Disordered Eating vs. Eating Disorders
How Are They Different?

Disordered eating is a classification within the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV-TR) that is not as clearly defined as anorexia nervosa or bulimia nervosa. The term refers to many disturbed eating patterns, or atypical eating disorders, such as EDNOS (Eating Disorder Not Otherwise Specified).

Disordered eating is a widespread, broader issue that exists on a spectrum with varying levels of severity. At one end of the spectrum are behaviors such as counting calories and exercising in order to be thin at all costs, regardless of health.

Also existing in this phase are yo-yo dieting, binge eating and diabulimia.

As the severity of the irregular eating patterns escalate, you may observe more signs of an eating disorder, or perhaps even some emotional or physical effects of eating disorders.

At the opposite end of the spectrum are the more serious and debilitating types of eating disorders that rob the sufferer of his or her health, emotional well being, and ability to experience happiness in relationships.

• What Is Anorexia?
• What Is Bulimia?

While there can be many different causes of eating disorders, some common characteristics are fear of weight gain, feelings of ineffectiveness, poor body image, and low self-esteem.

Can Disordered Eating Be Misdiagnosed?

Disordered eating can fairly easily be misdiagnosed, given the complexity of any eating disorder. I know of cases where family physicians have underestimated the seriousness of their patients' eating habits and emotional states. The result is that rather than a bulimia or anorexia diagnosis, they were simply sent to a nutritionist to learn healthy eating awareness.

Prader-Willi Syndrome, which is a chromosome disorder with a disordered eating component, could easily masquerade as binge eating disorder or compulsive overeating.

Most people that I know who have eating disorders are more than well aware of what's healthy and what isn't. They are knowledgeable about food groups and dietary requirements. However, it's the illness that prevents them from putting their knowledge into action.

At this stage, counseling from a nutritionist is not likely to be very effective -- especially if the nutritionist is the only person providing any counseling. If he/she is extremely skilled in dealing with people with eating disorders, then perhaps it might work, but a team approach is still much better.

It can be very difficult to find General Practitioners who know enough about anorexia, bulimia, EDNOS, etc. to recognize the symptoms of eating disorders at the various stages of severity.

Early Intervention Is The Key To Disordered Eating

We've probably all experienced disordered eating at some point in our lives. This is due to the fact that most of us eat (or perhaps don't eat) in response to our emotions. I was a famous one for saying, "I'm too upset to eat dinner..." - Others binge on certain foods as a way to find comfort.

As isolated or sporadic incidents, this kind of behavior is not generally a problem. In other words, it's not likely that you'll be sent off to any eating disorder clinics as a result.

With the numbers for teen eating disorders and male eating disorders on the rise, we need to try to discover disordered eating early enough so that it doesn't turn into one of the full-blown clinical eating disorders.

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