For a young adolescent girl in the throes of numerous developmental changes and already sensitive about her body image , this message can be devastating. The two major types of eating disorders are anorexia nervosa and bulimia. In both, food takes on meanings that have nothing to do with nutrition. Girls may use food to take control of themselves or others in their lives, to comfort themselves when they're feeling sad or anxious, or to try to meet some unrealistic physical standard so they will feel more accepted. This condition, found in one percent of 16 to 18 year old girls, often begins with an attempt to lose weight even if there is no real problem with excessive weight.
Anorexic teens continue to diet and lose pounds even after they look painfully thin to others.
Teens with this disorder become almost obsessed with food and its fat or caloric content and spend many hours of each day planning what they will or will not eat. If they do eat, they feel guilty. It is also common for teens with anorexia to take part in an excessive exercise routine or use laxatives in an attempt to lose even more weight. One of the hallmarks of this disorder is that these young women have a very distorted image of their bodies. While friends and family worry that they look terribly thin, these adolescents still see themselves as fat.