What Is Atypical Anorexia?

For years, many people’s idea of what it means to have an eating disorder has focused on extreme thinness. But the medical reality is that a growing number of young people who have a restrictive, disordered relationship with eating may not “look anorexic.” But they are just as unhealthy.

What is atypical anorexia nervosa?

 Atypical anorexia is a form of the well-known eating disorder anorexia nervosa, with all the same behaviors and symptoms, but in a person who is not necessarily extremely thin.

 Atypical anorexia usually looks like this: Someone who was at an “overweight” body mass index (BMI) — a calculation based on body mass and height — begins severely restricting their eating and overexercising, and then loses a lot of weight very quickly. Because they started heavier, they might end up at a seemingly healthy BMI, but their rapid weight loss is still unhealthy and damaging to their body. They might be congratulated by their friends and family, and even their doctor, because the diagnosis is relatively new, and some doctors don’t know about it.

 The atypical anorexia diagnosis is important for people to be aware of because a person’s BMI doesn’t tell the full story of their health — and prolonged malnutrition is damaging to the body independent of weight.

Long-term dangers of atypical anorexia

 Even if you’re not considered underweight, there are serious health consequences to prolonged starvation — especially in adolescence, when your body needs all the fuel it can get.

 You could stop getting your period, which may not sound so bad, but it’s actually a sign that your body is malnourished and shutting down non-essential processes to keep you alive. If left untreated, this can lead to long-term infertility.

 Dieting at a young age can also stunt your growth and weaken your bones. According to Daniel Le Grange, PhD, director of the Eating Disorders Program at the University of California, San Francisco, the most crucial time for developing strong bones is your early teens through about age 17. Miss that window, and you could be stuck with compromised bone density, even if you pursue recovery as an adult. Osteoporosis and osteopenia — diseases that further weaken your bones and make them more likely to break — are common in anorexia patients as young as 17.

What does atypical anorexia recovery look like?

 The first goal of any kind of eating disorder recovery is to get the body out of a state of medical instability — a group of vital signs that indicate that the body is severely stressed. These include malnutrition, dehydration, and abnormally low heart rate, blood pressure, and body temperature.

 This is where therapy and working with doctors who understand eating disorders is important. Recovering from atypical anorexia means learning to prioritize your health over body image. It can feel like a radical shift in mindset, but the right therapist can help you through it.