Anorexia Nervosa is a life threatening eating disorder prevalent among college students
...ike being accepted or fitting in. Some also hold down part time jobs, for instance working 25 hours a week after school. All of these factors combined can be very stressful. Consequently, we are seeing many college students turning to eating disorders as a way to cope. The most common eating disorders on college campuses are anorexia and bulimia. Anorexia Nervosa is characterized by deliberate self-starvation and excessive weight loss. Anorexics intensely fear weight gain, and they refuse to eat. One student admitted to only allowing herself to eat iceberg lettuce spread thinly with mustard each day, because of her fear of calories. Another student would go days without eating altogether. Because of this self abuse, serious harm to their bodies may result. Having an eating disorder can be a serious, potentially life threatening condition. In anorexia’s cycle of self-starvation, the body is denied the essential nutrients it needs to function normally. As a result, the body is forced to slow down all of its processes to conserve energy, which can cause an abnormally slow heart rate and low blood pressure which raises the risk for heart failure. It also can cause s...