ABSTRACT
The prevalence of anorexia nervosa (AN) is estimated at 0.3-0.7 percent among adolescent females between 15-19 years of age; yet the age of onset is even younger (Hoek and Hoeken, 2003; Hoek et al., 2005; van Son et al., 2006; Swanson et al., 2011b). AN can be medically serious in developing adolescents with malnutrition, leading to growth retardation, pubertal delay or interruption, and peak bone mass reduction. Followup studies of varying lengths suggest that the aggregate mortality rate is approximately 5.6 percent per decade. While about half of the deaths were due to suicide, the remainder were due to the physical complications of AN. Comorbid psychological conditions are also common in AN (Golden et al., 2003, Rome et al., 2003, Swanson et al., 2011b), and some 60 percent of all eating disorder patients have a lifetime affective disorder (Herzog et al., 1996).
