An Increase Of Eating Disorders Among African American Women Essay

Food. It is essential for survival. Without it, people die. However, oddly enough, many struggle to live without it to accomplish the standards that our culture has created for us. We are taught that being thin is perfection and will lead to a happier life. However, lurking are the health risks that one pays for obtaining the “perfect body”. Still, along with a distorted body image, others struggle with keeping weight down and fall into the diet fads that the world parades. From movies, magazines, and television, the media also sends us messages that being fat is bad and unhealthy while being thin and beautiful is acceptable. The impact of such influences has increased eating disorders in America. These disorders do not

In the article “Klaus Barbie, and Other Dolls I’d Like to See,” Susan Jane Gilman talks about how we create this doll that sends a message to girls that they have to look a certain way. Gilman talks about how Barbie sets the standard that girls have to be a tall, skinny, blonde, blue eyed, straight, white female (Gilman). It tells girls that if they were anything else, they were never going to be pretty enough or accomplish much because they do not look like the ideal woman. At another point in the article, Gilman talks about how Barbie has introduced other dolls that are different races but are only limited edition (Gilman). With these limited edition Barbie dolls, it furthers the fact that people who are not the stereotypical Barbie, are not as good. Since this ideal woman is now within the

Bingeing. Purging. Calorie counting. Excessive exercising. These are actions that are most commonly associated with eating disorders, which are psychological conditions affecting an individual’s eating habits. Though these conditions can appear in any age or gender group, they tend to be most prevalent in adolescent women. A large population of these young women happen to be college students dealing with problems such as body image issues, food insecurity, and other mental health disorders. Unfortunately, the number of college students with eating disorders is steadily rising in the United States, which is why it is important for colleges and universities to find solutions for it.

This paper is in reference to eating disorders in African American women, and how they differ to those of other minority groups. Through research, it was found that eating disorders are not as known in African American women, or women of minority due to cultural differences. Different studies were analyzed of African American women at different colleges, to verify that eating disorders were prevalent in the sample groups. It was concluded in several studies that obesity rates, racial identity, and body image were the determining factors of the eating disorders.

Eating disorders are sweeping this country and are rampant on junior high, high school, and college campuses. These disorders are often referred to as the Deadly Diet, but are often known by their more popular names: anorexia or bulimia. They affect more than 20% of females between the age of thirteen and forty. It is very rare for a young female not to know of someone with an eating disorder. Statistics show that at least one in five young women have a serious problem with eating and weight (Bruch, 25).

Eating disorders effecting American women have been on the rise in recent year. The alarming trend of increasing cases of these psychological disorders has sparked intellectual inquiry into their shared features. The rising amount of societal pressures that many women around the country feel have caused a lot of women to turn to food as a coping mechanism. Whether it is control exhorted over food or eating as a means to feel numb, women look to food to make themselves feel a certain way. Food, in modern culture, represents much more than just as a means of nourishing ones body. How individuals use food as a copping mechanism has in part lead to the exploitation of food. Three major eating disorders; Anorexia, Bulimia, and Binge Eating

According to the National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA), as many as 60 percent of children between ages 6 and 12 worry about weight gain, and half American teens think they’re overweight. (Turner, 2014) Girls want to lose huge amounts of weight because they think they will feel prettier when all there doing is damaging the inside of their body. Among adolescent girls, 1% to 3% have bulimia and 1% have anorexia. Only 5% to 15% of all people with anorexia or bulimia are male. (Harris, 2004) Most young females and males go through some type of eating disorder. A study in the Archives of General Psychiatry found that more than half a million teens have an eating disorder. (Turner, 2014)

There are many things that people think of when the words eating disorders are said. Many people do not know what an eating disorder actually is and what actually happenes when you have an eating disorder or how to detect a eating disorder. There are many types of eating disorders but they all have one thing in common, phsycological disorders. The main types of eating disorders are Anorexia Nervosa, Bulimia, and Bindge eating but are not limited to these. The main focus in theses eating disorders are food. Many eating disorder patients have problems with self body issues and/or self confidence. There are many problems with these eating disorders and it is a huge problem in the country today. This paper will tell you what a eating

Since the late 1950s, Barbie has come to represent the idealized American woman. She is tall, slender, and blonde. For most, this body type is unattainable and unrealistic. Woman come in all shapes, sizes, and hair colors. Who decided that Barbie was going to be the perfect woman? Obviously, not the vast majority of women that do not fit the Barbie-standard. This 1950s standard should not be what little girls think they should look like in 2016. Little girls need a broader example of achievable beauty.

This paper will talk about some of the things that people with eating disorders go through in their daily lives and give a general description of what exactly an eating disorder is and why it is important. Schwitzer Alan M., Bergholz Kim, Dore Terri, and Salimi Lamieh all talk about a few things that they did in order to prevent eating disorders among college woman as well as some of the treatment methods and preventative measure someone can take in order to prevent something like this from happening again. It will also talk about something called the “three-legged stool” which was created by Sackett et al. in 1996. The “three-legged stool” is a treatment method for eating disorders which considers research evidence, patient preference and values, and clinical expertise. There will also be some evidence included to explain why those three things are important in treating eating disorders. Carol B. Peterson, Carolyn Black Becker, Janet Treasure, Roz Shafran, and Rachel Bryant-Waugh all mention how these things will help optimize treatment of eating disorders because patients won’t be forced into doing something that they don’t enjoy in order to overcome their eating disorder. The last thing that will be talked about is a case study conducted by Joanna Steinglass, Karin Foerde, Katrina Kostro, Daphna Shohamy, and Timothy Walsh. This case study attempts to develop a new paradigm

When did a healthy body stop being beautiful? Approximately thirty million Americans have suffered from an eating disorder, yet most people do not understand the solemnity of them. (11) Eating disorders bring forth many harmful effects and even some destructive long term effects that very few people put into consideration. Eating disorders are mentally, emotionally, and physically deteriorating. There are many different reasons that a person might develop an eating disorder, and the attempt to recover from these disorders are exasperating. Eating disorders are not something that should be taken lightly. (8)

"Why dissallow the trendy images of women from being plastered ubiquitously?" one may ask. Banning this perception of women, unhealthily thin, will save the women of this great nation from eating disorders. Our women will be more confident in their own skin and not feel as pressured to live up to this image. We, as people of this land, see this problem but choose not to do anything. The medical care for people with eating disorders is inadequit, and too expensive, as it is. With girls and women trying so hard today, to look like what the media portrays, it is no wonder that our country's health is in a downward spiral. Trying to live up to these unreal expectations can result in anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and binge eating.

Women, men, and young children have been tricked into thinking that flawless beauty does exist by altering images into the impossible.

The relationship between ethnicity and eating disorder risk factors is a complex issue. There are many other variables that affect these two ideas, such as socioeconomic status, level of educational attainment, and acculturation. Flaws in studies such as unrepresentative and insubstantial sample size, and participation bias still have yet to be corrected for in order to obtain a more accurate understanding of the role ethnicity and its factors plays in eating disorders. Previous studies have suggested that the difference in eating disorder symptoms across ethnicities were negligible; however, the risk factors, such as the

When I was younger, I used to played with Barbie dolls. Personally, I never understood the controversy with these dolls until one of my elementary friends pointed out to me the body shape of the doll. Since I am African American female I tried to purchase dolls that resemble me. Barbie fits a negative stereotype of a how an average American woman supposes to look like as you stated in your blog. You provided great evidences to prove the point of the whole blog. As an additional note, I would have like to see an image the new Barbie dolls compared to the old Barbie. Overall I truly appreciate the fact that you chose this topic to write about for your