Bulimia

Definition

Bulimia literally means “ox hunger” and is short for bulimia nervosa—an eating disorder characterized by binge eating episodes in which an individual feels a loss of control over eating and eats very large amounts of food. The individual reacts to binge episodes by using extreme measures to prevent weight gain, such as self-induced vomiting, laxative abuse, diuretic abuse, fasting, or excessive exercise. Within the United States, self-induced vomiting is the most common method for avoiding weight gain among individuals with bulimia nervosa. Importantly, research has shown that vomiting is not effective in getting rid of the calories consumed during binge-eating episodes. Vomiting only eliminates approximately 25% of the calories consumed during a typical binge-eating episode. Similar to individuals with anorexia nervosa, individuals with bulimia nervosa ...