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Risk Factors for Eating Disorders

It is not possible to predict the onset of an eating disorder based on a person's life circumstances. However, there are several factors that are often present. Some are more traumatic than others, but each has a unique way of contributing to the likelihood of an eating disorder.
Is the Hoodia Diet Patch a Legitimate Product?
Those who market the hoodia diet patch are bold folks. You've heard making lemonade out of lemons? The hoodia diet patch apparently piles scam on top of scam. Now that's aggressive marketing!
Wii Fit's BMI Info Can Trigger Eating Disorders
The Wii Fit is designed to help kids be more active, and it encourages them through giving them BMI (Body Mass Index) ratings. But the Wii Fit BMI Index may trigger eating disorder behaviors.
The Pink Patch: Disturbing Marketing to Young Women
The Pink Patch is shamelessly marketed to young women and girls, despite the powerful eating disorder-triggering messages this creates. The Pink Patch is a sad example of how money wins out over safety (and sanity).
Hey, Special K: Challenge Me in Some Other Way
In the never-ending push of weight-loss marketing, Kellogg's Special K proposes a new answer. The problem is that it seems as likely to help develop an eating disorder as it is to encourage healthy weight loss.
The 5-Question SCOFF Eating Disorder Quiz
The SCOFF ED quiz is brief and helpful for identifying those who may struggle with anorexia or bulimia.
Potential Legal Problems With Pro-Ana Websites
It may not be there yet, but it soon will be -- a legal challenge to pro-ana websites. Does their content violate liability laws? Is seeking to shut them down a violation of free speech?
Barbie, Body Image and Eating Disorders
What effect does Barbie have on body image? And if there's an effect on body image, won't there be an increase in eating disorders? Body image can be fragile for young girls, and Barbie remains extremely popular over fifty years after she was introduced.
Skip the Bridesmaid Contract, Keep Your Friends...
As if there wasn't enough pressure around planning a wedding, some brides seem to be willing to consider offering a bridesmaid contract to ensure that their bridesmaids look just right.
Becoming a Vegetarian? Links With Eating Disorders
A switch to vegetarianism is an attractive choice for many people who have ethical concerns and desires to be more healthy. The question is whether becoming a vegetarian opens the door to developing an eating disorder.
Is Pro-Ana Nation a Cult?
Pro-ana web sites are powerful. But in what way? Those who describe their benefits cite mutual support, encouragement and accountability. But members of pro-ana nation develop ties to their web sites that suggest problems.
Horse Jockey Weight Limits Demand Disordered Eating
Who pays attention to the health of horse racing's jockeys? Jockey weights remain painfully low; the requirements have essentially been frozen for decades.
Connecting Horse Riding Competitions and Eating Disorders
The beauty of horse riding competitions is undeniable. But in some corners of equestrian sports, pressure for riders to be thin encourages eating disorders. The emphasis on appearance in some horse riding competitions can encourage getting thinner in unhealthy ways.
The Media's Influence on Eating Disorders
The media influence the development of eating disorders through advertising and news reporting. But we can develop greater awareness and take action to promote positive body image rather than unrealistic goals that require disordered eating.
Do We Know What Causes Eating Disorders?
The actual causes of eating disorders are elusive, but we do know many factors that contribute to eating disorder development.
Do I Have An Eating Disorder?
Take an eating disorder test to evaluate whether you are at risk for an diagnosis of anorexia, bulimia, or another eating disorder. This screening is one of the most widely used tools for evaluation of eating disorder symptoms.
Dieting and its Contribution to Eating Disorders
Dieting and its promises of weight loss are very compelling, but dieting has strong ties to the development of eating disorders. Eating disorders of all kinds are logical outcomes of the mental and physical consequences of dieting.
Intimacy That Isn’t Satisfying: Negative Web Sites
With so much information available on eating disorders, sites that actually promote unhealthy eating behaviors create much confusion. See how these sites fail to deliver what they promise.
Do Genetics Influence Development of Eating Disorders?
Evidence mounts for a genetic component to eating disorder development.
The Effects of Abuse and Trauma on Eating Disorder Development
Explore the powerful contribution a traumatic past can make to the formation of an eating disorder. A glimpse at how experiencing the loss of control and the confusion of abuse make eating disorders logical outcomes.
Eating Disorder Triggers
A look at specific verbal and emotional events that trigger eating disorders. Provides information on sexual abuse and other traumatic triggers for anorexia, bulimia, and other eating disorders.
Risky Behaviors That Can Lead to Eating Disorders
What behaviors increase the risk for development of an eating disorder? Unfortunately, the biggest is dieting.
Family Dynamics of Those With Eating Disorders
Family dynamics in the family of someone with an eating disorder can be quite varied. Many family types create dynamics that can pave the way for an eating disorder to form. Parents can have a profound impact on their children, pushing them toward or away from eating disorders.
Age of Risk for Onset of Eating Disorders
Discusses the prime ages at which eating disorders develop, and how those ages are changing. Also presents several reasons why eating disorders develop at these ages.
Eating Disorders and Gender
What causes women to be at higher risk for eating disorders? Women with anorexia outnumber men at least ten to one, and bulimia is four times more common in females than males.
The Social Isolation of Disordered Eating
Social isolation is a frequent problem for those with eating disorders. Learn how isolation and disordered eating patterns can strengthen each other in a dangerous spiral.
Personality Disorders and More
A comprehensive overview of risk factors, with a special emphasis on the roles personality disorders play in the lives of many people who have eating disorders.
Anorexia in an Eight-Year-Old Sexual Abuse Survivor
Tragedy for this eight-year-old girl has led to more tragedies--in the forms of anorexia and deep depression.
Fifteen Factors Linked to Compulsive Eating
Profiles common life circumstances of those who are susceptible to binge eating.

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