Eating Disorders - Signs and Symptoms

Q. Are there signs/symptoms I would notice if my teenager or someone else I know is struggling with an eating disorder?
A. Early detection of an eating disorder may prevent a teenager from years of significant misery and disruption in his or her life. Take a moment and think about your teenager's behavior and the following signs of a possible eating disorder:
- Preoccupation with weight, food, calories and dieting
- Exercise is an excessive, rigid activity despite fatigue, illness, injury or weather
- Constant complaints about being fat in spite of normal or thin appearance
- Frequent comparison of body image/diet with others
- Unnatural facial hair growth in girls due to malnutrition
- Withdrawal from activities because of weight and shape concerns
- Anxiety about being fat which does not diminish with weight loss
- Evidence of self-induced vomiting
- Messes and smells in the bathroom
- Disappearing to the bathroom after meals
- Swelling of the glands near the ear which creates a "chipmunk" appearance (caused by inflammation of the saliva glands)
- Evidence (wrappers, coupons, advertisements, etc.) of the use of laxatives, diuretics, diet pills, enemas
- Consumption of large amounts of food inconsistent with the person's weight, or hoarding/stealing food
- Alternating periods of restrictive dieting and overeating sometimes accompanied by dramatic weight gain or loss
- Cessation or erratic menstrual cycles
- Obsession with appearance as a definition of self which is often accompanied by perfectionist thinking
- Fainting, lightheadedness or dizziness not explained by any other medical problem
- Unusual redness and puffiness around the eyes caused by purging, binge eating and overeating
- Poor dental hygiene, bad breath, dryness of the mouth area and cracked lips, caused by purging and dehydration
- Abnormal sleeping patterns
- Hyperactivity
- Refusal to eat meals with family
- Food rituals (such as eating food in rigid sequence, foods cannot touch each other, eating a very limited variety of foods, cutting food into small pieces, blotting foods with napkins to remove fat)