Summary

In a time when media icons with “perfect” body types and faces are featured prominently for style-hungry consumers, eating disorders have become ever prevalent in American society, with readers and watchers striving to mimic their favorite celebrity. As a result, over 5 million people in the United States, most of which are adolescent girls and young women, have developed eating disorders. Although the growing problem may seem like a physical one, the psychological backing for this disease becomes all too real in this new volume.

Eating Disorders takes a scientific approach to these diseases, exploring such eating disorders as anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa. It also discusses the causes and treatments of eating disorders for students in middle school, junior high, and high school. All material included in this volume is based on research studies that have already been done.

Specifications

Color photographs and illustrations. Index. Glossary. Further reading. Sidebars. References. Web sites.

About the Author(s)

Pamela K. Keel received a B.A. in anthropology from Harvard University and a Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the University of Minnesota. She also completed an internship at Duke University Medical Center. From there, she joined the faculty in the Department of Psychology at Harvard University. In 2003, she left Harvard to join the faculty in the Department of Psychology at the University of Iowa. She has published over 50 journal articles from research she has conducted. In addition, she authored a book on eating disorders in 2005 for college students.

Foreword author Pat Levitt, Ph.D., is the director of the Vanderbilt Kennedy Center for Research on Human Development.