Eating disorders are usually considered as lifestyle choices, fads, or phases. They are not considered as serious disorders. People are commonly affected socially and psychologically if they have an eating abnormality. It can lead to life-threatening consequences.

Eating abnormality includes those problems that cause abnormal eating. This generally starts from a severe obsession with food. Sometimes, extra concern for body shape or weight can lead to such severe consequences. In this article, some types of eating disorders will be mentioned.

Anorexia nervosa
This is a popular disorder that develops in adolescence affecting both genders in a population. In this particular condition, the patient regards themselves as overweight. They develop a habit of monitoring their weight and stop consuming calories even though they are underweight.

This obsessiveness may turn into a relentless pursuit to reduce weight and unwillingness to believe that their weight is healthy. Such people face difficulties in consuming food in public, and they feel a strong urge to manage their food intake.

People suffering from anorexia nervosa are classified into subtypes. The purging and binge eating type, and the restricting type. In the binge eating type, the person may develop a habit to eat little.

Bulima nervosa
This is an eating disorder that develops in an adolescent. In this abnormality, the person is accustomed to consuming food in a larger amount in a short span. This process of eating is continued even if the person is absolutely full.

The person finds that they cannot control their eating habits. They feel an urge to compensate for all the calories they have consumed and seek relief from discomfort in the gut. They try laxatives, enemas, excessive exercising, fasting, and to forcefully vomit out food.

In a severe case, this can lead to an imbalance of vital electrolytes like calcium, potassium, and sodium.

Binge disorder
Binge eating is a disorder that can start at any age. There is a lack of control over the intake of food. Instances of eating until the stomach is absolutely full are generally seen in such cases. In this eating disorder, the patient is generally obese. This may further develop complications like Type 2 diabetes, stroke, or heart disease.

Pica
This is a medical condition where the individual craves for non-ingestible substances like paper, hair, soap, sand, detergent, pebbles, cloth, and so on. This can develop in any age group but is more observed in children.

This condition can lead to infection, poisoning, or gut injuries. The substances consumed can even be life-threatening for some individuals.

Rumination eating disorder
In this eating disorder, the person regurgitates the ingested food and re-chews the food to either spit it or re-swallow it. This generally occurs in an individual after 30 minutes of eating food. The reflux medical condition is voluntary.

This may develop during infancy and may disappear by itself. It generally leads to loss of weight and malnutrition. The adults facing this abnormality generally restrict the amount of food they intake.

Restrictive intake disorder
As the name suggest this disorder occurs if the person has no interest in eating food. They may avoid certain taste, smell, texture, colors, or even temperature of food.

These are some of the eating disorders an individual may suffer from. It is important to note that all of these disorders are completely curable.