Deadly diets: the warning signs of eating disorders

By Dan Gordon

Millions of people, mostly girls and young women, suffer from compulsive dieting, binge-and-purge behavior, or overeating. The consequences can be fatal. But if caught early, eating disorders can be treated. Here are six tips to help you identify if someone you love is at risk.

It's no secret that many in our society have a complex and often unhealthy relationship with food. But, for an estimated 8 million people who suffer from eating disorders in the United States — most of them adolescent girls and young women — the problem goes well beyond too much fried food or the occasional need to wallow in a bowl of chocolate ice cream.

Little is known about why they occur or how they can be prevented: the compulsive dieting, even in the face of emaciation, associated with anorexia nervosa; the binge-and-purge behaviors characteristic of bulimia nervosa; or the compulsive overeating — minus the self-induced vomiting or other purging behavior — of people with binge-eating disorder. But experts such as Michael Strober Ph.D. '75, director of the Eating Disorders Program at Resnick-UCLA Neuropsychiatric Hospital, point out three simple truths:

• Eating disorders can cause serious health problems and can be fatal.

• They are treatable, but success is far more likely if they are addressed early and by knowledgeable professionals.

• They can be easily missed, particularly given that sufferers are not only unlikely to seek help, but are motivated to keep their behaviors to themselves.

Read the complete story in UCLA Magazine Online.