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A mathematical model of anorexia and bulimia
Author(s) -
Ciarcià Carla,
Falsaperla Paolo,
Giacobbe Andrea,
Mulone Giuseppe
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
mathematical methods in the applied sciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.719
H-Index - 65
eISSN - 1099-1476
pISSN - 0170-4214
DOI - 10.1002/mma.3270
Subject(s) - attractor , anorexia , stability (learning theory) , mathematics , mathematical economics , mathematical analysis , computer science , medicine , machine learning
In this paper, we propose a mathematical model to study the dynamics of anorexic and bulimic populations. The model proposed takes into account, among other things, the effects of peers' influence, media influence, and education. We prove the existence of three possible equilibria that without media influences are disease‐free, bulimic‐endemic, and endemic. Neglecting media and education effects, we investigate the stability of such equilibria, and we prove that under the influence of media, only one of such equilibria persists and becomes a global attractor. Which of the three equilibria becomes global attractor depends on the other parameters. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.