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This quiz will help dispel myths and misconceptions about eating disorders and hopefully increase awareness among quiz-takers.

PSYC 134 - Dispelling Eating Disorder Misconceptions Quiz

It's a common misconception that eating disorders are new phenomena. However, the late 4th century is the earliest known documentation of an eating disorder. In these historical texts, there are descriptions of "self-starvation attributed to demonic possession" and "potential death from self-starvation."

When is the earliest known description of an eating disorder?

Binge eating is defined as continuous eating for a discrete amount of time (usually 10 mins to 2 hours) with no breaks, with a sense of loss of control over eating and is compulsive and excessive eating when compared to the amount that peers of the same age/sex group. It is a common misconception that people who binge eat can stop when you feel too full, however you may not be able to stop even if you want to.

All of the following are criteria for binge eating except:

Eating disorders can affect both men and women! 2.8% or 4-7 million men suffer from eating disorders.

False

T/F: Eating disorders only affect women

While daily exercise is not an eating disorder on its own, excessive exercise can be an aspect of an eating disorder along with diet restriction, body dysmorphia, and emotional dysregulation.

Exercising everyday is not an eating disorder

Which of the following is not an eating disorder?

St. Wilgefortis ("the bearded saint"), St. Catherine of Siena, and St. Veronica were all prominent religious figures who used self-starvation to heighten spiritual experiences.

T/F: Has the origin of eating disorders been traced back to religious practices?

Restriction of energy intake to attain normal body weight is not a criterion of anorexia nervosa because individuals with this disorder have significant weight loss and/or low body weight as well as a misperception of their own body image and the severity of the condition.

All of the following are criteria for Anorexia Nervosa (AN) except:

Both BED and BN involve recurrent binge eating episodes. However, BN includes compensatory behavior (induced vomiting, excessive exercise, etc.) to counteract binge eating while BED does not.

How does Binge Eating Disorder (BED) differ from Bulimia Nervosa (BN)?

Eating disorders can occur in any body type! If a disorder is typically characterized by dangerously low body weight, that criterion can also be met with significant weight loss in a short period.

T/F: Someone who is overweight/obese or normal weight can't have an eating disorder.

Every body system is negatively impacted by eating disorders. Additionally, some of the impacts are irreversible such as height stunting, pubertal arrest, decreased bone density, and cognitive changes.

Which of the following body systems is not affected by eating disorders?

Tachyarrhythmia and suicide are the top two causes of death related to eating disorders.

Which of the following are the top 2 causes of death related to eating disorders?

Inpatients regain basic physiological health in the hospital but must seek behavioral therapy in outpatient care or a similar treatment center.

False: Most eating disorders are not resolved in inpatient care

T/F: Most eating disorders are resolved in inpatient care

Genes are more powerful than social and cultural pressures. The genetic heritable risk for eating disorders is 50-80%(Lecture #5). So, an individual may be predisposed to developing an eating disorder based on their family genetics.

False.

T/F: Eating disorders cannot be passed on through family genetics

Along with the complex neurocircuitry of eating disorders, there is also a substantial cultural basis to their etiology. Cultural norms, such as dieting in general, play an important role. White, western and affluent cultures especially associate the female body with different meanings and ideals that people then internalize and strive to achieve.

Eating disorders are not a choice, phase, joke, trend, or diet. They are serious medical disorders.

T/F: Individuals choose to develop an eating disorder

Cultural norms and the media emphasize thinness/leanness as ideal body types. Being overweight is associated with being lazy, while being thin in our culture is linked to success.

Thinness as Success

T/F: There is an assumption in white, affluent cultures that thinness is associated with success

Unrealistic expectations for both men and women are common in popular media. In recent decades, there has been increasing pressure for male bodies to look like a certain ideal: greater muscularity ("chiseled" look) and minimal body fat.

Which of the following is a way that the media contributes to unrealistic body expectations for men and women?

Having one or more of the following childhood traits increases the risk for disordered eating among both adolescents in periods of development and adults later on in life.

Childhood disposition is important in the development of EDs.

Do childhood traits like perfectionism, type A, obsessionality, impulsiveness, inflexibility, anxiousness, harm avoidance, and/or difficulty with uncertainty/change, increase your chance of developing an eating disorder?

Now that you've learned more about eating disorders, we encourage you to seek help from the following resources if you or anyone you know may be struggling with an eating disorder.
National:
\- www.eatingdisorderhope.com
Local:
\- UCSD Eating Disorders Center for Treatment and Research
 http://eatingdisorders.ucsd.edu

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PSYC 134 - Dispelling Eating Disorder Misconceptions Quiz

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