Eating Disorders Essay, Research Paper

Eating Disorders

What do you think when you hear eating disorders? You think only girls right?, wrong both males and females suffer from eating disorders. Between 10 – 20 percent of anorexia and bulimia survivors are male. But did you actually know that eight million Americans suffer from anorexia and bulimia. Of this eight million 85 percent of them are girls between the ages of thirteen and twenty. If this really surprises you , then just listen to this.. About 40 percent of nine and ten year old girls are trying to lose weight. All eating disorders occur for a reason and they can be prevented. Social, peer, and genetic pressures can all cause an eating disorder in anyone.

In conducting this research, eating disorders are really brought into focus. Having an eating disorder is something on one should deal with ; they are emotionally and physically harmful. Over coming an eating disorder requires a person that doesn t quit and is determined.

Determining warning signs us quite difficult if you don t know what to expect. The number of persons who experiment with excessive dieting, unparallel binging, eating laxatives, and self-induced vomiting far exceed the number of college students that develop eating disorders. The first problem you have to face is deciding whether or not the person in question is a falling ( or has fallen) survivor to an eating disorder. The person who is a victim to an eating disorder must

realize he or she has a problem.

The danger signs that a person might have an eating disorder are significant or extreme weight loss, regular visits to the bathroom after each meal, unusual swelling around the jaw, developing rapid mood shifts, making frequent excuses to skip meals or eating alone, and constantly discussing food , weight, and body shape continually. If you pay attention , these signs should not be hard to see. Also it is common to see and eating disorder in athletes. Three features of disordered eating and exercising in women athletes can cause especially dangerous situations. First, an eating disorder that excludes certain nutrients from the diet; second missing periods due to starvation and excessive exercise, third early osteoporosis, which causes broken bones.

Not only older people suffer but so do young ones. Approximately 80 percent of girls under the age on thirteen say they have already tried dieting. ( Moe p. 4) Although adolescence is the prime time for the development of an eating disorder, the teenage years are not the only time a disorder can develop, Eighteen is the average age for bulimia to begin. ( Moe p. 5) Many experts have observed that anorexia often begins when a teenager is moving into adulthood and facing bodily changes. By facing all of these changes with body and looks, eating disorders will probably develop because a girl may not like how she looks and it may make her feel better to lose weight. About 95 percent of the three thousand patients who have undergone treatments at the George Washington University Medical Center are females from middle and upper- class families. With an eating disorder your body doesn t always get the nourishment it needs, so adequate nourishment allows your body to preform vital processes for survival and health; however, in anorexia and bulimia sufferers, food moves beyond the role of nourishment for the body and starts to dominate their lives. Not only females suffer from eating disorders, but also

males suffer. 10- 20 percent of adolescent males in fact suffer also. Girls who participate in elite competitive sports where body shape and size are a factor ( ice-skating, gymnastics, crew, dance) are three times more at risk for eating disorders than any other sports. Boys who participate in similar sports or wrestling are also at increased risk. Many studies of adolescent girls have been conducted. A study of 238 junior and senior high school girls found 16 percent had full blown eating disorders and 33 percent showed serious symptoms, 40 percent needed counseling with the full blown and 65 percent of those with serious symptoms believed they did not have a problem. Counseling is only one way to help a person though an eating disorder. More than five million Americans suffer from eating disorders. Eating disorders affect everyone, not just teenage females. Whether a survivor of one yourself or not, you can and should always learn more about them. ( Macalester p.1)

Well, you have heard the saying, Like mother like daughter, This saying goes hand in hand for people with eating disorders. Kids whose parents constantly diet will probably do the same. About 40 percent of nine and ten year old girls are trying to lose weight. ( Hittner p. 45) A lot of this comes from genetic traits that have been passed down through generations. Genetics may be cause of anorexia: girls with anorexic siblings are ten to twenty times more likely than others to develop an eating disorder them selves. Those with family histories of alcoholism and/ or depression are also at risk. A news report called dieting America s Obsession. (Moe p. 25) Health and Beauty factors are big. People between the 1880’s and until 1930 considered plumpness a sign of health and beauty. A lot of the causes of an eating disorder are due to psychological, biological, and even social attitudes. Biological , social, and psychological factors are implicated in the causes if anorexia nervosa. The pressure on adolescents for more independent and increased social and sexual involvement has also been implicated in the development of anorexia nervosa. The pressure on adolescents for more independence and increased social and sexual in evolvement has also been implicated in the development of anorexia. I patient psychiatric programs for anorexia patients generally use a combination of behavioral therapy, individual psychotherapy, family education and therapy, and in some cases psychotripic medications. Clinicians have found some recent success treating these illnesses with antidepressants, which seem to mitigate the low self- esteem and anxiety commonly seen in eating disorder patients.

Teenagers who have chronic illnesses such as diabetes and asthma are most likely to be dissatisfied with their bodies and develop eating disorders. Most people with eating disorders lack confidence in themselves. An eating disorder can cause you to feel worthless or no good. On the other hand, you may have developed an eating disorder partly as a response to feelings of worthlessness. Having an eating disorder is the way some people avoid dealing with painful thoughts. ( Moe p. 7) Concerns about body image is another reason eating disorders occur. Perfect breasts, flawless skin, gleaming hair , slim legs-one after another these fetishes accumulate until the chief mantra for American girl hood was I hate my body. Concerns about body image are surfacing much earlier than in past generations. ( Hittner p. 86) Physical Fitness and Physical conditions play a big role in young girls. People in the nineties want to be thin and physically fit. They seem to be trying to obey the media s image: Be skinny. Weight loss attributed to anorexia may also cause harmful and potently life- threatening physical conditions. Many people with eating disorders exercise excessively to burn off calories. Excessive combined

with inadequate food intake places great strain on your heart.

In conclusion, as you can see that eating disorders are common among teenage girls and boys. An eating disorder is not only harmful to you , but also emotionally harmful to the people you love. Realizing that by making choices each os us has the power to change, even if we have made the wrong choices in the past