Are You Young and Slim or Suffering From Anorexia?

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When young every girl dreams of enchanting crowds with her beauty, style, killer looks and perfect size zero figure; with glittering plastic world of glamour hovering everywhere the desire strokes her immature blood quiet hard and deep. She keeping all the negative consequences; such as nutritional deficiencies, stress, hunger cramps; aside moves unguided on the path of fake beauty and size.

Psychiatry classifies these individuals under eating disorders. Anorexia Nervosa is an eating disorder characterised by intense fear of gaining weight or becoming fat, even though underweight. The following further explains on the condition:

• It occurs most commonly in females with an early adolescent onset (13-19 years of age).
• The individuals are usually hard working, focussed, perfectionist and ambitious.
• Refusal to maintain body weight at or above a minimally normal weight for age and height (e.g. weight loss leading to maintenance of weight less than 85% of that expected or failure to make expected weight gain during period of growth)
• Disturbance in the way in which one’s body weight or shape is experienced, undue influence of body weight or shape on self evaluation, or denial of the seriousness of the current low body weight.
• Quetelet’s body mass index (BMI) of 17.5 or less. BMI is equivalent to weight in kilograms divided by square of height in metres.
• In post menarche females, amenorrhea i.e. absence of at least three consecutive menstrual cycles (a woman is considered to have amenorrhea if her periods occur only following hormone e.g. oestrogen administration.
• Self imposed dietary restrictions, with strange ways of handling food such as breaking food into small pieces, throwing away served food.
• Usually involving self in vigorous exercise and activities such as steam/sauna bathing to cut down the fat level.
• With low nutritional diets, they tend to suffer from deficiencies, hair loss, poor concentration, cramps to name a few.
• Agitated behaviour is commonly observed.
• Some may report with a history of obesity, for which they may have been teased or looked upon.
• Anorexia has also been regarded as an attempt to remain pre pubertal by girls who fear sexual maturity. Poor sexual adjustment has been observed in anorexic patients as a result of imperfect body perception and fear of becoming obese on account of a pregnancy.
• Obsessive compulsive personality traits along with depressive features is common
• It may further complicate to purging/binge type where a girl regularly engages in binge eating or purging behaviour (i.e. self induced vomiting or the misuse of laxatives, diuretics or enema). Actually binges (consumption of large amount of food or a high calorie ingredient) are followed by intense grief, guilt and fear, the person makes an effort to remove it by any means.

The above mentioned clearly indicates the severity of the situation, it is for the youth to decide whether they want to be healthy or plastic dolls. It is also a reminder for parents with preadolescent or adolescent kids to guide them to a right direction.

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Being obese isn’t healthy as well but punishing yourself to stay thin isn’t good enough too, a well balanced healthy life is what is to be desired.