e. eroded tooth enamel from frequent vomiting)
- Feelings of depression, guilt or shame about eating
- Suicide attempts
- Drug use
- Aches and pains
- Dramatic fluctuations in athletic performance
