Eating Disorders Are Responsible For The Rise Of Eating Disorder

In the essay “The Globalization of Eating Disorders” by Susan Bordo speaks about eating disorders. In society today appearance is a huge factor. Even though appearance has always been a major thing but now day’s people take it to the extreme when trying to have a certain body image. Now day’s people think beauty is whatever is on the outside, instead of the inside and the outside. Most people go on crazy strict diets, surgery and some go through starvation in order to become a certain body size. Eating disorders are becoming more in effect now and not just in the United States , but happens to be going worldwide and not only with just the women, but now with men as well. Within the essay Bordo’s explains about how the body image, media, and culture influence the standard of the beauty leads to eating disorder. Another factor is family that causes someone to form an eating disorder. Those four factors are the main key roles that play apart on how eating disorders are being used.

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.

A very prominent and controversial issue related to media-idealized images is that of eating disorders and eating problems. Eating problems include binge eating, purging, and unhealthy eating problems. These disorders are seen in young adolescents who are at a very fragile stage of life. Teenagers experience bodily changes as well as peer pressure and new experiences of going into high school. According to Dakanalis et al. the media portrays individuals with an extremely thin build for females and a slim-muscular build (i.e., muscles along with minimal body fat) for males is considered to be the cause of body displeasure and eating pathology. There is no solid evidence to prove that the media is to blame for the degree of eating disorder symptoms and negative body-image feelings that many feel, hence the reason it continues to be a highly debated topic. There has although, been continuous research and theories comprised over objectification. This occurs when men and women are sexually objectified. A person is treated as a body, where beauty and attractiveness of a person are important and valued. This theory can be found nearly anywhere because of the amount and variety of social interaction. It is common because of the way media represents body images. The media has ideals of men and women’s body images and individuals are compared to how well

Nanci, H. (n.d). Athletes' hunger to win fuels eating disorders. USA Today. Retrieved October 4, 2012, from http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?vid=4&hid=108&sid=31311eaf-b919-4f19-89a3-14bb34d54865%40sessionmgr114&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=rch&AN=J0E127639281306

eating disorder behaviors have changed. These behaviors have been evident throughout history however, they were not diagnosed as eating disorder., Bulimic behaviors were routinely practiced in in ancient Greek cultures, spiritual fasting was also recorded in the Middle ages (Marky, 2004). Anorexia Nervosa was not recognized by the medical community as an actual medical disorder until 1970, with Bulimia Nervosa not being recognized until 1979 (Miller, 1999.) Prior to this eating disorders were not recognized in culture, and it is culture that establishes eating disorder behaviors abnormal. Today’s culture does recognize eating disorders as the most deadly form of mental illness however, culture also contributes to the stigma against eating

Society has made it a normality to judge people based off of their looks. Culture has been identified as one of the etiological factors leading to the development of eating disorders. Several studies have identified sociocultural factors within American society that are associated with the development of eating disorders (Healthcare). Eating disorders have always been present, historical accounts suggest that eating disorders may have existed for centuries, with wide variations in rates. According to National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders, "Genetics, environmental factors, and personality traits all combine to create risk for an eating disorder" (1). However, epidemiological studies have suggested that the incidence of eating disorders among adolescent has increased over the last 50 years. Media has shown to have more of an impact with eating disorders in today's culture compared to past societies (Geary). An experiment was preformed showing how changes in the body weight and shape of Playboy centerfolds over the past two decades. According to Katzmarzyk, "Given the perception of Playboy centerfolds as culturally 'ideal' women, the notion that 70% of them are underweight highlights the social pressures on women to be thin and helps to explain the high levels of body dissatisfaction and

Eating disorders (e.g., anorexia nervosa, bulimia) are not rare in today’s society. They have become increasingly common among young women. Research indicates that there is a link between the media’s representation of “the perfect body” as well as ideals of attractiveness with dissatisfaction of body image and eating disorders (Ferguson, Munoz, Garza, & Galindo, 2013). In this current literature review, I will focus on the impact of eating disorders among female collegiate student-athletes with an emphasis on how sports can play an influential role in the development of eating disorders. Female collegiate student-athletes are at risk of developing eating disorders not only because of societal pressures on women to be thin, but also due to sport-specific pressures to change their body weight, size or shape. Factors that contribute to sport culture and pressure on female athletes include performance anxiety, revealing uniforms, and coaches’ influences on their athletes (Coker-Cranney & Reel, 2015).

In longing to reach the norm many people fall victim to these detrimental illnesses. Sadly, women are more subject to these eating disorders than men, the number of men suffering from eating disorders is on the rise. Our culture puts pressure on each of its inhabitants to attain this ideal body type that is unrealistic for most people. The images that pollute television and magazines make us all feel inadequate if we don't meet the credentials of slenderness; therefore, continuing the role of our society in the development of eating disorders.

In her essay, “The Globalization of Eating Disorders,” Susan Bordo informs her audience of the growing trends in eating disorders. Through her argument, Bordo illustrates the cruel identity of body-image distortion syndrome while she searches for a solution to the eating-disorder problem by looking to its birthplace in culture. Making use of several examples and scenarios, facts and statistics, and appeals to pathos and logos to construct her argument, Bordo shows a strong intent on eradicating the growing crisis in a reasonably sound argument.

Stereotypes Eating disorders are complex illnesses that are affecting adolescents with increasing frequency. These illnesses are abnormal eating habits that may involve either insufficient or excessive food intake and which have as consequence the detriments of the individual's physical and mental health. We live in a society in which is shown that happiness and success come on thin and gorgeous people. Skinny models in fashion magazine and on publicities are one of the main causes of eating disorders on teenagers. During adolescence, a particularu vulnerable time to the development of an eating disorder, the influence of peers are very important.

When looking at the correlation between people with eating disorders and athletes, it can be seen that “both groups are characterized by perfectionism, high self-expectations, competitiveness, hyperactivity, repetitive exercise routines, compulsiveness, drive, a tendency to depression, body image distortions, and a preoccupation with weight and dieting ” (Bachner-Melman et. al, p. 628). In a study published by the Official Journal of the American College of Sports Medicine, it was found that anorexic behaviors and eating disorders in general are frequently found in three types of athletes which are all present on the college sport level; “obligatory” runners, elite athletes, and athletes that partake in aesthetic sports. An “obligatory” runner is one who runs more because they are obsessed with it rather than for competition. Elite athletes are those who are playing at the highest level available to them, such as varsity athletes that are under an enormous amount of pressure. It was found that almost 20% of elite female athletes and 8% of elite male athletes are at a highly increased risk for developing an eating disorder (“How Do Coaches Deal With Athletes With Disordered Eating?”). Finally, aesthetic sports are those in which participants are judged not only objectively on their abilities but also subjectively on aesthetic appearance. These include

Eating disorders are becoming a major problem today, with the pressures of society and cultural images of thinness. Males and Females are facing pressures of meeting these expectations of these of societal and cultural images. Athletes are no exception. Although participation in sports may help to improve self-esteem, the pressures of weight and image in sports can add to the cultural and societal pressures that already exist causing eating disorders in Athletes.

“eating disorders are a significant mortality and morbidity in young people in modern industrialised societies.

Hudson, Hirripi, Pope and Kessler’s (2007) research indicates that the average onset of anorexia nervosa is 19 years old, but can develop as young as 14 years old, and women are more likely to develop anorexia nervosa than men. Some studies indicate that anorexia affects whites more than Hispanics, African Americans and Asians; however it crosses cultures and socially diverse populations (APA, 2013). According to the DSM 5, Anorexia nervosa predominantly occurs in developed, high-income countries such as in the United States, as well as in many European countries, Australia, New Zealand, and Japan. Individuals who present with weight concerns that develop eating and feeding disorders varies substantially across cultural contexts. One study indicated that that “the ‘spread’ of Western values regarding slimness (fat phobia) is primarily responsible for the development of anorexia nervosa in non-Western societies” (Rieger et al., 2001). Rieger et al (2001) also looked at the medical records of Asian women and found the absence of fat phobia; the rationale for dietary restriction was commonly related to other external factors. The WHO (2004) also reports that female athletes, ballet students, fashion models and culinary students are at risk of developing anorexia nervosa; unhealthy dieting and society’s

Eating disorders have been widely regarded as a hinderance to the psychological well-being and physical development of adolescents and adults alike. The question of what could lead someone to such extremes, however, has been up for debate. It’s been argued that the majority of factors said to have contributed to the development of eating disorders are sociocultural.