People with anorexia usually deny the facts of being confronted with a problem. They start by feeling constrained by their body weight and physical appearance and then end up by developing obsessions with food, weight and staying thin. They indulge in harmful behaviors, carefully portioning and restricting the amount of food they consume. People with anorexia also have a false perception of their body image, living with the permanent impression that they are fat, even if they are underweight. The desire of having a beautiful, slim body determines girls and young women to take drastic actions.

The society we live in puts a lot of pressure on the shoulders of young girls by establishing and supporting exaggerated physical features as ideals of beauty. Teenage girls struggle to get noticed and sustain assiduous efforts in their attempt of improving their physical appearance. Their constant preoccupation with body weight sometimes becomes an obsession and many young girls develop eating disorders.

Statistics indicate that anorexia nervosa has the highest prevalence among women with ages between 15 and 20, although even 5 year-old girls have been diagnosed with this type of eating disorder after following vegetarian diets and even restricting their food intake. These are very disturbing facts, considering the damage that anorexia can cause to the frail bodies of teenagers and adolescents. Eating disorders are considered to be serious illnesses and they may even lead to death. These disorders are basically mental conditions that are characterized by unhealthy behavior, scarce eating and obsession with being overweight. Anorexia (Anorexia Nervosa) and bulimia (Bulimia Nervosa) are the most common and the most dangerous eating disorders.

Anorexia affects persons of all ages and regardless of sex. However, young girls are more susceptible to developing anorexia, due to their ambitions and desires of being thin. Girls with anorexia eat very little food and sometimes they even constrain themselves from eating any food at all. Abstinence from food leads to serious complications and girls with anorexia often develop other diseases due to their bad eating habits. The lack of vital nutrients triggers a lot of changes inside the bodies of anorexics, making them feel weak, tired, anxious, confused and psychically unstable.

The signs of anorexia are usually easy to identify, due to dramatic changes in physical aspect and behavior. The most obvious sign of anorexia is inappropriate body weight. Most anorexics weigh a lot less than they should. The persons with anorexia are constantly preoccupied with their weight, the amount of calories contained by the food they consume and with keeping drastic diets. Anorexics tend to bring issues regarding food and body weight into discussion in every conversation. They sometimes do it unknowingly, due to their need of expressing their obsessive, troubling thoughts.

Other signs of anorexia are excessive physical activities like jogging or work outs. Also, people with anorexia tend to isolate themselves from the world and they refuse to participate in many activities due to their complexions of being fat and repulsive. Anxiety, agitation and even violent impulses are also signs of anorexia. Other signs of anorexia are unusual hair loss, internal disturbances like stomachaches, burns or constipation, migraines, low blood pressure, unstable body temperature, heart problems and dehydration.

Anorexics usually have unpredictable reactions and they quickly jump from one mood to another. They may appear to be relaxed and calm at one moment, while the next moment they may burst into tears. Emotional instability is therefore another sign of anorexia.

Inappropriate eating habits cause hormonal unbalances and girls with anorexia often suffer from amenorrhea. This condition refers to irregular menstruation and girls with anorexia even experience stops of their menstrual period due to small levels of estrogen. Amenorrhea often leads to weakness of the bones, corrosion of the teeth and fragility of fingernails. In many cases, young anorexic girls suffer from osteoporosis. Osteoporosis is a disorder of the skeletal system which causes the deterioration of bone tissues. Although this disorder is usually developed by the elderly, the majority of anorexic girls are affected by osteoporosis before the age of 20. Osteoporosis renders people vulnerable to fractures and on the premises of malnutrition and over-exercising, anorexic girls are very exposed to acquiring serious bone injuries.

Long term poor intake of nutrients, excessive exercising, amenorrhea and decreased levels of estrogen have all been identified as factors that contribute to the development of osteoporosis among young anorexic girls. Traces of bone deterioration can be revealed in anorexic girls after only a few months of strict dieting and some bone damage can't be always reversed. In most cases, osteoporosis continues to affect anorexic women long after they stop dieting and they maintain a normal body weight. Many young anorexic girls can suffer from weak bones for the rest of their lives if they don't receive medical guidance at the right time.

Although estrogen replacement therapy can reverse the effects of osteoporosis for some girls with anorexia, this form of treatment is not always effective. Due to this fact, it is very important to reveal the presence of anorexia in young women before they develop osteoporosis. Girls that have been diagnosed with anorexia should take calcium and vitamin D supplements for preventing bone deterioration. Anorexic girls should also be frequently examined by an orthopedist for checking the integrity and the health of their skeletal system.
Girls with anorexia have obsessive thoughts about food and being fat. They carefully count the calories they consume and often exhaust themselves by doing long, tiring physical exercises. Despite the efforts they sustain in order to keep fit and lose weight, girls with anorexia are never content with their body weight and physical appearance. They have a distorted perception of their body image and always consider themselves to be fat, even if their body weight is considerably lower than it should be.

Young women and girls that have careers where a slim body is a necessity (gymnastics, modeling, ballet) are also susceptible to developing an eating disorder. It is very important to act quickly when dealing with eating disorders. Girls with anorexia are often unaware of the dangers they expose themselves to and most of them deny having a problem. Some of them, however, are willing to sacrifice their health and jeopardize their lives only to be admired for their silhouette. Because girls with anorexia are usually unable to overcome their illness on their own, they should be provided with plenty of support and encouragement from their families and friends.

Anorexics feel lonely and unhappy and have low self-esteem and self-respect. By proving to people who suffer from anorexia that low body weight isn't the most important thing in the world and by showing them that they are unique and beautiful regardless of their physical appearance, you can help them make the first steps towards recovery.

Actually, Anorexia Nervosa and Bulimia Nervosa have a lot of things in common and in fact, people who suffer from Anorexia Nervosa may later become bulimics. The causes of eating disorders haven't yet been determined. It is considered that Anorexia Nervosa is purely a mental condition. However, studies sustain that there are also physical factors involved in the development of the illness. Also, a disturbing fact reveals the hereditary character of eating disorders like Anorexia Nervosa and Bulimia Nervosa. Anorexia Nervosa, just like other eating disorders causes a lot of harm to people affected by it. A very disturbing fact is that young people, especially adolescents are the most exposed to the development of eating disorders. Both sexes are susceptible to the threat