Eating disorders refer to a pathological relationship with food characterized by overeating and/or undereating, or by distorted perceptions of food. The issues examined include episodes of binge eating, self-induced vomiting, eating in secret, and a fear of starting to eat due to the fear of being unable to stop. These disorders are most commonly found in adolescents and among women. Despite the media attention they receive, they affect only a small proportion of young people and did not increase between 2005 and 2010. Social factors are significant in the onset of the four disorders studied, but appear to be less influential than psychological distress. [author’s abstract]