Essay on Childhood Sexual Abuse and Eating Disorders

Incidences of Anorexia Nervosa have appeared to increase sharply in the USA, UK and western European countries since the beginning of the 60s (Gordon, 2001). The increasing prevalence of the disease has led the World Health Organisation to declare eating disorders a global priority area within adolescent mental health (Becker et al. 2011). Anorexia has in many ways become a modern epidemic (Gordon, 2000) and with a mortality rate of 10% per decade (Gorwood et al. 2003), the highest of any mental disorder (Bulik et al. 2006), it is an epidemic that social and biological scientists have been working tirelessly to understand.

Of the many problems faced by children and adolescents, few provoke such moral outrage as childhood sexual abuse. Many times, as on the television show “To Catch a Predator”, such abuse can be inflicted by strangers who may gradually become familiar with the child online. Sadly, however, often times the perpetrator of sexual abuse on children is someone much more familiar to the child- someone the child may even love.

What is a feminist approach to understanding eating disorders? Not all feminists have the same understanding of eating disorders. There are many different theories that are prevalent in feminist literature today. This web page will explore some of the different feminist perspectives about the cause of eating disorders in our culture.

In a study by Marchi and Cohen (1990) maladaptive eating patterns were traced longitudinally in a large, random sample of children. They were interested in finding whether or not certain eating and digestive problems in early childhood were predictive of symptoms of bulimia nervosa and anorexia nervosa in adolescence. Six eating behaviors were assessed by maternal interview at ages 1through 10, ages 9 through 18, and 2.5 years later when they were 12 through 20 years old. The behaviors measured included (1) meals unpleasant; (2) struggle over eating; (3) amount eaten; (4) picky eater; (5) speed of eating (6) interest in food. Also data on pica

An estimated 39 million survivors of childhood sexual abuse exist in America today (Darness2Light, 2009a ). This figure continues to grow daily as perpetrators of this crime continue in this destructive path. The definition of child sexual abuse is the force, coercion, or cajoling of children into sexual activities by a dominant adult or adolescent. Sexual abuse of children includes touching (physical) sexually including: fondling; penetration (vaginal or anal using fingers, foreign objects or offenders organs; oral sex, or non-physical contact including: sexual comments; indecent exposures; masturbating in a child’s presence; child prostitution or child pornography (Child Welfare, 2009a).

The possible relationship between sexual abuse and the development of an eating disorder has gained attention over the last few years. Researchers have attempted to clarify this potential link using a variety of population samples and research methodologies. As will be shown, the results of these investigations are rather diverse and sometimes inconclusive. In the following review of the literature, the complex relationship between sexual abuse and eating disorders will be examined while also discussing the methodological limitations of the various designs.

The two most common eating disorders are bulimia nervosa and anorexia nervosa. Both disorders, primarily affect young women, therefore the majority of the research on eating disorders has been done with women subjects. The onset of bulimia is between adolescence and early adulthood while the onset of anorexia is between early and late adolescence. Not only is the onset different but the disorders are unique. Bulimia nervosa is characterized by loss of control over eating which leads to food binges. These episodes are interspersed with episodes of purging, such as vomiting or laxative abuse, to keep weight down. The goal of anorexia is also to keep weight down , but to a

With children as early as age 7 showing dissatisfaction with their body, and as young as 9 starting dieting, eating disorders are a serious issue in our society. Taking a look at perceptions, behaviors, and medical issues associated with the disorders of anorexia and bulimia, scholars have tried to categorize and find answers to the problems which certain adolescents suffer. In this paper I focused on the two major eating disorders of anorexia and bulimia.

This studies goal was to examine the extent to which family environment and attachment styles are concurrently related to eating disorders.

An eating disorder is an illness that involves an unhealthy feeling about the food we eat. “Eating disorders affect 5-10 millions Americans and 70 million individuals worldwide” (www.eatingdisorderinfo.org 1). They also affect many people from women, men, children, from all ages and different races. People who have eating disorders usually see themselves as being fat when they really aren’t. This usually deals with women or teenage girls mostly. They watch television, movies, read articles in magazines, and see pictures of the celebrities whom they want to be like because they have the “ideal body” that everyone wants and craves for. The media makes us all think we need those types of bodies to be happy with ourselves, be more successful

This paper reviews the relationships among eating disorders, trauma, and comorbid psychiatric disorders, with a particular focus on posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). There have been a number of significant conclusions in the literature, applicable to clinical practice, which are essential to the understanding of the relationships between generic eating disorders and some types of trauma. These are summarized as follows: a) children's sexual assault is a non-specific risk factor for most eating disorders; b) the level of trauma linked to those eating disorders has been extended from the child's sexual assault to include a multitude of different forms of assault/abuse and; c) trauma is much more common in bulimic eating disorders compared to a non-bulimic disorder; d) As such, those findings linking eating disorders with traumatic ones have been extended to both male and female children and adults with eating disorders; e) findings linking eating disorders with trauma have been extended to both male children and adult males with eating disorders; f) several episodes or types of trauma are associated with eating disorders; g) All trauma is not always associated with severe eating disorders; h) trauma is associated with greater comorbidity (including

Many researchers have found that genetics are linked to eating disorders. Studies have shown that genetics are responsible for 56% of the onset of bulimia, anorexia, and binge eating (Johnson and Bulik). The Eating Disorder Review said that a person is four times more likely to become bulimic and twelve times more likely to become anorexic if he or she has a sister or mother who suffers from an eating disorder (Kittleson 44). Studies of identical twins have also

Child sexual abuse has been reported up to 80,000 times a year, but the number of unreported instances is far greater, because the children are afraid to tell anyone what has happened (American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry). Childhood sexual abuse is a traumatic experience affecting the lives of not only the victim, but those close to the victim as well. Many think there is only one person truly traumatized, but in fact, everyone involved is affected. The victim has to deal with their experience the rest of their lives. They may be more at risk for other mental issues as well, including depression. The family involved has to deal with its pain, often causing hardship and discord within the family. This is especially true

attractive and the media reinforces this statement." Young adolescent girls buy into this sensation and through doing so, set themselves up for failure. When these predisposing factors are combined with stressors and pressures, the cycle is begun and an eating disorder is formed.

Eating disorders tend to run in families and female relatives are the most often to be affected. Some recent studies from researchers found that mothers who are too concerned about their children’s weight and appearance, it may put them at increased risk of developing an eating disorder. (Hoffman). Ultimately, genetic research may prove to be the key to unlocking our understanding of environmental risk factors for eating disorders (Mazzeo and Bulik). Multiple studies have been undertaken to that show possible genetic likeliness toward developing eating disorders as a result of inheritance (News Medical).