Eating Disorders Awareness Week (EDAW) is an opportunity to educate the public about eating disorders as well as provide hope and support for individuals and families who are affected by eating disorders. This year, it takes place from Monday, February 26, to Sunday, March 3, 2024. The goals of EDAW are to drive public awareness to recognize, support, and effectively treat eating disorders.

Eating disorders are mental health conditions that impact your relationship with food. It significantly changes your usual food intake, including changes in how much you eat, what you eat, and when you eat, along with feelings of guilt or shame about your food choices and/or your body’s size or shape. An eating disorder can impact anyone regardless of their gender, sexual orientation, age, size, race, or ethnicity. A proper diagnosis, ongoing support, and treatment are essential for individuals to recover. 

What Are The Signs of Eating Disorders? 

The common signs of eating disorders can be emotional, behavioral, and/or physical. Emotional and behavioral signs may include weight changes, rigid control over food, food rituals, social withdrawal, frequent body checking, and extreme mood swings. Physical signs may include weight fluctuations, gastrointestinal issues (like bloating, upset stomach, nausea, constipation), dizziness upon standing, difficulty concentrating, changes in sleep, issues with teeth, dry skin, and hair loss.

What Are The Different Types of Eating Disorders? 

There are several different types of eating disorders. The most commonly known are anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa. Others include binge eating disorders, avoidant restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID), and other specified food or eating disorder (OSFED). A diagnosis of OSFED occurs when an individual does not fully meet the criteria for diagnosis. The five subgroups of OSFED include atypical anorexia, purging disorder, and night eating disorder. Bulimia nervosa and binge eating disorder can also occur as subtypes when individuals engage in behaviors at a lower frequency or shorter duration than the diagnosis requires. 

Anorexia Nervosa

Anorexia Nervosa causes fear of weight gain, body image concerns, and difficulty maintaining weight. There are two subtypes of anorexia nervosa: restricting and binge-eating/purging. Individuals with restricting anorexia nervosa may limit their food intake to cause or maintain weight loss. Individuals with binge-eating/purging anorexia nervosa may limit their food intake and then engage in binge-eating or purging behaviors. Purging behaviors may include self-induced vomiting, excessive exercise, or the use of laxatives, diuretics, or enemas. 

Warning signs of anorexia nervosa include distorted body image, fear of weight gain, preoccupation with weight and/or calories, food rituals, ignoring hunger cues, and weight loss. In addition to the warning signs of anorexia nervosa, other symptoms include anxiety or

depression, low self-esteem, self-harm behaviors, isolation from others, mood swings, pale or yellow complexion, sensitivity to cold, dry skin or hair, and sleep disturbances. 

Bulimia Nervosa 

Bulimia Nervosa involves regular episodes of eating a large amount of food in a short time (binge eating) followed by behavior to remove the food from your body (purging). Purging may include self-induced vomiting, excessive exercise, or using medications like laxatives, diuretics, enemas, insulin, or diet pills. Individuals with bulimia nervosa also have low self-esteem, struggle with body image issues, and have feelings of guilt or shame around their eating disorder behaviors. Warning signs of bulimia nervosa include binging, purging, eating in secret, weight fluctuations, misuse of medications, and feeling out of control around food. In addition to these warning signs, symptoms of bulimia nervosa also include self-harm, bathroom use after meals, swollen neck & cheek glands, changes in teeth color, bloodshot eyes, sores or calluses on the backs of knuckles on hands, sore throat, anxiety, and depression.

Binge Eating Disorder 

Binge eating disorder involves eating a large amount of food in a short period of time. This is different from bulimia nervosa because it doesn’t include a purging behavior. Individuals with binge eating disorder often eat when they are not hungry and also eat past the point of feeling full. A binge episode is often followed by feelings of guilt or shame. Warning signs of binge eating disorder include restriction, feeling out of control around food, using food as comfort, eating in secret, eating large amounts of food, and feeling embarrassed. In addition to these warning signs, symptoms of binge eating disorder also include weight fluctuations, hiding food, anxiety, depression, and distorted body image. 

Avoidant and Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID)

ARFID involves a restriction in food intake closely tied to the types or textures of foods. This was previously known as a pediatric feeding issue but has recently been acknowledged to impact adolescents and adults. Individuals with ARFID may report not feeling hungry or being interested in food. This disinterest may involve the smell, texture, or other sensory characteristics of foods. ARFID is different from many of the other eating disorders as the food behaviors aren’t rooted in a desire to change their body’s current size or shape. Warning signs of ARFID include being picky about food choices, refusing food after a traumatizing experience, avoiding food due to sensory concerns, food-related anxiety, no appetite, and lack of interest in eating. In addition to these warning signs, symptoms of ARFID also include difficulty chewing food, vomiting or gagging when exposed to a “fear” food, weight loss in adults, and difficulty gaining weight in children.

Other Specified Food or Eating Disorder (OSFED) 

OSFED is an umbrella diagnosis that is used when individuals don’t meet all the diagnostic criteria for one of the eating disorders listed above. There are five different subtypes of OSFED, including atypical anorexia, bulimia nervosa (short duration or less frequent), binge eating disorder (short duration or less frequent), purging disorder, and night eating syndrome. 

Atypical Anorexia 

Aytpical anorexia occurs when someone meets all the criteria for anorexia nervosa without being underweight. This is still a serious eating disorder diagnosis as it usually means the individual has lost a significant amount of weight even though their weight is within or above a “normal weight range.” When individuals present with symptoms of bulimia nervosa or binge eating disorder, who engage in behaviors less frequently or for less than 3 months then they fall into this diagnosis. 

Purging Disorder

Individuals with purging disorder usually engage in eating disorder behaviors like self-induced vomiting, excessive exercise, and misuse of medications to lose weight. This is different from bulimia nervosa as the individual doesn’t engage in other behaviors like restriction or binge eating. 

Night Eating Syndrome 

Night Eating Syndrome includes frequent night eating episodes where individuals strongly desire to eat after dinner. These individuals often report difficulty sleeping and a strong desire to eat during the night, so they wake up frequently to eat. Regardless of the diagnosis, individuals with an eating disorder are at risk for many health-related issues and complications. These complications impact the gastrointestinal tract, heart, kidneys, liver, and skeletal system. It can also contribute to the development of other conditions such as infertility, peptic ulcers, pancreatitis, tooth decay, gum disease, osteoarthritis, polycystic ovary syndrome, certain cancers, and sleep apnea.