The person with anorexia nervosa uses inappropriate behavior such as fasting and excessive exercise are considered to be

Appeared in: RUHS, Jaipur, M.Sc Nursing Entrance Exam-2022

Explanation

In eating disorders, behaviors used to prevent weight gain are known as compensatory behaviors.
These behaviors are categorized as either purging or nonpurging.
Nonpurging behaviors are actions that compensate for food intake without physically expelling the food from the body.
Fasting (drastically reducing food intake) and excessive exercise are classic examples of nonpurging compensatory behaviors.

Why Other Options Were Wrong

Option A: Purging involves the active, physical removal of food from the body. The behaviors mentioned, fasting and excessive exercise, do not fit this description.
Option C: A 'binge' refers to the act of eating an unusually large amount of food in a discrete period, accompanied by a sense of loss of control. It is an intake behavior, not a compensatory behavior.
Option D: Bulimia (Bulimia Nervosa) is a specific eating disorder diagnosis. It is not a term used to classify a single type of behavior like fasting or exercise.

Related Visual

Clinical Relevance

Nursing practice connection: This is primarily an exam-oriented knowledge point with limited direct bedside application, so retain Classification of compensatory behaviors in eating disorders as background academic context rather than a clinical decision trigger.
Nurses must be able to accurately identify and document both purging and nonpurging behaviors to ensure a correct diagnosis and an appropriate plan of care.
Recognizing nonpurging behaviors like excessive exercise or fasting is crucial, as they can be just as dangerous as purging and may be more easily hidden by the patient.
What if? If the patient engaged in fasting and excessive exercise but also occasionally used laxatives after eating a normal-sized meal, the diagnosis might shift towards 'Anorexia Nervosa, Binge-Eating/Purging Subtype' or 'Purging Disorder', highlighting the need for thorough assessment of all behaviors.

How to Approach the Question

First, identify the core action described in the question stem: 'fasting and excessive exercise'.
Next, analyze the purpose of this action in the context of anorexia nervosa: it's an 'inappropriate behavior' used to manage weight.
Evaluate the given options based on their clinical definitions.
Recognize that 'purging' involves expelling food, while 'nonpurging' involves other methods of compensation.
Differentiate between a specific behavior (like fasting) and a full diagnosis (like Bulimia).
Conclude that fasting and exercise fit the definition of nonpurging compensatory behaviors.

Concept Tested & Keywords

Concept Tested: Classification of compensatory behaviors in eating disorders.
Stem keywords: anorexia nervosa, inappropriate behavior, fasting, excessive exercise
Lead-in keywords: considered to be
Negative lead-in flag: false

Question ID

Q_ZKyu9Kg7qJIX_r-KlIiX

Reference Book

E6 Kaplan Sadock's Synopsis of Psychiatry-2022 (pp 1-3768 of 3768) pp. 1496-1498, 1497-1499

E6 Robert Boland, Marcia L. Verduin - Kaplan and Sadock's Comprehensive Text of Psychiatry-Wolters Kluwer Health (2024) (pp 1-16525 of 16525) p. 6929-6931

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