Eating disorders are common in the athletic and fitness community, take many forms, and can
affect any age, gender, and body size. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Health
Disorders include a few clinical eating disorders such as:
- Anorexia Nervosa – a life-threatening mental illness characterized by difficulty
maintaining weight, calorie restriction, body dysmorphia, and intense fear of gaining
weight. - Bulimia Nervosa – a life-threatening mental illness that involves binging on large portions
of food in a short amount of time while experiencing a sense of loss of control. Purging
through over-exercise, severe calorie restriction, vomiting or laxatives occur after the
binge. - Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder – usually developed in childhood, this
condition involves avoidance of specific foods due to either texture/colour that may be
linked to a traumatic experience, such as illness, vomiting, etc. This can result in weight
loss, malnutrition, and develop into anorexia or bulimia in adulthood. - Binge Eating Disorder – similar to bulimia in that there is a binge, but purging may not
occur afterwards.
Most people do not instantaneously develop an eating disorder, but may demonstrate
characteristics of disordered eating first. While the two categories intersect, key differences
between an eating disorder and disordered eating are severity and frequency. Some signs of
disordered eating include:
- Obsession with weight and the fear of gaining weight
- Rigid routines, food rules, and fixation on tracking calories/macros/measurements/weight
- Chronic dieting, long periods of fasting, skipping meals, etc
- Anxiety around eating different foods/social eating/new dining environments
- Eating in secret
- Preoccupied with thoughts of food throughout the day
- Exercising to compensate for food
- Moralizing of food (good vs bad, clean vs junk)
Unfortunately, a lot of these behaviours are normalized in health and fitness for the pursuit of
thinness, and while some people may demonstrate these characteristics short-term and move
on, others may be silently trapped for years by their obsession with food, dieting, and over-
exercising without anyone even being aware.
While a nutrition coach cannot diagnose or treat an eating disorder, they can certainly assist
with connecting you to the correct practitioner and work alongside them in your recovery. If you
believe you or a loved one may be struggling with an eating disorder, visit nedic.ca to access
their online helpline, or call 1-866-NEDIC-20.