ABSTRACT
Abnormal eating is a serious threat to people’s health. Mortality associated with eating disorders is “20 percent at 20 years [. . .] by far the highest of any functional psychiatric illness, and high compared to most chronic medical illnesses”.2 Other studies report 20 percent crude mortality for anorexia and bulimia nervosa after a mean of 12.5 years of follow up.3 However, the consequences of food restriction and compensatory behavior may be severe and life-threatening, and this is so even if the person is not extremely thin.
