Eating disorders are devastating mental illnesses that affect more than 7 million American women. Seventeen is the average age that eating disorders anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa develop, according to The National Women's Health Resource Center, and between five and ten percent of young people suffer from them. If you suspect that your child is at risk, follow these four steps to help her overcome the problem.

  Get the Facts

• Test your knowledge about eating disorders
• Startling statistics
• What moms need to know
• 10 important facts (plus 8 key questions answered)

  Understand Your Child

• Take this quiz to see if your child is at risk
• The 10 most common risk factors
• 7 likely causes
• The long-term consequences

  Help Your Child Heal

• How to intervene
• 3 types of counseling

  Get Support and Advice

Expert advice:
• A teen considers purging: "Help me get rid of these thoughts."
• A mom worries: "Does my daughter have an eating disorder?"
• This teen lost 28 pounds: "Do I have an eating disorder?"

Find support from real moms in the message boards below:
• Parents of Preteens
• Troubled Teens
• Parents of Teens

Watch the animations featuring Catherine Zeta-Jones and Julianne Moore at facetheissue.com and find out how to recognize and get help for anorexia and bulimia.