LEARN THE LANGUAGE

Let’s define
these words:

BODY IMAGE
DISORDERED EATING
EATING DISORDER

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BODY IMAGE

Body image is the mental picture we hold of how our body looks, regardless of what it actually looks like. It includes our thoughts, feelings, and behaviors toward our body.

Body image can be positive, negative, or neutral. It can change over time, and even throughout the day.

Positive body image means:
Having an accurate sense of your appearance.
Differentiating between how you look and who you are.
Recognizing what your body can do.
Minimizing worry about how you look, and even appreciating it instead.
Neutral body image means:
You don’t feel intense emotions about your body, either positive or negative.
It encompasses the characteristics of positive body image.
Negative body image can involve:
Distortion: what you see isn’t what others see, or just plain isn’t accurate.
Dissatisfaction: The feeling that your body isn’t shaped in an “ideal” way.
It can cause feelings of shame, anxiety, and self-consciousness.
It is a constant state of mind that can impact how you interact with the world.
Body dysmorphia refers to hyper focus on perceived flaws in physical appearance.
It can lead to shame or anxiety.
It can have a negative impact on self-esteem, mood, and social functioning.

It’s normal for feelings about the body to change, as long as these feelings don’t ruin your day.

SOCIAL INFLUENCES

There are lots of reasons why people feel pressure for their bodies to look a certain way.

Eating disorders and disordered eating don’t discriminate. These influences can be challenging for people of all backgrounds:

Friends
Family
Society
Social Media
Comparison with others

DISORDERED EATING

Disordered eating refers to a range of behaviors or attitudes toward food, weight, shape, and appearance.

Having disordered eating increases the risk of developing an eating disorder.

The reasons why a person might develop disordered eating include:

Low self-esteem
Desire to meet athletic expectations
Traumatic events
Comparison to others
Messaging from media
Illness

EATING DISORDERS

Eating disorders are serious, life-altering illnesses characterized by a range of harmful eating and/or weight management behaviors, thoughts, and feelings.

They happen to people of all ages, races, ethnicities, gender identities, socioeconomic statuses, shapes, and sizes. They affect both physical and mental health. The four eating disorders you might hear about most often are:

Anorexia Nervosa involves restricting the intake of calories, leading to a dangerously low personal body weight.
Often times, it is caused by a fear of gaining weight or a desire to lose weight or become more lean.
Some people lose weight.
Some growing kids just don’t gain weight.
ARFID (Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder) involves restricting the intake of calories due to a disinterest in eating
This disinterest is often caused by sensory issues or a fear of something bad happening while eating, like choking or throwing up.
It can look like anorexia nervosa.
It has the same consequences as anorexia nervosa, but is not caused by negative body image or a desire to change body weight.
Bulimia Nervosa is characterized by a cycle of binging and purging.
Binging means eating an objectively large amount of food in a short period of time.
Purging means getting rid of that food by exercising, using laxatives, or throwing up.
Involves a loss of control while eating.
Often, it is caused by a desire to manage appearance or weight.
Binge eating disorder involves eating food rapidly and mechanically.
Sometimes it involves purging, but not as frequently as with bulimia nervosa
The eating can happen even when someone isn’t hungry.