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It’s true, but an eating disorder doesn’t mean eating scantly, or even throwing up after every time you eat if that’s a choice you make. Eating disorders are compulsions, and those that suffer from them aren’t able to choose not to do them. This is similar to how alcoholism doesn’t mean drinking a lot. Alcoholism is a complete dependence on alcohol, making it nearly impossible to stop.

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> or even throwing up after every time you eat if that’s a choice you make

I think that’s a misleading statement to make.

While this could be theoretically true, I imagine, in practice, no one would choose to throw up after every meal without having a disorder.

Sure, but the point is that if you choose to do it, then your behavior is not a disorder, it's just a weird choice that you're making. Just like drinking heavily doesn't automatically make you an alcoholic.

I think the line of "choice" here gets blurred, which is exactly what disorder refers to in the usual context.

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