Eating Disorders

Eating disorders are serious mental health conditions that can have negative impacts on both your physical and mental well-being. People living with eating disorders may eat very small amounts of food, binge eat or engage in excessive exercise routines. They may also engage in compensatory behaviours such as self-induced vomiting or inappropriate laxative use. Having an eating disorder changes how you think about food, eating, weight, your body shape, and how you actually eat. This can affect your health, emotions, and ability to do everyday things. Eating disorders do not discriminate; they can impact individuals of all sizes, genders, sexual identities, race, class, ability, and more. Some people may experience disordered eating without meeting the diagnostic criteria for an eating disorder; they are still deserving of support and care.

Types of Eating Disorders

Anorexia Nervosa (AN) – Restriction of food intake resulting in significantly low body weight, considering age, sex, developmental stage, and overall health.
Bulimia Nervosa (BN) – Involves cycles of dietary restriction followed by episodes of binge eating, frequently accompanied by compensatory behaviors aimed at eliminating consumed calories.
Binge Eating Disorder (BED) – Recurrent episodes of eating unusually large quantities of food, followed by subsequent feelings of shame, distress, or guilt.
Avoidant and Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID) – Restricted food intake or variety, unaccompanied by body image concerns or fear of weight gain.
Other Specified Feeding or Eating Disorders (OSFED) – Individuals experience eating disorder presentations similar to AN, BN, or BED, but do not meet all diagnostic criteria. E.g., Atypical Anorexia Nervosa – all criteria for AN are met, aside from body being at or above normal range. This is just as serious as AN. Other diagnoses in this category include binge-eating disorder type, bulimia nervosa type, night eating syndrome, and purging disorder.
PICA – Persistent intake of non-food substances.
Rumination Disorder – Persistent regurgitation of food that has been chewed and/or partially digested.

Eating Disorder Recovery

Eating disorders are best supported by a multidisciplinary team that is informed in eating disorder care. This may include a medical provider, mental health provider, dietitian, and others as needed (i.e. psychiatrist, occupational therapist, social workers, or other qualified providers). Family/caregivers and friends can also provide support to their loved one in recovery.

There are different levels of care for eating disorder support, depending on the severity of the disorder. The types of care available vary by province and area.

Outpatient care: Individuals live at home and receive support through regular appointments with their care team. This is the lowest level of care and requires medical stability.
Day treatment care: Individuals live at home and visit a treatment facility for a specified amount of time during the day, often including meal support.
Inpatient care: Lifesaving care; individuals are admitted to a hospital for intensive care and medical intervention.
Residential care: Individuals live in a treatment facility for a number of weeks or months. This form of care is not currently available in Manitoba.

Nutrition Care for Eating Disorders

Nutrition support and care for eating disorders can vary according to the diagnosis and level of care. Generally, a dietitian will support the individual with nutrition rehabilitation – eating enough to support proper bodily function. This tends to include the development of a regular and structured meal plan and may include nutrition support such as tube feeding in severe circumstances.

The Dietitian will often provide nutrition education and counselling to help individuals navigate nutrition information and messages, challenge food rules, and eventually make peace with fear foods and/or binge foods.