A review of anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa.

Eating disorders remain an important health care problem for clinicians working with children and adolescents. Although the cause of these illnesses remains obscure, information about the effectiveness of different forms of treatment is available to guide the clinician. Individuals involved in the treatment of such patients should be aware of the means of diagnosing the conditions, the common complications of both anorexia and bulimia, the management of these, and the indications for specific treatment modalities. Although the outcome is variable, effective treatment delivered early in the course of illness provides the most likely route to recovery.