In a social context that equates thinness with many social values, it is not surprising to find that most people display body‐image and diet self‐consciousness, and that an alarming number of these persons (especially young women) progress to the development of an eating disorder. Anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa are the two primary variants of eating disorder recognized within authoritative diagnostic nomenclatures. However, binge eating disorder is likely to become a third, officially recognized variant of eating disorder in future editions of diagnostic manuals. Anorexia, bulimia, and binge eating are polysymptomatic syndromes defined by maladaptive attitudes and behaviors around eating, weight and body image, and more nonspecific disturbances of self‐image, mood, impulse‐regulation, and interpersonal functioning. Reviewed in this chapter are pathognomonic features of the eating disorders, findings on concurrent traits and comorbid psychopathology, and putative biological, psychological, and social factors that may explain their etiology and development.