How eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia often go unrecognised

On the rise in India, eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia often go unrecognised and undiagnosed

Akshita Singal was 18 and weighed just 35 kg when she was brought in for a medical checkup. A team of doctors — a psychiatrist, a gastroenterologist, a nutritionist and her family physician — implored her to bite into a bar of chocolate, a treat she loved as a child. She refused to ingest even a tiny bit of it.

Singal was diagnosed with anorexia, coupled with osteoporosis and a severe infection of the oesophagus. It took weeks of psychiatric sessions before she would accept the course of treatment.

Singal is one of the many Indian teenagers who are today pushing themselves