This entry was posted on Saturday, January 19th, 2008 at 8:07 pm and is filed under Food nutrition. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
No one wants to be overweight, but your body needs some fat to work properly. If a person’s weight gets too low, he or she will start having health problems. If this goes on too long, those problems may be severe and can cause death.
Someone who has anorexia may do damage to the heart, liver, and kidneys. A girl with anorexia may be delayed in getting her period or stop getting her period. Breathing, blood pressure, and pulse also may drop - this is the body’s way of shifting into low gear to protect itself. Fingernails may break and hair may fall out, too.
Kids with anorexia often do not feel well - they suffer from headaches, dizziness, and concentration difficulties. They also may become withdrawn and moody. And people with anorexia will feel chilly even in warm weather because they don’t have enough body fat to keep them warm.
For kids with bulimia, the most serious problem is that their purging means a loss of potassium, an important nutrient. Potassium is found in foods such as bananas, tomatoes, beans, and melons. Too little potassium can lead to dangerous heart problems.
Someone who has bulimia might have problems with tooth decay because puke is acidic. Too much throwing up also can cause “chipmunk cheeks,” when glands in the cheeks actually expand. People with bulimia also may damage their stomachs and kidneys and have constant stomach pain. Like girls with anorexia, girls with bulimia may also stop menstruating.
In addition to the health problems, a person who has an eating disorder is probably not having much fun. Typically, these kids miss out on good times because they pull away from friends and keep to themselves. They don’t want to have pizza with their friends or enjoy a birthday party.
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