Eating Disorder

Many people are unaware of the background of eating disorders. Women are more likely than men to develop an eating disorder and they usually develop in childhood before the age of 20 (Ross-Flanigan 1). Women as well as men can develop an eating disorder; it is just more likely for a woman to develop one. Eating disorders are usually developed in adolescent or childhood years when a person is influenced the most. Also “Eating disorders are psychological conditions that involve overeating, voluntary starvation, or both. Anorexia nervosa, anorexic bulimia, and binge eating are the most well-known types of eating disorders” (Ross-Flanigan 1). Many people assume that an eating disorder is when a person staves themselves; they do not realize that it can involve overeating as well. Some eating disorders also involve purging, but not all. People with an eating disorder fear gaining weight even when they are severely underweight. They do not lack an appetite (Ross-Flanigan 1). These people are

This means that a person will take in huge amounts of food without feeling or having the power to stop. Binge eaters even sometimes eat when they're not even hungry and continue even when they're full. Anorexia is another eating disorders where a person is very scared of gaining weight and see themselves differently than others when they look in the mirror. People that suffered from anorexia either have a ridiculous diet, like only eating a few nuts and carrots through the day, to prevent them from gaining weight or purging. Bulimia can get confused with binge eating disorder, but bulimia is when a person has moments where they eat for no reason, it's periodic. Explaining why people say that you can eat your feelings. After one eats, they feel guilty and decide to regurgitate.

To be diagnosed with eating disorder, someone must meet certain criteria. The criterion for diagnosis slightly varies depending on if you are referring to people who (A) fear gaining weight, and have significant weight loss,(B) eating a huge amount of food , then use laxative to remove the binged food, (C) the use of excessive exercise and fasting in order to remove or to reduce the amount of calories consumed, and (D) distorted body image, no matter how thin they become, they still see themselves as fat, or not thin enough. The onset of of symptoms begins usually in early adolescence with the diagnostic of disturbed Body image.

According to the Mayo Clinic (2016), eating disorders are “conditions related to persistent eating behaviors that negatively impact your health, your emotions, and your ability to function in important areas of life.” One such eating disorder is anorexia nervosa. Not to be confused with anorexia, which is simply a general loss of appetite that can be attributed to many medical ailments, anorexia nervosa is a serious eating disorder and mental illness (Nordqvist, 2015). Anorexia nervosa is estimated to affect about .9% of women and .3% of men in their lifetime (“Eating Disorder Statistics & Research,” n.d.). In general, the disorder is commonly characterized by a distorted body image or self-concept, critically low weight (with respect to the patient’s height and age), and an irrational fear of becoming fat or an intense desire to be thin. There are two subtypes to this eating disorder: restrictive and binge/purge. In the restrictive type, the individual limits caloric intake and may compulsively over-exercise. In the binge/purge type, the individual consumes a considerable amount of food in a short period of time (binging) and then deliberately vomits (purging), takes laxatives, or fasts intensely in order to compensate for the food eaten (“General Information: Anorexia Nervosa,” n.d.). In either case, anorexia nervosa is undoubtedly a dangerous and alarming illness.

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

Nowadays, when people emphasis more and more on healthy lifestyles, both exercise and food intake have become a big part of the consideration. With the goals of being fit and losing weight, some people eat irregularly or do not eat at all. As a result, eating disorders seem more often on news and reports. However, some people still view it as a joke. With the increasing number of people diagnosed with eating disorders, people should raise awareness on the effects of eating disorders and treat them seriously.

It has been found that eating disorders are most common in the western and industrialized culture where food is abundant. This is because these individuals attach a lot of importance to their physical appearance and are willing to do anything to get the dream figure. An eating disorder is not just watching what one eats and exercising on a daily basis but is rather an illness that causes serious disturbances in eating behaviour, such as great and harmful cutback of the consumption of food as well as feelings of serious anxiety about their body shape or mass. They would start to stop themselves to go out anywhere just so that they could work out and burn all of the calories of a meal or snack that they had scoffed earlier. Two of the most common eating disorders are anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa. The regular description of a patient with either disease would be a youthful white female, with an upper social standing in a predictably socially competitive environment.

Anorexia is a very serious eating disorder that causes your mind and your body to be completely obsessive about staying thin; also there have been a few cases where patients have taken self-starvation so far that it becomes life threating. There are many signs and symptoms to anorexia, a few include but are not limited to, “the refusal to eat, the denial of hunger, social withdrawal, unhealthy thin appearance, and lack of emotions” (Eating Disorders). Bulimia eating disorder is

Eating disorders are severe disturbances in eating behaviors, such as eating too little or eating too much. “Anorexia nervosa affects nearly one in 200 Americans in their lives (three-quarters of them female)” (Treating anorexia nervosa). Anorexia, when translated into Greek means “without appetite” which is not true for all suffering from anorexia most people with this disorder have not lost their appetite they simply have to ignore it. People with anorexia have an intense fear of gaining weight and have convinced themselves that they are overweight even if they are the opposite of overweight. Since the way that they view themselves is in a negative light they starve themselves and put their lives at risk. “In the most severe

“Bulimia Nervosa is characterized by massive food binges followed by self-induced vomiting or use of diuretics and laxatives to avoid weight gain.” (Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia)

Each year millions of people in the United States are affected by serious and sometimes life-threatening eating disorders. The vast majorities are adolescents and young adult women. Approximately one percent of adolescent girls develops anorexia nervosa, a dangerous condition in which they can literally starve themselves to death. Another two to three percent develop bulimia nervosa, a destructive pattern of excessive overeating followed by vomiting or other " purging " behaviors to control their weight. These eating disorders also occur in men and older women, but much less frequently. The consequences of eating disorders can be severe. For example, one in ten anorexia nervosa leads to death from starvation, cardiac arrest, or

Adolescence is a period of transition between childhood and adulthood. It is a time of rapid physical, cognitive, social and emotional development. This period usually begins at about age ten and lasts until the late teens or early twenties. Adolescence is commonly seen as a period in life in which individuals are trying to find and develop their identity, and their actions can easily be influenced by their peers and the media. The importance of eating disorders to pediatric nursing lies in the fact that adolescents are in the Identity vs. Role Confusion stage of psychosocial development. This is a vital time, and care must be taken to protect the child's sense of identity by preventing or treating eating disorders.

In US today, over 30 million men, women, and children suffer from an eating disorder. The most common eating disorders are; Anorexia, Binge eating, and Bulimia. Why do people resort to something so life threatening? Many people are turning towards eating disorders because they don’t accept who they are. Eating disorders are a mental illness that can have dangerous effects on the human body, and several people are involved in this bad habit.

Men and women with bulimia nervosa have recurring and frequent occurrences of eating unusually large amounts of food and feel a nonexistence of control over these occurrences. This behavior is followed by binge eating that compensates for the overeating such as forced vomiting or excessive use of diary laxatives. With anorexia nervosa, people will look sickly but people with bulimia nervosa they usually maintain what are considered a healthy weght. With all eating disorders, they fear weight gain and want to lose it in any way

Sometimes the binge eating is followed by self-induced vomiting and/or the use of laxatives. The repeated undereating and overeating in bulimia patients usually results in a suboptimal bodyweight. In comparison to anorexia, bulimia patients are often easier to comply with treatments because most of them are ashamed of their binge eating. Depression and anxiety disorders are also significant in bulimia patients. Researches suggested that the incidence rate of bulimia increased sharply between the year 1980 and 1983 and remained quite constant till 1990, but had a threefold increase in 1993. Atypical eating disorders are similar to anorexia and bulimia, but just do not meet the full criteria for the diagnosis. For example, the weight of the patient could be just close to the threshold, or she still has her menstrual