Not Just about Food: Understanding Eating Disorders

Some thirty million people have an eating disorder in the United States, and reported cases are only increasing.

This is especially true among young people. While many think of eating disorders as only about an individual's relationship to food, the reasons a person develops such a disorder are not just about food. There are complex causes, including genetics, brain chemistry, and life experiences.

Impossible beauty standards perpetuated by edited social media photos, exercise training videos targeting "trouble spots," and short-term fad diets contribute to the normalization of disordered eating and an unhealthy relationship with one's body. An April 2021 study found that during the first twelve months of the pandemic, there was a 25 percent increase in eating disorder-related hospital admissions for patients between the ages of twelve and eighteen.

Not Just about Food outlines the causes, symptoms, and diagnosis of anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, binge-eating disorder, and other eating disorders. It also describes recovery and treatment options for teens experiencing these harmful disorders.

Tabitha Moriarty is a medical student living in Atlanta, Georgia. She has co-authored several titles in the Healthy Living Library series.

Carol Sonenklar is a published author of children's books. Some of her published credits include Bug Boy/ El Nino Insecto, Virus Hunters, and My Own Worst Enemy. Her first title for Twenty-First Century Books was Anorexia and Bulimia (USA TODAY Health Reports). She lives in Richmond, Virginia.