Eating Disoders

1. Obesity

Obesity is a medical condition in which excess body fat has accumulated to the extent that it may have an adverse effect on health, leading to reduced life expectancy and/or increased health problems. Body mass index (BMI), a measurement which compares weight and height, defines people as overweight (pre-obese) if their BMI is between 25 kg/m² and 30 kg/m², and obese when it is greater than 30 kg/m².
Obesity increases the likelihood of various diseases, particularly heart disease, type 2 diabetes, breathing difficulties during sleep, certain types of cancer, and osteoarthritis. Obesity is most commonly caused by a combination of excessive dietary calories, lack of physical activity, and genetic susceptibility, although a few cases are caused primarily by genes, endocrine disorders, medications or psychiatric illness. Evidence to support the view that some obese people eat little yet gain weight due to a slow metabolism is limited; on average obese people have a greater energy expenditure than their thin counterparts due to the energy required to maintain an increased body mass.
Dieting and physical exercise are the mainstays of treatment for obesity. Moreover, it is important to improve diet quality by reducing the consumption of energy-dense foods such as those high in fat and sugars, and by increasing the intake of dietary fiber. To supplement this, or in case of failure, anti-obesity drugs may be taken to reduce appetite or inhibit fat absorption. In severe cases, surgery is performed or an intragastric balloon is placed to reduce stomach volume and/or bowel length, leading to earlier satiation and reduced ability to absorb nutrients from food.
Obesity is a leading preventable cause of death worldwide, with increasing prevalence in adults and children, and authorities view it as one of the most serious public health problems of the 21st century. Obesity is stigmatized in much of the modern world (particularly in the Western world), though it was widely perceived as a symbol of wealth and fertility at other times in history, and still is in some parts of the world.

Everyone loves a roly-poly baby. Still, there is such a thing as an overweight infant, and obese babies -- even those as young as 9 months -- are predisposed to being obese later in life, researchers say in Friday's issue of the American Journal of Health Promotion.

Childhood obesity is a growing public health problem in the United States.  It has been linked to psychological problems, asthma, cardiovascular troubles and a greater chance of developing diabetes.

Hoping to better understand the factors associated with being obese at a very early age -- and possibly help parents and health advocates stave off its ill effects -- lead author Brian G. Moss of Wayne State University and William H. Yeaton of the University of Michigan analyzed data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Birth Cohort, a nationally representative sample of American children born in 2001.

RELATED: Obesity prevention starts early -- really, really early

The data included height, weight and demographic characteristics of 8,900 9-month-old babies and 7,500 2-year-old toddlers. Obese children were defined as those who exceeded the 95th percentile for body-mass index (as defined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), and those between the 85th and 95th percentile were considered "at risk."

Moss and Yeaton found that 32% of children were either obese or at risk of obesity by the tender age of 9 months.  That figure increased to 34% by the time the munchkins reached their second birthdays.

"We weren't surprised by the prevalence rates we found in our study, but we were surprised the trend began at such a young age," Moss said in a statement.

Among the patterns that emerged:

• Boys were more at risk than girls (this contradicted earlier research). 
• Latinos had the highest risk.
• Geographic location was not consistently associated with being obese or at risk.
• The family's socioeconomic status didn't seem to make a difference at 9 months of age. But by two years, the kids in the bottom economic 20% were most likely to be obese or at risk, while those in the top 20% were least likely to be obese or at risk.

No one is suggesting that babies be put on a diet. But knowing more about the demographic characteristics of very young children who are more likely to become obese could help health officials and parents prevent later health troubles by promoting healthier eating and lifestyle choices.

RELATED: A new map of childhood obesity in the U.S.
2. Anorexia Nervousa (Loss of Peptite)

This disorder is most frequently affect young women concerned with over weight that leads to excessive dieting and often compulsive exercising can lead to starvation.
Anorexia nervosa is an eating disorder characterized by refusal to maintain a healthy body weight and an obsessive fear of gaining weight, often coupled with a distorted self image which may be maintained by various cognitive biases that alter how the affected individual evaluates and thinks about her or his body, food and eating. Persons with anorexia nervosa continue to feel hunger, but deny themselves all but very small quantities of food. The average caloric intake of a person with anorexia nervosa is 600-800 calories per day, but in extreme cases self-starvation is more extreme.It is a serious mental illness with a high incidence of comorbidity and the highest mortality rate of any psychiatric disorder.
It can affect men and women of all ages, races, socioeconomic and cultural backgrounds.Anorexia nervosa occurs in the ratio of 1:10 in males:females.
The term anorexia nervosa was established in 1873 by Sir William Gull, one of Queen Victoria's personal physicians. The term is of Greek origin: an- (ἀν-, prefix denoting negation) and orexis (ὄρεξις, "appetite"), thus meaning a lack of desire to eat.


3. Bulimia Nervousa

Bouse - (ox) Greek word
Limos - (Hunger)
Bouse of excessive hunger and eating often followed by forced vomiting or the loss of control over food intake.
Bulimia nervosa is an eating disorder characterized by restraining of food intake for a period of time followed by an over intake or binging period that results in feelings of guilt and low self-esteem. The median age of onset is 18. Sufferers attempt to overcome these feelings through a number of ways. The most common form is defensive vomiting, sometimes called purging; fasting, the use of laxatives, enemas, diuretics, and over exercising are also common. Bulimia nervosa is nine times more likely to occur in women than men (Barker 2003). Antidepressants, especially SSRIs are widely used in the treatment of bulimia nervosa. (Newell and Gournay 2000).
The word bulimia derives from the Latin (būlīmia), which originally comes from the Greek βουλιμία (boulīmia; ravenous hunger), a compound of βους (bous), ox + λιμός (līmos), hunger. Bulimia nervosa was named and first described by the British psychiatrist Gerald Russell in 1979.