What is the difference between disordered eating and eating disorders?
Disordered eating includes behaviors like skipping meals, dieting, and moralizing food, which are often normalized in society but create a chaotic relationship with food. These behaviors can also snowball into full-blown eating disorders, which are serious and complex mental health disorders. For that reason, early recognition and intervention is critical.
Excerpt from Eating Recovery Center:
The terms “disordered eating” and “eating disorder” are sometimes used interchangeably. However, it’s important to understand that while these fall on the same spectrum, there is a difference between the two. While it is possible that disordered eating behaviors can develop into an eating disorder, that is not always the case. Both disordered eating and eating disorders can share similar signs and symptoms.
“Many of the eating behaviors that are considered normalized in our culture are actually disordered,” explains Adee Levinstein, MS, RD, LD, CEDS-C, clinical dietitian training specialist at Eating Recovery Center. “The hyperfixation and attempts to control every aspect of our food intake can lead to distress and disordered eating.”
It is important to know what signs to look for — and what care is available.