When Michael Whitehead started losing weight almost three years ago, it seemed like a good thing. “I was overweight and made fun of for most of my life. Relentlessly,” said the Fairfield County teen. “But then I became extremely obsessive.”

“I should have died,” said Vic Avon. “I reached a very dangerously low weight.” Vic had a deadly disease. And he says the world was a scary place when he was diagnosed with anorexia five years ago.

Like other overweight teens, Erin M. Akers longed to be slender. Unlike other girls, she discovered that she possessed a powerful weight-loss gimmick, a secret reward for being diagnosed at age 10 with her detested disease, type 1 diabetes.

At the peak of her eating disorder, Stephanie Covington Armstrong threw up 15 times a day. Any food in her stomach made her uncomfortable, and it was only when she vomited that “everything was right with the world,” even if only five minutes until she would do it again. It was like crack, she said. Drugs [...]

Nearly 2 percent of female middle school students in Japan were found having eating disorders that require professional help in a survey in 2009 and 2010, according to health ministry data made available to Kyodo News on Tuesday.

Most often eating disorders are associated with women. But men struggle with the same body issues. Research shows that between 5 and 12 percent of the male population has bulimia nervosa, an eating disorder characterized by binge eating followed by vomiting, abusing laxatives, enemas, starving, over-exercising or diuretics.

She could be your neighbor, your sister or your best friend. On the surface, it seems that she has it all — academically gifted, loved by her family and friends, and driven. But behind the scenes, she has been hiding a dark secret. She’s slowly beginning to waste away and literally putting her life on [...]

In America, 42 percent of first, second and third grade girls want to lost weight and 45 percent of boys and girls in grades three through six want to be thinner.

Researchers say the psychological effects of exercise could help prevent and treat eating disorders. Although it may seem counterintuitive, exercise could be used as an intervention for — or even a way to prevent — eating disorders. “When it comes to eating disorders, exercise has always been seen as a negative because people use it [...]

Watching popular television shows full of skinny actresses can contribute to the development of eating disorders in girls. But turning off the TV isn’t enough to protect them.