Not all girls who diet develop eating disorders, but girls who develop eating disorders always start by restricting certain food categories or changing their food habits. Eating disorders progress slowly, and girls will go to great lengths to hide their troubling behavior as it develops. They skip meals or tell adults that they’ve already eaten or will eat later. They exercise excessively or vomit or abuse laxatives to rid themselves of unwanted calories. And girls will put their food rules ahead of everything else, even refusing to share friends’ birthday cakes or go out to restaurants with
...more
