Anorexia is one, if not, the most common eating disorder there is. This happens when your view of your body proportions is distorted or somehow unrealistic. Most people with anorexia believe that they are over weight when in reality, they’re not. They tend to think that they have too much fat in their body although there really is none. Because of this mentality, they become obsessed with dieting, losing weight and exercising too much. Anorexia patients main preoccupation would include skipping meals or eating just a very little amount of food.

What usually triggers anorexia is how the media perceives the perfect body. This would include fashion magazines, television shows and websites. Many models or celebrities who appear in these kind of media are so obsessed with looking very skinny because it’s what they’re told that is beautiful. In turn, they give out the wrong message to a lot of people who look up to them. Young girls especially become obsessed in trying to look like the models and celebrities they look up to to the point of starving themselves because they are given the idea that looking thin is the way to look beautiful.

Some of the common symptoms of anorexia would include voluntary starvation, unbalanced diet, over exercising and the use of certain diet pills. This illness differs from bulimia because bulimics actually eat and then force themselves to throw up. Anorexics do not eat at all, and if they do, they limit it to food that they think will not add to their body weight. These patients develop unhealthy eating habits and they don’t really realize that they are doing much harm to their bodies. Damage can be done to their digestive system, cardiovascular system and as well as their immune system. Anorexia generally prevents your body from getting all the vitamins and nutrients it needs to function properly. Other symptoms these patients have would include refusing to maintain a body weight which is proportional to their age and height, developing an emotional fear of becoming fat and gaining more weight, and the denial of the seriousness of their low body weight. They will also most likely develop the habit of starving themselves and convincing themselves that they don’t need to eat because they’re still full.

It is not true that this condition can only happen to women. Men who are also obsessed with their appearance tend to develop anorexia as well. Men and women ages 20-30 are most likely the ones who are prone to developing anorexia. Many may experience at least a mild form of this condition because of their high concern on their looks. Although most men only experience the mild form of anorexia. This is because their emphasis on their looks is not as heavy compared to women.

If you find yourself having intense diet because of your concern on the way you look, you might consider yourself to be developing anorexia. Do not dismiss comments from family members and friends if they tell you that you’ve lost too much weight. If you begin to notice that you are developing unhealthy eating habits, you might consider getting professional help. It’s better to detect the illness at an earlier stage than try working on it if you’ve gone too deep already. Anorexia can be dangerous because in most cases, it can also cause death.

Author Bio: Irsan’s passion is to write on wide varieties of subjects. His latest writing is at http://www.carairfilter.net which contains reviews on car air filter and other information about air filters.

Category: Wellness, Fitness and Diet
Keywords: anorexia