Anorexia nervosa can be differentiated from bulimia by:

Unlike patients with bulimia, patients with anorexia remain preoccupied with food and show peculiar behavior like hiding food in the house, trying to dispose food in napkins, cutting food into very small pieces and rearranging the food repeatedly around the plate. Anorexia Nervosa Bulimia Nervosa Sex Females > Males Females > Males Age of onset Adolescence (13-19 years of age) Early teens or adolescence Intense fear of becoming obese + + Body image disturbance + + Binge eating +(50% of cases) + Compensation by purging etc + + Peculiar patterns of handling food + -