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Eating Disorders

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Psychiatric Drugs in Children and Adolescents

Abstract

Anorexia nervosa is characterized by significant self-induced weight loss or insufficient age-appropriate weight gain, combined in many but not all (mostly female) patients with the deep-rooted conviction that despite their low weight, the sufferer is overweight or fat. The International Classification of Diseases, 10th revision (ICD-10) classification stipulates a body mass index (BMI) threshold of 17.5 kg/m2 as the weight criterion. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th edition (DSM-5, American Psychiatric Association 2013) is less precise in defining the weight threshold. According to its definition, an adult with a BMI less than 17.0 kg/m2 is considered to have a significantly low body weight. However, “an adult with a BMI between 17.0 and 18.5 kg/m2 or even above might be considered to have low body weight” if the clinical history or physiological findings support this estimation.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy, RWTH Aachen University, Neuenhofer Weg 21, 52074, Aachen, Germany

    Beate Herpertz-Dahlmann MD

  2. Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Kliniken der Stadt Köln gGmbH, Florentine-Eichler-Str. 1, 51067, Köln, Germany

    Christoph Wewetzer MD

Authors
  1. Beate Herpertz-Dahlmann MD
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  2. Christoph Wewetzer MD
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Correspondence to Beate Herpertz-Dahlmann MD .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Kinder- und Jugendpsychiatrie, Universitätsklinikum Würzburg Klinik und Poliklinik, Würzburg, Germany

    Manfred Gerlach

  2. Jugendpsychiatrie und Psychotherapie, Universitätsklinikum Würzburg Klinik und Poliklinik für Kinder- und, Würzburg, Germany

    Andreas Warnke

  3. Child and Adolescent Psychiatry New York Presbyterian Hospital, New York, New York, USA

    Laurence Greenhill

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Herpertz-Dahlmann, B., Wewetzer, C. (2014). Eating Disorders. In: Gerlach, M., Warnke, A., Greenhill, L. (eds) Psychiatric Drugs in Children and Adolescents. Springer, Vienna. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-7091-1501-5_16

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-7091-1501-5_16

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Vienna

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-7091-1500-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-7091-1501-5

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