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Anorexia Nervosa

  • Living reference work entry
  • First Online:
Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science

  • 53 Accesses

Synonyms

AN; Anorectic; Anorexia; Anorexia; Eating disorders (EDs); Fear of weight gain; Food restriction; Low weight

Definition

According to APA.org (“Eating Disorders”, 2018), anorexia nervosa is defined as an eating disorder characterized by individuals (most commonly adolescent girls) who restrict their eating to the point of starvation due to the false belief that they are overweight or carrying too much weight (i.e., an obsessive drive for thinness).

Introduction

Eating disorders (EDs) are abnormal eating patterns and behaviors that can be detrimental to one’s overall health (i.e., physical and psychological) and, in extreme cases, can result in death. EDs are most frequent in industrialized societies, and 95% affected are women. Symptoms of eating disorders are present in at least 10% of school-aged girls co-occurring with medical, dietary, and psychological issues. Anorexia nervosa is defined as an eating disorder characterized by individuals (most commonly adolescent girls)...

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References

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. State University of New York at New Paltz, New Paltz, NY, USA

    Stephanie Padich

Authors
  1. Stephanie Padich
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Stephanie Padich .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Oakland University, Rochester, Michigan, USA

    Todd K. Shackelford

  2. Rochester, Michigan, USA

    Viviana A. Weekes-Shackelford

Section Editor information

  1. Dominican College, Orangeburg, NY, USA

    Haley Dillon

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© 2018 Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature

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Padich, S. (2018). Anorexia Nervosa. In: Shackelford, T., Weekes-Shackelford, V. (eds) Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_424-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_424-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-16999-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-16999-6

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