Eating Disorders

Eating disorders are complex biopsychosocial conditions that can be fatal if left untreated. Often considered to be products of modern Western societies, syndromes resembling eating disorders have been documented across the globe for thousands of years. This article examines current clinical understandings of eating disorders (including diagnosis, prevalence, etiology, and treatment) as one particular lens on phenomena that appear to be much more broadly distributed than previously thought, raising important questions about the relationships between culture and epistemology. After reviewing the historical development of the diagnostic categories of eating disorders, it then discusses the current classification system for these conditions. The next section examines the cross-cultural data on eating disorders and arguments regarding the role of acculturation in the development of these conditions. The last section discusses the treatment of eating disorders from a clinical perspective.