November 2002
School, In the last issue, unnatural thinness and avoidance of eating were identified as classic symptoms of the eating disorder anorexia nervosa. As with all major classifications of eating disorders, anorexia can have many variations, and some symptoms are shared with other disorders.
For instance, many people with anorexia compulsively exercise. That is, they exercise for excessive periods of time, usually every day, or more than once a day, and in general exercise more than is beneficial for their health. In many cases, the frequency and duration of exercise is actually just another weight-loss strategy (but the body is already too thin) and has nothing to do with health-improvement, and it is destructive.
Another shared symptom is purging. People struggling with bulimia "purge" (induce vomiting) after eating, and so do many with anorexia. The difference between the two is that the those with bulimia purge after consuming large quantities of food (a binge), but one with purging anorexia will throw up after eating something as small as a cookie or a bowl of cereal. Some practice purging after every instance of eating, no matter how little was eaten.