Feeding ailments are behavioural complications defined by substantial and persistent disruption of eating patterns and painful emotions and thoughts. Eating disorders impact up to five per cent of the population and are most common in early adulthood and adolescence (Spear, p. 541). They can be life-threatening disorders that impair social, physical, and psychological function.

Eating problems are frequently connected with weight, food, shape infatuations, and the worry about eating or the aftermath of certain meals. They are characterized by behaviours such as restrictive dieting or avoiding particular foods, purging through vomiting or laxative abuse, binge eating, and obsessive exercise. These habits can be motivated in ways that resemble addiction. Hence this paper will examine the three classifications of eating syndromes which include bulimia nervosa, anorexia nervosa, and avoidant or restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID).

Eating dysfunctions frequently co-occur with other mental conditions, notably anxiety and mood disorders, obsessive-compulsive dysfunction, and difficulties with drugs and alcohol (Spear, p. 544). Evidence shows that genes and heredity play a role in why certain people are predisposed to a feeding problem. However, these diseases can affect people who have no genetic background of the condition. Hence, behavioural, psychological, dietary, and other medical issues should all be addressed throughout treatment.

Anorexia nervosa

Anorexia nervosa is an eating condition characterized by weight loss due to Self-starvation due to fears of adding weight. (Goldbloom, P. 243). Other than drug use disorder, anorexia has the greatest death rate of any mental condition and can be a fatal illness. In an adult the body mass index (BMI) of an adult suffering from anorexia nervosa often measures below 18.5 for weight to height.

Dieting habit in anorexia is motivated by a strong fear of adding weight or becoming overweight. Although some anorexics claim they are attempting to add weight, their actions are inconsistent with this assertion. For instance, they may consume small quantities of low-calorie foods and exercise extensively. People who suffer from anorexia often binge feed and purge by puking or using laxatives (Goldbloom, P. 245). Anorexia nervosa is further subdivided into two subtypes: purging/ binge eating type and restricting type. The purging/ binge eating type is when a person primarily loses weight by fasting, dieting, or extreme exercise. On the other hand, purging or binge eating is a type of anorexia where individuals also engage in purging or binge eating habits on an intermittent basis.

Symptoms of anorexia

Some of the symptoms that may arise as a result of purging or hunger habits over time include Menstruation stopping, fainting and dizziness due to dehydration, brittle nails or hair, cold intolerance, muscle withering and weakness, people that vomit experience heartburn and reflux, severe constipation characterized by bloating and feeling full after eating, depression, anxiety, irritation, concentration challenges, and exhaustion.

Remedy for Anorexia

Serious medical issues can be fatal and include cardiac rhythm irregularities, especially in individuals with renal difficulties or seizures and those who use laxatives or vomit (Goldbloom, P. 245). Hence, an intervention is required to treat this eating disorder. Anorexia nervosa therapy entails assisting affected people in normalizing their feeding and weight management practices and regaining their weight. A critical element of the treatment strategy is the medical examination and management of co-occurring medical or psychiatric problems. The dietary plan should emphasize assisting clients in overcoming anxiety and practising ingesting a diverse and balanced variety of foods with varying calorie contents at uniformly spaced meals. The most effective treatments for young adults involve aiding parents in enhancing and observing their child’s diet. Body dissatisfaction should be addressed, although it generally requires longer fixing than body mass and dietary habits.

Bulimia nervosa

Bulimia nervosa patients often alternate eating low-calorie “safe meals” or dieting with bingeing on “forbidden” calorie-dense meals (Bulik, p. 453). Binge eating can be defined as eating a substantial quantity of foodstuff briefly while feeling out of the influence of what or the quantity one is eating. Binge feeding is frequently concealed and convoyed by sentiments of humiliation or guilt. Binges can be quite substantial, and meals are frequently devoured fast, to the extent of pain and nausea.

Binges occur once a week and are normally trailed by “compensatory activities” to avert weight gain. Vomiting, fasting, and laxative misuse, and compulsive exercise are instances of such behaviors. Persons with bulimia nervosa, like those with anorexia nervosa, are exceedingly obsessed with notions of body shape, food, or body mass, which have a harmful and disproportionate influence on their lives.

Signs and symptoms of bulimia nervosa

Possible signs and symptoms that a person is suffering from bulimia nervosa are frequent visits to the restroom shortly after meals, excessive food disappearances or mysterious empty food wrappers and containers, persistent sore throat, swollen salivary ducts in the mouth, dental decay caused by gastric acid eroding of the tooth enamel, GERD (gastroesophageal reflux disease) with heartburn, misuse of laxatives or diet pills, repeated bouts of inexplicable diarrhea, misuse of water pills, and fainting or feeling dizzy due to dehydration caused by excessive purging habits.

Remedy for Bulimia nervosa

Bulimia can result in uncommon but possibly deadly consequences such as esophageal rips, stomach rupture, and severe heart arrhythmias. Medical supervision is essential in situations of chronic bulimia nervosa to diagnose and manage any potential issues. The most evidence-based remedy for bulimia nervosa is outpatient cognitive-behavioural therapy (Bulik, p. 457). It assists victims in controlling their feeding routines and managing views and emotions that enhance the illness’s persistence. Also, Antidepressants can help reduce the desire to overeat and vomit.

Avoidant or restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID)

It is a feeding problem described recently and is characterized by an interruption in feeding that results in constant incapability to achieve dietary demands and excessive selective eating (Zimmerman, p.95). A minimal dietary repertoire of food avoidance in ARFID can be caused by the following: Little appetite and disinterest in food and eating, food avoidance to extremes depending on sensory aspects of foods, such as texture, look, colour, and aroma, and anxiety or worry about the repercussions of eating, such as vomiting, choking, constipation, nausea, an allergic response, and so on. The condition may emerge from a big unpleasant incident, such as food poisoning or choking, which is preceded by an individual avoiding a lot of food varieties.

ARFID is diagnosed when eating issues are accompanied by the following: In children, dramatic weight reduction or inability to attain predicted weight gain, a high nutritional insufficiency, the requirement to rely on oral dietary supplements or a feeder tube to ensure adequate nutrient intake, inhibition of social functioning, for example, unwillingness to eat with other people.

The effects on psychological and physical well-being and the degree of starvation can be compared to those found in persons suffering from anorexia nervosa. On the other hand, persons suffering from ARFID lack extreme worries regarding their shape or weight, and the illness differs from bulimia nervosa or anorexia nervosa. Furthermore, while people with autism spectrum disorder exhibit rigid eating habits and sensory sensitivity, they may not always result in the impairment necessary to classify avoidant or restrictive food intake syndrome. ARFID does not involve dietary restrictions due to a shortage of food, normal eating, and developmentally typical habits such as fussy eaters in toddlers or cultural customs like religious fasting (Zimmerman, p.97).

Food restriction or avoidance is typical in early childhood or infancy and can last into adulthood.  However, it can begin at any given age. ARFID can affect households irrespective of age, creating higher stress during mealtimes and other interpersonal eating settings. ARFID treatment entails a tailored approach that may include the services of various professionals, such as a registered dietitian, a therapist, and other clinical officers. 

In conclusion, the major classifications of eating disorders are anorexia nervosa, a feeding disorder characterized by weight loss due to Self-starvation, which results in a lower mass for age and height, and bulimia nervosa, a feeding disorder characterized by alternating eating low-calorie meals with bingeing on calorie-dense meals. An avoidant or restrictive diet intake condition is a newly pronounced eating problem characterized by a disturbance in feeding. All of these feeding disorders can be fatal conditions that hinder social, physical, and psychological function. 

Works Cited

Bulik, C.M., and J.H. Baker. “Genetics And Human Appearance.” Encyclopedia Of Body Image And Human Appearance, 2012, pp. 453-459. Elsevier, https://doi.org/10.1016/b978-0-12-384925-0.00072-9. Accessed 26 Nov 2021.

Goldbloom, D.S., and P.E. Garfinkel. “ANOREXIA NERVOSA. ” Encyclopedia Of Food Sciences And Nutrition, 2003, pp. 243-247. Elsevier, https://doi.org/10.1016/b0-12-227055-x/00049-3. Accessed 26 Nov 2021.

SPEAR, BONNIE A. “Eating Disorders.” Handbook Of Clinical Nutrition, 2006, pp. 541-553. Elsevier, https://doi.org/10.1016/b978-0-323-03952-9.50033-7. Accessed 26 Nov 2021.

Zimmerman, Jacqueline, and Martin Fisher. “Avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID).” Current problems in pediatric and adolescent health care 47.4 (2017): 95-103.