Eventually they will begin to make excuses to avoid mealtime all together. They will say they have already eaten, or they are in a hurry to be somewhere, or they aren't feeling well. Since they are so determined to avoid meals they are forced to become very withdrawn from friends and family. They avoid social situations as much as possible.
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Anorexics are very good at disguising their disease, one way that they will do this is by wearing very baggy clothes. However, there are many warning signs to look for. These signs include; a skeletal look with sunken eyes, yellow or grey, pale dry skin, thinning hair on their head but fuzzy hair growth on the rest of the body, inability to sleep yet they appear to be exhausted, menstruation stops, frequent urge to urinate, and depression. .
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Anorexia is extremely harmful both a person's mental and physical health. As people with anorexia decrease the amount of food they eat, the body begins to burn up fatty tissue. As the condition worsens the body burns up nearly all of this tissue. The body also burns up muscle tissue in order to receive the nutrients which it lacks. Malnutrition is an obvious danger of anorexia that can be seen just by looking at the anorexic person. Yet there are many more unseen dangers. Anorexics often suffer from a shrunken heart with an irregular beat, a loss of bone marrow, brittle bones, and a low pulse and blood pressure. Experts estimate that between 10-20% of those with anorexia die from it.(Bode, 12) Aside from the physical harms people with anorexia become extremely nervous, depressed, and often suicidal.
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The second type of major eating disorder is Bulimia nervosa. Bulimia is an eating disorder in which persistent over concern for body weight and shape leads to repeated episodes of binging, associated with induced vomiting, use of laxatives, fasting and or excessive exercise to control weight.