Abstract
Today, it is not rare to see anorexia nervosa even in pediatric clinics. Study on the clinical conditions of anorexia nervosa in Japan showed that al least 1,000 patients visited pediatric clinics per 1 year. Topics of anorexia nervosa in childhood are, (1) increase of pre-adolescent patients (the patients develop their disorder before menarche), (2) increase of patients who easily develop bulimia nervosa, (3) comorbidity of pervasive developmental disorders, and (4) child abuse as one of the most important background factors. The new diagnostic criteria (Great Ormond Street Criteria, GOSC) specific to eating disorders of children is proposed because children with these disorders develop many atypical clinical features.
