Eating Disorders are behavioural conditions characterized by severe and persistent disturbance in eating behaviours and associated distressing thoughts and emotions. They can be very serious conditions affecting physical, psychological and social function. Types of eating disorders include anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, binge eating disorder, avoidant restrictive food intake disorder, other specified feeding and eating disorder, pica and rumination disorder. They affect up to 5% of the population, most often develop in adolescence and young adulthood. Several, especially anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa are more common in women, but they can all occur at any age and affect any gender.

The most effective current treatments are behavioural interventions that focus on helping individuals with an eating disorder normalize their eating and weight control behaviours. For adolescents with anorexia nervosa, family-based treatment has the best evidence. The focus of effective family-based therapies is on helping parents to support and monitor their child’s meals. For severely ill patients at very low weight, and for many adult patients who are unable to gain weight in outpatient treatment, admission to a specialized residential or hospital-based treatment program can be lifesaving. 

For bulimia nervosa, cognitive behavioral therapy is the most successful outpatient treatment approach. Binge eating disorder also responds to cognitive behavioural interventions. Interpersonal therapy is also effective in both bulimia and in binge eating disorder.Other empirical pharmacological treatment are provided in out patient and in patient settings