Are eating disorders and consequential weight loss just a bi-product of not learning to eat properly?

Answer: Probably not...

Most sufferers of eating disorders eat poorly as a result of emotional, mental, or spiritual problems, these issues absolutely must be addressed before you can make any progress with weight loss or the reverse... weight gain.

Here is a short check list (for comparison only) of some of the main reasons why people start to lose weight or gain weight rapidly:

• The use of food to escape your problems in life.
• A compulsion to eat when you are not hungry, or a compulsion to not eat when you feel hungry.
• A desire to eat more when you are alone.
• A feeling of remorse after eating a meal.
• Always wanting to start a new weight loss diet.
• Eating your 'fill' then purging your body of the meal (being sick).
• Exercise excessively to lose excess weight you think you may or may not have.

They are some of the more common signs of an eating disorder, but please don't take the signs literally, there is a lot more to disorders than the signs out lined above. My advice: Always seek professional medical advice before taking matters into your own hands.
The main eating disorders
Eating disorders take many forms. Three of the most notable are briefly described here:

1. Compulsive Overeating: Compulsive overeaters usually follow a pattern of binge eating followed by dieting. The dieting phase of this cycle often results in the loss of the weight gained during the bingeing phase, thus the term 'yo-yo dieting' was coined for the symptoms.
2. Bulimia: Bulimic's overeat and then over compensate to avoid gaining weight. The most common methods of compensation include fasting, purging by vomiting or taking laxatives.
3. Anorexia: This is the most widely known of the eating disorders. Anorexics have a fear of gaining weight and becoming fat, and often see themselves as being fat, even though they tend to be 'under-weight'. They remain this way by consuming minimal amounts of food and using the methods of the bulimic to compensate when they feel they have eaten too much.

What problems occur with these eating disorders:
Anorexia can lead to the shutdown of body functions one by one eventually resulting in death.
The methods used by bulimics have unhealthy side effects and can be very dangerous. A common side effect is the erosion of the teeth's enamel from stomach acid being repeatedly regurgitated causing tooth loss.
Compulsive overeating is not usually thought of as life threatening, but yo-yo dieting is unhealthy and the consequences of being overweight shorten life expectancy and promote heart disease, stress on the joints, etc.
If you feel you may be suffering from an eating disorder: Seek medical helpimmediately.
Further reading on weight loss, dieting, eating healthily: http://suegotslim.com/