Teens and Eating Disorders

Among teens eating disorders are very common.
In the United States close to there of teen and young adult females have an eating disorder.
Eating disorders have been on the rise among teens with incidents doubling in occurrence over the past 20 years.
Although it is largely teen females who have such disorders caused because of insufficient diet, up to 15 percent of people with eating disorders are male. When discussing this, it is important to keep in mind their consequences.

The sooner one recognizes and admits to an eating disorder the easier it can be to treat or reverse it. Nevertheless, many teen victims of not such disorder struggle with it their entire lives. Eating disorders are very serious and can cause death among teens.

Because of the severity of an eating disorder, it needs to be treated in a hospital where there are trained professionals whose job it is to help teens with eating disorders.

A consequence of not eating or having disorder on this is: they can lead to severe electrolyte imbalances that can cause heart arrhythmias that can cause death.

Another side effect is that most women and teens that are anorexic cease to have their periods.
This leads to a decrease of calcium in the bones, an effect which may be irreversible.

This often leads to bad osteoporosis later in life, a very painful condition.
These women are also more prone to fracturing and breaking bones.
Another major consequence may be the inability to have children due to irregular or non-existent menstrual cycles.

We don't know the exact causes of eating disorders, but they likely involve many a complex web of contributing factors.
Science, in the form of genetics, plays a role.

This is due to the fact that there are neuro-chemical aspects of eating disorders and psychological risk factors. Many teens and women who are have such disorders are perfectionists, have low levels of self-esteem, and may be experiencing difficult to deal with conflicts.

Anorexia is a very dangerous disease that many female teens have to deal with.
If you know anyone who has such disorder, it is really important that they get the help they need and deserve.