Eating
disorders have become a big problem in today’s society. Up to 24 million people
in the U.S. suffer from eating disorders. This number includes an extremely
wide variety of ages and all genders. The two most common eating disorders are
anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa. Anorexia nervosa is the act of
restricting food from their diet. Bulimia nervosa is often presented with
moments of binge eating followed by
purging. Both of these cause extreme decreases in both physical and mental
health. There are many causing factors in today’s society and the numbers of
victims that fall to this illness is still increasing.
The
first causing factor is socio-cultural. In today’s society the media has
glorified thinness and outward beauty. It has portrayed being thin and
beautiful as the foundation to which success and love firmly stand. With their
endless ads for diet pills or the unrealistic bodies of models full of
silicone, they have shaped the minds of people into believing that being thin
is the definition of beauty. These constant and relentless messages have caused
many people to fall victim to the illness that is an eating disorder. On top of
these ads, the food industry also plays its role in aiding the development of
eating disorders. They advertise their highly processed foods and make them
cheap and convenient for everybody to eat. The problem? Throw this in with the
pressures to be skinny, and you are presented with the never-ending vicious
circle of disordered eating caused by today’s society. The U.S. is known for
its unhealthy diet and quick fix diet pills, but these are only adding to a
bigger problem. Many people in America are eating unhealthy, highly processed
foods for their diet, so when it comes to the pressure of maintaining a thin
figure, they are thrown into diet pills and disordered eating skills to fight
against their poor food choices. The crowd most heavily influenced by these
ways of thinking are young, teenage girls. With the strong desire to fit in
with their peers, many girls are driven to unsafe measures to maintain what
society tells them is “perfect”.
Another
leading cause factor is psychological. Due to the lack of education on eating
disorders, many people believe that eating they are caused mainly by the desire
to be thin. They have this picture in their head that a woman (even though men
make up 10-15% of victims) just wakes up one day and decides she wants to be
thin and makes the conscious decision right then and there to stop eating. This
could not be further from the truth. Many people do not truly notice or
remember the day their eating disorder “started”. It is a process of the mind
that twists into a psychotic way of thinking. Personality traits have been
studied and linked to eating disorders. One trait that has sparked a lot of
interest is the trait of perfectionism. Perfectionists have a strong desire to
be in control at all times and have extremely high standards for themselves.
Their desire for control can often translate into their diet. Anorexia nervosa
is very common in linkage with this personality trait. There is nothing more
controlling than controlling what goes into your body. The other common psychological
state that has been studied is depression. It has been found that loneliness
and sadness can cause excessive food intake, otherwise known as binge eating.
This binge eating is often followed with feelings of guilt and remorse, and can
sometimes end with a round of purging, or vomiting. Because of the excessive
eating it can cause, depression is often linked with bulimia nervosa.
The
physical effects of anorexia nervosa include bone density reduction, extreme
weight and muscle loss, severe dehydration, kidney failure, and heart failure.
Some effects of bulimia nervosa are tooth decay, peptic ulcers, esophageal and
stomach cancer, and heart failure. Too many people have succumb to eating
disorders because they were not given the proper treatment or support. While
many believe that one can never be “cured” from an eating disorder, managing
and maintaining health is possible. Support and rehab are crucial for someone
that has developed an eating disorder in getting healthy again. I think the
most important preventative is educating on the signs and symptoms and how to
get help. Unfortunately in society eating disorders are looked at as a sign of
weakness and this causes many people to stay silent about their eating disorder
and suffer until it is too late. Learning to love yourself and understand what
the true meanings of health and beauty are can not only help someone feel
better but can save people’s lives.
Sizer,
F., Whitney, E. Nutrition: Concepts and controversies. (12th ed.). (2011)
Minneapolis/St. Paul: West Pub.
Halmi, K.,
Sunday, S., Strober, M., Kaplan, A., Woodside, B., Fichter, M., Treasure, J.,
Berrettini, W., Kaye, W. Perfectionism in Anorexia Nervosa: Variation by
Clinical Subtype, Obsessionality, and Pathological Eating Behavior. (2000). Retrieved
on March 28, 2015 from http://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/doi/abs/10.1176/appi.ajp.157.11.1799
Hesse-Biber, S.,
Leavy, P., Quinn, C., Zoino, J. The Mass Marketing of Disordered Eating and
Eating Disorders: The Psychology of Women, Thinness, and Culture. Women’s Studies International Forum.
(2006). Retrieved on March 28, 2015 from http://faculty.uml.edu/mduffy/48.240/Hesse%20Biber%20Eating%20Disorders%202006.pdf
Garner, D., Garfinkel,
P. Socio-Cultural Factors in the Development of Anorexia Nervosa. Psychological Medicine. (1980).
Retrieved on March 28, 2015 from http://www.eat-26.com/Docs/Garner-Sociocultural-Factors-1980.pdf
NEDA. https://www.nationaleatingdisorders.org/health-consequences-eating-disorders
I am glad you pointed out that men suffer from eating disorders as well. I feel like society only focuses on women suffering from the disorders. While they do make up the majority of people afflicted with eating disorders men are still a part of it and need help as well. I think you could add more about what men deal with during eating disorders. Men have a different kind of pressure on them than women do. As you stated in your post, women are meant to, according to the media, strive to be thin in order to be beautiful. Men, on the other hand, are shown to be super muscular and toned in order to be attractive. The media puts a lot of pressure on both sexes to obtain the ideal body type, which pushes a lot of people to eating disorders. Overall really well written post!
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, this problem is all too common in America. One of my cousins suffered with an eating disorder for a long time when she was younger. A lot of the causes that you gave for anorexia nervosa applied to her situation as well. The feeling of control over deciding what ultimately goes into your body is a big part of this disease. At the time, her parents had just gotten a divorce and this could have been her way of exerting control over her life during a time when so many things were happening that she didn’t have control of. Another important aspect you touched on was society. Too many people are concerned with being skinny when what they really should be focusing on is being healthy. A good follow-up piece to write on this topic would be to discuss what healthy weights are and good strategies to achieve these weights. This could educate people about safe ways to diet and to know when a healthy weight has been reached.
ReplyDeleteThis post is very relevant in today's society. I know that I grew up thinking that being thin was the only way you could feel good about your body image. Body image is a huge issue among many many people, especially vulnerable teenagers. People are always made fun of being overweight or too skinny, so then what is the ideal body? The fact that we even think about having an "ideal body" is just sad. Everyone is different. There are people who lead healthy lifestyles that are still slightly overweight, so who are we to judge? It is very important to educate people about body image and eating disorders. My brother in law is an MMA fighter and I see him cut weight like crazy. He does not have a healthy diet. He will cut down to an extremely low weight for his body size and then after his fight he starts eating unhealthy again (since he's so restricted for so long, he over does it) and then gains all of his weight back. I believe that this is an eating disorder. You wouldn't think it is, since it's for a sport but I truly think there is a problem with certain sports that force you to lose or gain weight to be successful because it always seems to take a turn in an unhealthy way. Overall, this post was well written and touches on a topic that is unfortunately not discussed in depth as it should be. There are too many uneducated people that are unaware of how certain supplements and strict dieting can affect their body.
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