Compulsive exercise and the eating disorders

the long version

In recent years, we have seen a tremendous increase in the number of people involved in exercise activity- and also a steady increase of individuals with eating disorders. Is there a common psychological and/or physiological link between these two activities? Are they different but related symptoms of a society in which success or happiness has been redefined as getting in shape and controlling calories? This groundbreaking volume provides the first in-depth study of the linkages between these two apparently disparate conditions. It focuses on the many similarities between eating disordered individuals and compulsive athletes and advances the provocative theory that both are part of the larger category- the activity disorder.