🇧🇫Burkina FasoWest Africa
Burkina Faso sees rise in eating disorders, underestimation of their prevalence, says nutritionist Dr. Ousmane Ouédraogo
via Lefaso.net17 hours ago12 min read
Dr. Ousmane Ouédraogo, a nutritionist, defines eating disorders as persistent disturbances in eating behavior and an excessive preoccupation with weight or body image. He identifies three main types: anorexia nervosa, bulimia, and binge eating disorder. Anorexia nervosa involves strict and voluntary food deprivation, often driven by body image concerns, and can be influenced by one's environment or psychological issues. Bulimia, conversely, involves excessive eating, sometimes followed by compensatory behaviors like induced vomiting or laxative use. The article also mentions rumination disorder, where individuals voluntarily regurgitate food. Dr. Ouédraogo clarifies that weight gain is not always linked to eating disorders, as it can result from consuming more calories than expended, lack of physical activity, genetics, or psychological factors. Key warning signs for family and friends include refusal to eat, strict diets without medical reason, excessive food sorting, secretive eating, rapid weight changes, obsession with weight or body shape, distorted body perception, anxiety around meals, irritability, sadness, depression, induced vomiting, and excessive use of laxatives or diuretics. In Burkina Faso, there is an observed increase in eating disorders like anorexia nervosa, coupled with a significant underestimation of their scale due to insufficient diagnosis and the normalization or ignorance of atypical eating behaviors. Diagnosis often occurs at advanced stages. Social
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Original source
This summary was AI-generated from a story originally published by Lefaso.net.
