The Everything Parent's Guide to Eating Disorders by Angie Best-Boss

Eating disorders are becoming more and more prevalent in our modern day society. The three most common eating disorders are anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa and binge eating. Though there are more eating disorders they usually tend to be a subtype or characteristic of these three disorders. Though diet fads and getting healthy are gaining more popularity it is still hard to define and detect an eating disorder. Eating disorders such as, anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and binge eating are typically caused by low self-esteem and the pressure of being accepted by peers and can lead to serious medical consequences.
Angie Best-Boss in her book “The Everything Parent's Guide to Eating Disorders” defines eating disorders as “ a serious, potentially life threatening, biologically based mental illness, usually characterized by daily functioning affected by disordered body image, a preoccupation with and anxiety related to food and eating, and disordered eating”. (Best-boss, VI) This definition describes an eating disorder as a mental issue, due to the fact that when someone suffers from an eating disorder they are most likely already depressed or anxious. Eating disorders are also considered mental disorders because “brain chemistry, function, and structure in patients with eating disorders are different from the brains of those without and eating disorder” (Best-Boss, 2). Eating disorders affect not only teens and adults but children as well. “The number of children under the age of twelve who are admitted to the hospital for eating disorders sky- rocketed over 19 percent from 1996-2006.” (Best-Boss, 2) Though they are hard to define, eating disorders are usually characterized by children denying anything this is wrong ev...

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...more disordered a person’s eating is the loss objective her view of her body. (Herin and Matsumoto 170)

Works Cited

1. Best-Boss, Angie. The Everything Parent's Guide to Eating Disorders: The Information You Need to See the Warning Signs, Help Promote Positive Body Image, and Develop a Recovery Plan for Your Child. Avon, MA: Adams Media, 2012. Print.
2. Engel, Bridget, Natalie Staats Reiss, and Mark Dombeck. "Introduction to Eating Disorders." Introduction to Eating Disorders. Centersite.net, 2 Feb. 2007. Web. 22 Jan. 2014.
3. Herrin, Marcia, and Nancy Matsumoto. The Parent's Guide to Eating Disorders: Supporting Self-esteem, Healthy Eating, & Positive Body Image at Home. 2nd ed. Carlsbad, CA: Gürze, 2007. Print.
4. Merriam-Webster. Merriam-Webster, n.d. Web. 21 Jan. 2014.
5. Schulherr, Susan. Eating Disorders for Dummies. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley Pub., 2008. Print.