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Anorexia Nervosa At some point in time, every person on earth suffers from anorexia. By definition anorexia is merely a loss of appetite. Anorexia nervosa on the other hand is quite serious. According to the fourth edition of Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, anorexia nervosa is characterized as a disorder in which people refuse to maintain a minimally normal weight, intensely fear gaining weight, and significantly misinterpret their body and its shape. It is estimated to be the third most common chronic medical illness in girls aged 15-19 years (Russell, 1445). However anorexia does not discriminate based on sex although it does affect many more women than men. Also it carries a mortality rate up to 20 percent (Walling,2528). There is a drastic difference between the terms anorexia and anorexia nervosa. We need to educate our youth on the seriousness of anorexia nervosa and nurture them from the womb to protect them from this life-threatening disorder. There are two types of anorexia nervosa. The first is referred to as the restricting type. With this type a person restricts their caloric intake to almost nothing and often leads to starvation. The second is known as binge-eating purging type.