Too Fat or Too Thin?

"This practical resource guide for students and parents dispels the myths surrounding eating disorders by providing factual and historical information on how our understanding of these problems has evolved. Chapters on anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, compulsive overeating, and other disorders use case studies and current research to describe and explain symptoms, dangers, and current theories about what causes such disorders." "Medical and psychological issues are thoroughly discussed in a manner accessible for students. Psychological therapies and other forms of treatment are described, providing each treatment's history and effectiveness. Other chapters focus on the prevention of eating problems, the relationship between image disturbances and popular culture, and controversies in the field of diagnosis and treatment." "Resource lists of fiction and nonfiction books, movies, periodicals, and Web sites appropriate for students and parents can be found at the end of many chapters. An appendix reviews the current recommendations by the APA for treatment of specific types of eating disorders. This is a valuable reference resource for students, patients, parents, and professionals."--BOOK JACKET.

Beyond its central premise, the book can be read through the connected lenses of Self-Help, Fiction. Those themes offer useful points of attention as the characters, ideas, or world develop, especially where the book complicates the expectations of its primary category.