Adolescent Eating Habits

At present, these eating disorders have an effect on roughly 25 million Americans, of which almost 25% are of the male gender. Out of all the psychological disorders, anorexia has the highest mortality rate. The whys and wherefores include malnourishment, substance abuse and reckless suicides. Eating disorders can happen to anyone; no matter whether they’re male or female, rich or poor, old or young. According to many researchers, eating disorders are caused by more than just food. There are numerous

Anorexia is a terrible disorder that ravages the body as it seems to bring comfort to the mind. A female anorexic tends to lose mostly body fat. Men primarily lose muscle tissue and tone. As this is destroyed it takes its toll on the body. Bone loss, heart muscle loss, and anemia are just a few of the ways this disorder affects the body. The two main causes of death with Anorexia are cardiac arrest and terminal dehydration. These are typically brought on by complications of starving the body of required nutrients for long periods of time.

Most people with anorexia have a distorted image of their body. An anorexic will look into the mirror and see fat, even if they are sickly thin. Most commonly, anorexia begins in the teen years. This may be related to the common self-image problems that many teens suffer from. Anorexia tends to be more common in females than in males, and early intervention seems to be the key when dealing with this disorder. When left untreated, anorexia can lead to a whole slew of physical problems. Health problems related to anorexia include osteoporosis, kidney damage or failure, heart problems, and even death. Anorexia also affects the brain, as a person starves themself their metabolism changes. This change in the body causes a person not to think clearly or make good decisions. As anorexia progresses, a person will begin to have irrational behavior. For example, a person suffering from anorexia will often make rules about the amount of food they are “allowed” to consume. Others may start to purge themselves after eating even the tiniest bit of food, which is known as Bulimia. Anorexia can also bring on another psychological disorder; Depression. Depression is a mental illness that causes a person to feel sad and hopeless most of the time. People that suffer from depression will lose interest in things that they previously enjoyed, speak slower than normal, have trouble concentrating and remembering things, and be preoccupied by death

Eating Disorders affect 5-10 million Americans, and thousands of people die each year from their complications. Although some groups are at a greater risk than others, eating disorders occur in people of all ages, races, and socioeconomic backgrounds. We do not know what causes eating disorders, but many factors have been identified that may play a role (Smolin and Mary Grosvenor, 40).

Eating Disorders affect over ninety percent of our population today. Yearly, they affect around nine million adults alone. Since it has such a widespread grasp it makes eating disorders the most silent killer of all psychological diseases. The psychological distortion behind it though is considered to be one of the most shrouded in mystery compared to other diseases rooted in mental instability.

is that the mortality prevalence rates are highest among those who are not under professional care: per 100 000 females, 370 die suffering from Anorexia Nervosa and 1500 women with Bulimia die.(2) The worldwide prevalence of eating disorders among athletes, 0-19% for men, and 6-45% for women, is higher than the prevalence within the general population.(3) According to the Trimbos Institute, the presence of an eating disorder at some point in time for Dutch civilians is 0.7%.(4) However no specific prevalence numbers are available

Eating disorders have become an increasing public health problem once thought to be an affliction amongst young women, now an epidemic across culture and gender boundaries. Anorexia gives rise to serious socio-economic and bio-psychological circumstances of our ever vast, growing society. Awareness of eating disorders have increased but perhaps only in proportion to its advancement of its research and treatment. That which still leaves us in a position for a much greater demand for education and heightened awareness of this perplexing disease.

Three Eating Disorders that will be discussed throughout the rest of this review will include, Anorexia Nervosa, Bulimia Nervosa and Binge Eating Disorder. The DSM_IV_TR describes the conditions under which these three eating disorders are characterized. Anorexia Nervosa is a very serious illness with severe implications in regards to health. It is classified by the DSM-IV-TR as weighing less than the third percentile for body mass index for ones age and sex, fearing weight gain, having a disturbed perception of body image and on hormonal contraception or the absence of menstruation (American Psychiatric Association, 2000). Bulimia Nervosa is a second eating disorder described by the

Eating disorders are serious psychological conditions with grave consequences for the individuals affected by them. Eating disorders have a 20% mortality rate, with anorexia accounting for approximately 5.1 deaths per 1000 persons and bulimia accounting for 1.74 deaths per 1000 persons (Arcelus, J., Mitchell, A.J., Wales, J., & Nielsen, S., 2011; Trent, Moreira,

Eating disorders were rarely heard of before the 1980s, but after that, they exploded everywhere. With the media constantly depicted “perfect” bodies, people have set unrealistic expectations for themselves. It is estimated that approximately 36 million women have an eating disorder. Over 5 million of those women are American. Although eating disorders know no boundaries, the majority of the people whom contract either of these illnesses are females ages 15-24. The most common eating disorder is binge eating, affecting about 3.5% of all women and 2% of all men. As the number of those affected continues to increase, so does to mortality rate. As mentioned before, eating disorders are the deadliest mental illness and are 12 times more deadly than all causes of death in females 15-24 years of

The first victim of Anorexia is often the bones. The disease most commonly develops in adolescence, right at the time when the body puts down critical bone mass. In only six months after anorexic behavior begins, there is already bone loss. But the most life-threatening damage is usually the havoc inflicted on the heart. As the body loses muscle mass, it loses heart muscle at a preferential rate making the heart smaller and weaker. Although the heart and the bones often take the brunt of the damage, anorexia is a multisystem disease. Virtually no part of the body escapes its effects. About half of all anorexics have low white-blood-cell counts, and about a third are anemic. Both conditions can lower the immune system's resistance to disease, leaving a person vulnerable to infections (Lee, 2008).

In recent years, it seems that the public has begun to pay more attention to eating disorders. This trend could be a consequence of the heightened nutrition and fitness craze that the 1990's has brought about, or possibly a result of more intense and conclusive research studies. More clearly defined definitions of anorexia and bulimia in the DSM-IV may also have contributed to better diagnosis of eating disorders.

Eating disorders have existed throughout history, with only slight variances in incidence and distribution. However, the frequency of eating disorders in the general population has been steadily increasing since the 20th century (Crash Course). More than 50% of people have revealed the use of unhealthy dieting techniques and chronic disordered eating patterns while at least 10% of people (in the United States) have been diagnosed with a clinically significant eating disorder (Stice, et al). As a result of the increased

Eating disorders are serious mental illnesses that are influenced by both genetic and environmental factors. Anorexia Nervosa is the most prevalent eating disorder marked by an inability to maintain a healthy body weight. No matter how much weight is lost the individual continues to strive for more weight loss and see themselves as fat even when they are severely underweight. Individuals experience an intense fear of gaining weight and refuse to acknowledge the seriousness of their low body weight. Assessing individuals with eating disorders is often challenging due to denial of the illness and their ability to hide signs and symptoms (Beidel, 2014.)

Eating disorders plagues the lives of many people mentally and physically. Eating Disorders are very common in the United States. More than eight million American men and women including children and adults suffer from eating disorders. There is more than one type of eating disorder. The following eating disorders are the most common ones found in the United States and other countries worldwide: Anorexia Nervosa, Bulimia Nervosa, and Binge Eating disorder. There are many factors that contributes to eating disorders and the treatments being done to help people who are suffering from eating disorders.