Perhaps a predisposition towards anorexia but that doesn't mean that you will be anorexic because you still control that. A predispoistion to alcoholism is horeditary but it doesn't mean that everyone with that pre-dispostion is an alcoholic.

It is not a genetic desease, so the answer has to be no , but conditioning and parental attitude could contribute one would imagine

Actually, I do research with a very prominent adolescent anorexia clinic, and I would say it is hereditary because someone with a history of anorexia in the family is significantly more likely to develop it themselves. Almost all psychological disorders have a genetic component, and anorexia is no different. Obviously, not everyone with anorexia in the family will develop it, but twin studies show that there is a very high instance of genetic predisposition to anorexia. (This means that identical twins who were raised in different family envioronments had about the same chance of developing anorexia nervousa, meaning that it is not purely envioronmental factors that cause it) Also, lets say a mother with anorexia raises her own genetic children. Now, not only is there a genetic predisposition, but there are envioronmental influences that might lead to the children's development of anorexia because they will learn all about food and body image from their parents from a young age. So, the development of anorexia nervousa is not ONLY hereditary, but there is definately a genetic component to it.

I would have to say I think that it is, and isn't hereditary. I don't believe there necessarily is an actual and literal genetic component to the disease. However, in a way, it can be considered hereditary if you consider the implications and the power of thought among other environmental factors in developing a predisposition to the disease. If you have seen the film "what the bleep do we know" you probably are familiar with what I'm going to describe. In the film it described the actual study which examined the shape of water crystals tat were formed after being "exposed" to different thoughts, which composed of emotions, such as love and hate. What they found was that thoughts actually changed the shape of these crystals, changed. The results of this study go on and on and are incredible, but becomes especially interesting when considering it's implications. It raises the question: If thoughts can do that to water, and we are mostly water, what can thoughts do to our bodies? It literally gives much more meaning to the song "good vibrations". If a pregnant woman is continuously bombarding herself and her unborn fetus, or even child, with these "bad" vibrations especially surrounding a poor body image... it seems likely that the child will be affected. This aside, it seems overall too likely that this and other environmental factors surrounding the mother's poor body image and child will affect the child, and possible result in a predisposition to have the same disorder.

Studies indicate that genetic factors may influence up to fifty percent of variance for development of eating disorders including Anorexia Nervosa. Studies with experiments on mice and rodents have generally been dismissed as inaccurately testing hypotheses and cultural and social factors endemic within the disorder. source: http://www.eatingdisordersonline.com/explain/anorexiacauses.php

The mental part of it can be hereditary.

Doubtful. The medical profession loves to use "hereditary" as a blanket diagnosis for health issues they do not know the cause of - "just prescribe medication and send them on their way". It's been my personal observation that "acquired" diseases are caused by deficiencies of some kind. Anorexia is a disorder that involves how overweight a person perceives himself. It more than likely comes from a chemical imbalance in the brain. "If all the primary ingredients are available for its normal functions, the human body does not engage in making things that are bad for its survival." –Dr. Fereydoon Batmanghelidj, M.D.