- Drastic weight loss.
- Preoccupation with counting calories.
- The need to weigh yourself several times a day.
- Excessive exercise.
- Binge eating or purging.
- Food rituals, like taking tiny bites, skipping food groups or re-arranging food on the plate.
- Avoiding meals or only wanting to eat alone.
- Taking laxatives or diuretics.
- Smoking to curb appetite.
- Persistent view of yourself as fat that worsens despite weight loss.
A casual review of the preceding ten statements immediately clues in the reader that these are symptoms of an all too familiar illness — eating disorders.
February 23 to March 1 is National Eating Disorders Awareness Week. This year’s theme is “I Had No Idea.”
It’s a common exclamation of surprise usually voiced after a young woman reaches a dangerous stage in her eating disorder. Experts say that the symptoms seen individually don’t immediately raise red flags and so many young girls and women fly under the radar of their families, friends and even doctors when engaging in these practices to achieve the perfect body — in their minds.
According to the National Eating Disorders Association, the number of eating disorder cases has steadily increased since 1950. Forty percent of new cases of anorexia are in girls ages 15-19. Latinas are not immune from eating disorders though anorexia is more commonly found among white girls — and that find highlights what is (not) known about Latinas who suffer from the disorder.
Of all Latinas, researchers found that second-generation Mexican-American women — those born in the US to foreign born parents — were the most acculturated and had the highest disordered eating patterns.
Read full story: http://latinalista.com/2014/02/young-latinas-eating-disorders-keeping-pace-peers