The American Anorexia Nervosa Association defines anorexia as a 'serious illness of deliberate self-starvation with profound psychiatric and physical components.' It is a complex emotional disorder that initiates its victims on a course of unsettled dieting in pursuit of excessive thinness (Neuman and Halvorson, 1983).

The intense fear of obesity that anorexics experience takes on the qualities of an obsession. Anorexics seem to have a greater fear of getting fat than of dying from the effects of their self-imposed starvation (Neuman and Halvorson, 1983). Another unusual twist occurs in relation to this fear of growing fat. The average person concerned about weight gain will feel a sense of relief as he/she loses weight. However, the anorexic is unlike other people in this respect: for them, the fear does not diminish (Neuman and Halvorson, 19

A Handbook for Counselors and Therapists. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold.

The disturbance of body image in anorexia is an unclear circumstance. Most anorexics have distorted perceptions of themselves. Some insist that their wasted bodies are repulsively over-fleshed. According to some researchers, however, the more distortion present, the worse the prognosis (Neuman and Halvorson, 1983).

Bulimia, also known in the media as 'bulimarexia,' 'binge-vomiting' and gorge-purging,' is an eating disorder similar to chemical dependency (Cauwels, 1983). Bulimia victims regularly fill themselves with food, especially high-calorie food, for periods lasting up to several hours. To avoid gaining weight, they purge themselves after each binge through self-induced vomiting and/or laxative and diuretic abuse (Cauwels, 1983). Some bulimics alternate their gorging with amphetamine-boosted fats or excessive exercise. At some point their concern with weight becomes irrelevant, for they are hooked on the hypnotic effects of gorge-purging. Most of them eventually learn to vomit by simple reflex action, as though it were normal. They have condemned themselves to a routine cycle of guilt, self-loathing and devastating isolation (Cauwels, 1983).

Further findings also indicate that neither body mass index nor pubertal development is significantly associated with girls' body image or self-esteem in early adolescence. However, body image and self-esteem may gain importance in older girls (Keel, 1997). This study indicates that low self-esteem and depression did not contribute directly to disturbed eating patterns for girls or boys. Results also revealed that how boys feel about their bodies influences their support of attitudes and behaviors consistent with disordered eating (Keel, 1997).

'Weight loss of at least 25 percent of original body weight or, if under 18 years of age, weight loss from original body weight plus projected weight gain expected from growth charts may be combined to make 25 percent' (Neuman and Halvorson, 1983). The primary symptom of anorexia nervosa is severe weight loss. While this is one of the major criteria for making the d

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