Anorexia nervosa is a psychophysiological disorder especially prevalent among young women and is characterized by prolonged refusal to eat or to main­tain normal body weight, an intense fear of becom­ing obese, a disturbed body image in which the ema­ciated patient feels overweight, and the absence of any physical illness that would account for extreme weight loss.

The term anorexia is actually a misno­mer, because genuine loss of appetite is rare, and usually does not occur until late in the illness. In reality, most anorectics are obsessed with food and constantly struggle to deny natural hunger.

More on the topic Anorexia nervosa is a psychophysiological disorder especially prevalent among young women and is characterized by prolonged refusal to eat or to main­tain normal body weight, an intense fear of becom­ing obese, a disturbed body image in which the ema­ciated patient feels overweight, and the absence of any physical illness that would account for extreme weight loss.: