Anorexia nervosa is a psychological eating disorder marked by profound food aversion and fear of becoming overweight that leads to emaciation, or becoming very thin, and frail. In people with anorexia nervosa, at least 15% to as much as 60% of normal body weight is lost. Emaciation is often seen when a person is very underweight (at least 15% below his/her healthy body weight or Body Mass Index <17.5).
According to the Eating Disorders Resource Center, people with anorexia nervosa literally engage in a process of self-starvation, which deprives the body of essential nutrients it needs for normal functioning. Despite obvious emaciation, people with anorexia deny (even to themselves) thinness, fatigue or hunger. The body’s metabolic processes are slowed down in order to conserve energy.
While emaciation describes the appearance of a person with an eating disorder, the emaciated look does not show the serious cardiac, organ and endocrine problems going on.
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Wikipedia.org: Emaciation
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