Have you ever seen someone whose clavicles stuck out a little too much or knew someone who never let you see him or her eat?

Well, those may be two extreme examples of eating disorders.

Sunday is the first day of National Eating Disorder Awareness Week. An eating disorder isn’t just anorexia, bulimia or binge-eating tendencies. It is any disruption to a normal eating routine.

This means any sort of atypical eating habits. For example, diets restricted to eating foods smaller than your pinkie, eating only foods with fewer than 100 calories, and eating only one meal a day are all eating disorders.

Dealing with an eating disorder is difficult. Some people who suffer from a disorder will only stay friends with people who will support their unhealthy eating habits. They might cut off friends who will tell them that they look sick and call people who tell them to eat  jealous.

Other people who suffer from eating disorders often don’t feel like they’re able to ask for help because they don’t exhibit any visible signs of malnutrition. Since they don’t fit the description of someone with a disorder, the warning signs they exhibit might be brushed aside. Eating disorders are not just physically debilitating, but emotionally draining as well.

While the reason for changing eating habits may depend on the person (weight, control, etc.) maintaining unhealthy nutrition isn’t easy. Women as well as men (disorders affect everyone regardless of gender, race or social status) sometimes use “thinspiration” videos – YouTube videos composed of pictures of super-emaciated people set to emo music meant to inspire people to “achieve perfection.”

Some may also refer to anorexia or bulimia as “ana” or “mia.” Some pro-ana and pro-mia sites display tricks for hiding an eating disorder just as some explain how to become healthy again.

One celebrity who clearly rails against “thinspiration” is The Gossip’s lead singer, Beth Ditto. She has been photographed nude on the cover of at least two magazines and started her own fabulous plus-size line of clothing. Some doctors say that she’ll inspire the opposite sort of eating disorders by glamorizing being overweight, but I don’t agree. There’s way more famous people who look malnourished than even properly fed, so I’m going to go ahead and say that’s not really my main concern.

Also, I’m really glad for Mad Men’s Joan, actress Christina Hendricks, who was indirectly called “a big girl” by a New York Times columnist. People rushed to her defense, but “big girl” or not, I don’t know any sane clear-visioned person who doesn’t find Hendricks super attractive. Ditto and Hendricks prove being beautiful isn’t synonymous with being skinny.

The fashion industry made waves by placing weight minimums on their models. That doesn’t mean skinny models aren’t still being fired for not being thin enough. Just ask 5-foot-8, 120-pound model Filippa Hamilton, who was fired from Ralph Lauren in October 2009 for being “too fat.” All the same, at least the industry is attempting to change.

If you are interested in learning more, view next week’s events for National Eating Disorder Awareness Week at the Center for Eating Disorders at Sheppard Pratt at http://eatingdisorder.org. You can also call the University Health Center at 301-314-8106 or the Counseling Center at 301-314-7651 to learn more or make an appointment. They both also have information about eating disorders online.

Shruti Rastogi is a senior journalism major. She can be reached at rastogi at umdbk dot com.