Anorexia nervosa is a form of eating disorder, which is used to describe people who are obsessed with their body shape, weight, and food intake to the point where they may be starving themselves. Anorexia symptoms can develop over a period of several years in many men and women with emotional, genetic, or life-experience risk factors. Often, this condition happens most often in younger women during their teenage years. However, it’s worth noting that there have an increasing number of reports citing symptoms of anorexia in pre-teen boys and girls.