Eating Disorder Test: Is My Relationship with Food Healthy?

Does food take up too much space in your head, does your weight decide how you value yourself, or does guilt arrive after every meal? Eating disorders usually begin quietly, disguised as "looking after yourself" or "having willpower", and they can affect anyone, whatever their body, age or gender. This test helps you put words to what is happening in four minutes, with no sign-up and without sending your answers to any server. It is not here to judge you: it is here so that you can ask for help in time if you need it.

What are eating disorders?

Eating disorders are mental health conditions in which the relationship with food, weight and body image becomes so distressing that it ends up damaging physical health, mood and social life. They are not a fad, a phase or a choice: they have biological, psychological and social roots, and they affect people of every gender, age, body and background.

The DSM-5-TR and the ICD-11 describe several main presentations:

• Anorexia nervosa: persistent restriction of intake, an intense fear of gaining weight and a distorted body image. It may involve a low weight or, in its atypical form, a normal or higher weight, with the same risks.
• Bulimia nervosa: recurrent episodes of binge eating followed by behaviours to compensate for them (vomiting, laxatives, fasting, excessive exercise), with self-esteem closely tied to the body.
• Binge eating disorder: repeated binges with a sense of loss of control and intense distress, without compensatory behaviours. It is the most common eating disorder and the most under-diagnosed.
• ARFID (avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder): eating very little or very few foods because of lack of interest, sensory hypersensitivity or fear of choking or vomiting, with no concern about weight.
• Other specified feeding or eating disorders (OSFED): presentations that do not fully fit the above but cause the same suffering, such as atypical anorexia, purging disorder or night eating syndrome.

Many people move from one presentation to another over time. That is why, more than the label, what matters is spotting early the pattern of restriction, loss of control and distress about the body.

Warning signs of an eating disorder

Eating disorders rarely announce themselves. They usually begin with a "normal" diet, a change of habits or the wish to "eat healthily", and they harden until they take over everything. These are the signs that help most in spotting them, grouped into three areas.

Behavioural signs

• Rigid rules about food: forbidden foods, inflexible mealtimes, rituals while eating.
• Skipping meals, eating very slowly, cutting food into tiny pieces or hiding food.
• Avoiding eating in company, celebrations or restaurants.
• Binge episodes, often in secret, followed by guilt.
• Going to the bathroom straight after meals, compulsive exercise or laxative use.
• Weighing yourself many times a day or avoiding the scales altogether.

Physical signs

• Rapid weight changes in either direction, or frequent fluctuations.
• Tiredness, dizziness, constantly feeling cold, hair loss.
• Irregular or absent periods.
• Digestive discomfort, a sore throat or recurrent dental problems.
• Palpitations or fainting, which need immediate medical attention.

Emotional signs

• Constant thoughts about food, weight or shape.
• A mood that rises or falls depending on what has been eaten.
• Irritability, withdrawal, anxiety around meals.
• Extreme perfectionism and self-esteem that depends on the body.
• Denying the problem or playing it down when someone points it out.

None of these signs on its own confirms an eating disorder, but several at once, sustained over time, are reason enough to seek advice.

How does this online eating disorder test work?

This questionnaire consists of 14 statements written from the DSM-5-TR diagnostic criteria and the structure of the most widely used eating disorder screening questionnaires, such as the SCOFF and the EAT-26. They are grouped into three areas: restriction and control (rules, skipping meals, constant preoccupation with food), bingeing and compensation (loss of control when eating, vomiting, laxatives, fasting or compensatory exercise) and body image and self-esteem (fear of gaining weight, guilt after eating, self-worth tied to weight).

For each statement you indicate how often it has happened to you over the last three months, from "never" (0 points) to "very often" (4 points). At the end you get a total score from 0 to 56 and a breakdown by area that shows which type of difficulty predominates in your case.

The calculation is done entirely in your browser: we do not ask for your name, your email or your weight, and we do not store any answers. Answer according to what usually happens, not an unusually good or bad day, and be honest with yourself: nobody is going to judge you. If a question feels uncomfortable, that is normal; those are often precisely the most important ones.

How to interpret your eating disorder test score

Scores are grouped into four indicative levels:

• 0-12 · Low: relationship with food and body without relevant warning signs.
• 13-24 · Mild: some risky attitudes; worth monitoring and stopping the rules from hardening.
• 25-38 · Moderate: pattern consistent with an eating disorder; a professional assessment is recommended.
• 39-56 · High: very frequent behaviours and thoughts, with a probable impact on health; assessment should be a priority.

Two important caveats. First: a screening test does not diagnose. A high result means your relationship with food resembles an eating disorder closely enough to justify an assessment, and a low result reduces that likelihood but does not rule it out, especially if you tend to play down what is happening to you. Second: in eating disorders, some behaviours matter in their own right even when the total score is low. If you marked "often" or "very often" on the questions about vomiting, laxatives, fasting or exercising to compensate, consult a professional whatever your level.

Only a psychologist, a psychiatrist or a specialist team can confirm a diagnosis, after a clinical interview, a review of your history and, where necessary, a medical and nutritional assessment.

Eating disorders in men, teenagers and adults: myths that delay help

A number of ideas circulate about eating disorders that lead many people to wait years before asking for help. They are worth dismantling.

"It only happens to young girls"

Eating disorders appear most often in adolescence and early adulthood, but they can begin at any age: some people develop one after 40, following a pregnancy, a bereavement, an illness or the menopause. And in adults who have lived with the problem for years, it easily passes for "being fussy about food".

"Men don't get eating disorders"

A substantial share of people with binge eating disorder and bulimia are men, and in men the concern often centres on muscle and definition rather than thinness: compulsive training, very rigid diets and supplement use. Because questionnaires and stereotypes were designed with women in mind, men are diagnosed later and less accurately.

"If their weight is normal, it can't be serious"

Most people with an eating disorder are at a normal or higher weight. Severity is set by the behaviours (vomiting, fasting, bingeing) and the suffering, not by the scales. Physical complications can appear at any weight.

"It's attention-seeking or a fad"

Eating disorders are illnesses that carry a heavy burden of suffering and, in the case of anorexia nervosa, one of the highest mortality rates of any mental disorder. Taking them seriously from the start saves lives.

Eating disorders and anxiety, depression, self-esteem and OCD: how they connect

Eating disorders almost never come alone. Understanding what they combine with helps guide treatment and avoids confusing cause with consequence.

• Anxiety: many people with an eating disorder describe intense anxiety before eating, in social situations involving food or when they cannot keep to their rules. Restriction and compensatory behaviours work as quick relief from that anxiety, which is what keeps them going.
• Depression: low mood, hopelessness and withdrawal are very common, partly as a consequence of malnutrition itself or of the binge-guilt cycle. Thoughts of self-harm must always be taken seriously.
• Self-esteem: the feature shared by almost all eating disorders is that self-worth is measured by weight and shape. Working on self-esteem is a central part of recovery.
• OCD and perfectionism: food rituals, the need for control and intrusive thoughts about the body share mechanisms with obsessive-compulsive disorder, and the two often coexist.
• Trauma and adverse experiences: bullying about appearance, comments about weight in childhood or traumatic experiences increase the risk.

In addition, ADHD and autism are associated with a higher risk of some eating disorders (impulsivity and bingeing in the former; sensory selectivity and ARFID in the latter). If your score is high, it may also be useful to complete the self-esteem, anxiety, depression or OCD tests to get a fuller picture.

What to do after the test: treatment for eating disorders

If your result is moderate or high, or if you frequently marked compensatory behaviours, the next step is a professional assessment. Eating disorders are best treated by a multidisciplinary team working in a coordinated way:

• Psychology: the core of treatment. Enhanced cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT-E), designed specifically for eating disorders, is the approach with the strongest evidence in adults with bulimia, binge eating disorder and anorexia: it regularises meals, reduces bingeing and purging and works on the over-evaluation of weight and shape. In teenagers, family-based treatment is the first-line therapy for anorexia and bulimia, because it turns parents into allies in recovery.
• Nutrition: a dietitian specialising in eating disorders helps you get back to a regular, flexible eating pattern, without diets or bans.
• Medicine: your GP, and in some cases a psychiatrist, monitors physical complications, mood and the need for medication or a more intensive level of care (day hospital or admission) when the risk requires it.

In public health systems, the entry point is your GP, who can refer you to mental health services or a specialist eating disorders service. Privately, a psychologist experienced in eating disorders, such as the one we recommend at the end of the test, can carry out the first assessment and coordinate the rest of the team.

And one idea that must be clear: recovery is possible. With appropriate treatment, most people improve significantly and many recover fully, especially when help arrives early. The road may include relapses, and they are part of the process, not a failure.

The scientific basis of this eating disorder test

The questions in this questionnaire were written from the DSM-5-TR diagnostic criteria (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th edition, text revision) and the World Health Organization's ICD-11, and follow the structure of the most widely used screening instruments in the field: the SCOFF (Morgan, Reid and Lacey, 1999), a brief five-question tool validated in primary care; the EAT-26 (Garner and colleagues, 1982), which explores dieting, bulimia and oral control; and the EDE-Q (Fairburn and Beglin), which measures restraint and concern about weight, shape and eating. Our items are original and do not reproduce any of these instruments. The cut-off points are indicative and were set to maximise sensitivity, that is, to avoid leaving out people who could benefit from an assessment. Treatment recommendations follow international clinical guidelines, such as those of the UK's NICE, and the content has been reviewed by the MyPsicoTest team.

The 14 questions in this test

Think about how you have felt and behaved over the last 3 months.

1. I set myself strict rules about what, how much or at what time I am allowed to eat, and I feel bad about myself if I break them.
2. I skip meals or eat considerably less than my body needs in order to control my weight or shape.
3. I think about food, my weight or what I "should" be eating for a large part of the day.
4. I need to control everything I eat in detail (counting, weighing, checking labels) and I get anxious if I cannot.
5. I avoid eating in front of other people or make excuses not to share a meal.
6. I eat a clearly larger amount of food than normal in a short time, with the feeling that I cannot stop.
7. I eat in secret or keep eating even when I am no longer hungry, until I feel uncomfortably full.
8. After eating, I try to "get rid of" what I have eaten by making myself vomit or by taking laxatives or diuretics.
9. I exercise intensely or fast to make up for what I have eaten, even when I am tired or unwell.
10. I feel guilty or ashamed after eating, even after a normal meal.
11. I have an intense fear of gaining weight or losing control of my weight, even when others tell me there is no reason to worry.
12. My weight or my shape largely determines how I value myself as a person.
13. I look at myself with disgust, avoid mirrors and photos, or check over and over parts of my body that I dislike.
14. People close to me have told me they are worried about the way I eat, my weight or my relationship with food.

Answer scale: Never · Rarely · Sometimes · Often · Very often

If your result worries you or you want a professional assessment, you can talk to Xènia Capel Salcedo, a licensed psychologist (COPC reg. 14982), who offers a free first consultation call and online therapy from anywhere.

Reviewed by the MyPsicoTest team · Updated: 27 October 2026