[header] How to recognize eating disorders in teenagers [title] Look for signs of eating in secret. [step] For example, patients suffering with bulimia nervosa are driven by the compulsion to hoard and eat copious amounts of food in secrecy. [title] Consider how preoccupied they are with food. 
[step] For example, anorexic patients often spend substantial time watching television cooking programs, looking up recipes, grocery shopping, packing lunches for siblings and parents, planning and preparing menus for their families. Many patients will hoard food, but won't eat it.