What Does EDNOS Stand For?

Eating disorders are commonly classified into four categories. The first three are anorexia, binge eating, and bulimia. The fourth category is EDNOS. EDNOS is an acronym that stands for Eating Disorders Not Otherwise Specified, and is not actually an eating disorder by itself. It is more a collection of eating disorders that exhibit specific symptoms from the three other disorders mentioned above. However, none of these disorders exhibit all the symptoms of the particular disease.

EDNOS do not have any single individual identifying traits. The term is used to identify those eating disorders that fall in the borderline between anorexia, bulimia, and binge eating. In other words, a person could be said to be suffering from EDNOS if, for instance, he was exhibiting some, but not all, symptoms of binge eating.

While this categorization may seem vague to many, it is essential because it helps bring on a common platform all those forms of eating disorders that would have otherwise gone unaccounted.