Eating disorders are characterized by serious disturbances in eating behavior, such as a severe and unhealthy reduction of food intake or extreme overeating, as well as excessive concern about weight or body shape. One percent of adolescent girls develop anorexia nervosa, a disorder marked by eating very little despite already being thin accompanied by an intense fear of weight gain, and between 2 and 5% of adolescent girls develop bulimia nervosa, a disorder characterized by a pattern of overeating followed by behaviors to rid the body of the calories consumed. An estimated 10% of eating disorders cases involve males. If left untreated, eating disorders can result in an early onset of osteoporosis; damage to the heart, brain, stomach, and colon; high blood pressure; diabetes; and suicide.

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Cynthia Bulik, Ph.D., University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Christopher Fairburn, D.M., F.R.C.Psych., F.Med.Sci., Oxford University

Neville Golden, M.D., Schneider Children's Hospital

Katherine Halmi, M.D., Cornell University

David Herzog, M.D., Harvard University

Allan Kaplan, M.D., F.R.C.P.(C), University of Toronto

Richard Kreipe, M.D., University of Rochester

James Mitchell, M.D., University of North Dakota

Kathleen Pike, Ph.D., Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center

Eric Stice, Ph.D., University of Texas at Austin

Ruth Striegel-Moore, Ph.D., Wesleyan University

C. Barr Taylor, M.D., Stanford University

Thomas Wadden, Ph.D., University of Pennsylvania

G. Terence Wilson, Ph.D., Rutgers University