Glee star Naya Rivera has opened up on her struggle with anorexia in her memoir

Naya Rivera as Santana in Glee. Photo / Supplied

Naya Rivera struggled with anorexia as a teenager.

The Glee star has revealed she "avoided food at all costs" when her acting career slowed down and her parents split up and subsequently got back together again.

Writing in her memoir Sorry Not Sorry, she shared: "By the time I was a sophomore, I started feeling that what had begun as a game had maybe gone too far. I just avoided food at all costs. If my mom had packed a lunch for me, I'd either trash it or find some excuse to give it away."

However, the 29-year-old star admits she didn't realise it was such a big issue for her until she came to write about it.

Now that Naya Rivera's older, she's amazed by how normal she thought her anorexia was. Photo / Splash News

She added: "I was so young and it just seemed to be the norm. Everyone was going through similar stuff. I had no way of knowing if I was going through it worse. I was juggling my feelings and it makes me sad that there are girls still going through that 15 years after I went through it."

And the Devious Maids beauty - who has 11-month-old son Josey with her husband Ryan Dorsey - also opened up about the abortion she got back in 2010. She decided it would be best to terminate her pregnancy after splitting from Ryan to try and focus on her career.

She said: "It was very scary to open up about everything. It's not something a lot of people talk about, but I think they should. I know some people might read it and say, 'What the hell?' But I hope someone out there gets something out of it."

Whilst Naya addresses some big topics in her memoir, she hopes her son would like to read it one day.

She told People magazine: "I hope Josey will read it one day. I hope it gives him a better perspective on the issues women face."