Chapter 9: Eating Disorders and Obesity

eating disorders

persistent disturbance in eating behavior

anorexia nervosa

relentless pursuit of thinness that involves behaviors that result in significantly low body weight

restricting

a type of anorexia nervosa that involves every effort is made to limit the quantity of food consumed

bing-eating/purging

a type of anorexia nervosa that involves binge eating—an out of control consumption of an amount of food that’s far greater than what most people would eat in the same amount of time and under the same circumstances— and purge—removing the food from the body by self-induced vomiting, misuse of laxatives, diuretics, enemas; excessive exercising, or fasting

bulimia nervosa

uncontrollable bing eating and efforts to prevent weight gain by using inappropriate behaviors such as self-induced vomiting and excessive exercise

binge-eating disorder (BED)

a clinically significant disorder in which after a binge, the person doesn’t engage in any form of inappropriate “compensatory” behavior such as purging, using laxatives, or even exercising to limit weight gain

set point

a biologically determined weight that our bodies try to defend

perfectionism

the pursuit of unattainably high standards combined with an intolerance of mistakes

negative effect

feeling bad

obesity

a state of excessive, chronic fat storage

body mass index (BMI)

a statistical measure of a person’s weight relative to height

leptin

a hormone produced by fat cells; provides a key metabolic signal that informs the CNS about the state of the body’s fat reserves

ghrelim

a hormone produced by the stomach; a powerful appetite stimulator

adipose

fat cells