Anorexia and eating disorders are unhealthy responses to stress, painful feelings, and other problems. While the specific cause is unknown, the condition seems to stem from a combination of psychological, biological, familial, and cultural factors. New research indicates that, in one anorectic out of 10, a genetic abnormality may be involved.

The teens and early twenties are tumultuous years for a woman. Moods and emotions can swing wildly from one day to the next. The dutiful daughter turns into the rebel, eager to assert her independence—sometimes in self-destructive ways.

Some researchers see anorexia as a power struggle between a strong-willed girl and her dominating parents. Starving herself, she unconsciously shows that she is in control of her own body and affirms that her parents are powerless to stop her.

Since anorexia usually causes menstrual periods to stop and breasts to flatten, other experts theorize that girls who refuse to eat may be expressing a desire to remain children, free of adult bodies, adult sexual relationships, and adult responsibilities.

Stress can play a major role in anorexia. Taking an exam, moving to a new home, starting college or a new job, becoming pregnant, and beginning or ending a relationship may sometimes push a woman into beginning the heavy dieting that ends with anorexia.

Our equation of thinness with beauty, social success, and even desirability is also at fault. In America, the pressure to be thin is intense. Most young women can handle it successfully, but a few respond in extreme ways, such as anorexia.

For some adolescents, ordinary biology poses a problem. As their bodies mature, many girls discover that they can no longer eat as they used to without gaining weight. Most can cut back as needed; a few lose control. Sensible dieting is fine, but when low calories become no calories, it's time to admit there's a problem.

Although the theory is far from proven, one recent study has suggested that viral infections may play a role in some cases of anorexia. Another study indicates the possibility that anxiety disorders in children between the ages of 5 and 15 may be an early warning of a congenital vulnerability to anorexia.