Bulimia in the adolescent

D. B. Herzog

Bulimia, a recently acknowledged psychiatric diagnosis, has not been reported in the pediatric literature, to the best of our knowledge. This omission is regrettable in light of the confirmed frequency of disease onset during adolescence. We report clinical and demographic data from the first eight bulimic adolescents seen at an outpatient eating disorders unit. The frequently chronic course and associated physical consequences make diagnosis and early intervention necessary. A relationship between bulimia and depressive illness may exist.