In the same way that anorexia nervosa is not primarily about food, alcoholism is not primarily about alcohol.

BBC: 'Alcoholism is not all about drink'

Some specialists have dubbed this condition "athletica nervosa", though a more frequently used term is body dysmorphic disorder.

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Miss Booth, who died in her sleep on January 14 this year, had had bulimia nervosa for a number of months, according to her father.

BBC: Magazines linked to bulimia death

"We also know that anorexia and bulimia nervosa and related illnesses affect the lives of almost every one of us, either directly or indirectly, " she said.

BBC: Eating disorders 'on the increase'

Yolanda Reid-Chassiakos, director of the student health center at California State University, Northridge, once saw a college student whose parents suspected she was suffering from anorexia nervosa.

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Dr Jones told BBC News Online that while most of the problematic behaviours uncovered in the study were not severe enough to be diagnosed as a clinical eating disorder they were still quite significant and placed the girls at risk for the development of conditions such as anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa.

BBC: Eating disorders 'rife in girls'