Eating Disorders Essay

Beauty standards in the media are one of many reasons feeding and eating disorders are a rising problem. The unrealistic body types of being extremely thin, in pop culture, are influential factors for many teens, especially teen girls. According to the Diagnostic Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fifth edition (DSM-5), anorexia nervosa is a “restriction of energy intake, intense fear of gaining weight, and a disturbance in the perception of one’s body size” (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). Individuals diagnosed with anorexia tend to place a high value on their shape and weight, which can interfere with their daily lives. Individuals diagnosed tend to view of their body shape in a distorted representation. The motivation to become

Promotion by the media of the extraordinarily thin body types has been linked to the steady rise of eating disorders, especially among adolescents (Ballaro & Wagner, 2017). Experts believe that there are more than ten million females suffering from some sort of eating disorder and that the problems are happening in patients of younger and younger ages. The gap between the average woman’s body and the ideal body is much larger than before (Spitzer, Henderson, & Zivian, 1999). Ninety four percent of characters in the United States media, are thinner than the average woman (Gonzalez-Lavin & Smolak, 1995). The average American woman is only 5’4” tall and weighs approximately 165 pounds (Martin 2010). The media depicts happiness, wealth and success associated to unrealistic body types (Tiggemann, 2002). Not only does the media display this image, it also exhaustively provides information to encourage achievement of it as well. Whether through dieting, exercise or mild to extreme cosmetic surgery for body sculpting, women are feeling the pressure that they need to be thin and often take even the most dangerous methods to obtain this. Considering that these delusional ideals are nearly impossible for most average women, without choosing unhealthy and harmful behaviors, eating disorder theorists have proclaimed that media is supporting these habits (Levine & Smolak, 1998). It is estimated that 10-15% of girls and women between the ages of 9 and 19 are affected by eating disorders. Though the death rates vary from different studies, one thing is for sure; eating disorders can have many health risks, including death. With the unrealistic ability to achieve the super thin body image many women are still turning to these harmful methods in order to try; thus resulting in death of someone every 62 minutes as a result (Eating Disorders Coalition,

Society has focused on eating disorders from both ends of the spectrum, and for a majority of the time the light was on those who ate too little or not at all. Magazines and television commercials have been flooded with too thin women for years, and they were respected and idolized in the fashion community, and in everyday life. People became obsessed with thinness and began to construe a false sense of normality when confronted with an overly thin individual. Searching for the perfect weight has been an ongoing issue throughout society for men and women for decades, and has never seemed to lose its popularity. Society applauds those who can keep off the weight and seem to view unhealthy individuals through a rose colored lense. America’s Next Top Model consists of the thinnest, most beautiful women who are striving to be the next big thing. These women are underweight and work hard to maintain an overly slim physique, and are idolized by millions. Weight loss is a constant struggle for millions of people and are in a constant cycle of dieting too much or intaking more calories than someone should. “There is a slippery slope from dieting to disease, as the 7 million girls and women suffering from eating disorders in this country will attest.” (Martin 1) For generations society has deemed “too thin” to be normal, and has led

“Michelle M. Lelwica author of The Religion of Thinness: Satisfying the Spiritual Hungers Behind Women’s Obsession with Food and Weight declared that ‘Thinness is worshipped in American culture. Unrealistic body images are promoted in the media and entertainment resulting in greater numbers of women and men who feel ‘too fat’ and suffer from eating disorders’” (Shell 1). Eating disorders are characterized by abnormal or disturbed eating habits such as anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and binge eating. Eating disorders have several causes including behavioral, psychological, and social factors, and they frequently appear during adolescence or early adulthood, but it may also develop earlier or later in life. In today’s culture media has a more powerful presence than ever before; this causes the individual to be constantly bombarded by what the media portrays as a “good” body. The mass communication transmits both positive and negative messages about body image to the public. The general public unaware of what a positive or negative body image can do in mental and physical health end up trying to meet those unrealistic standards, thus, so inducing harmful lifestyles. Eating disorders can be caused by sociocultural incitements such as unrealistic standards, set by society and culture, and lack of knowledge about positive and negative body image, but regulations and education must be established to help reduce the problems.

Eating disorders are subjective to each individual’s personal experiences, with that said; there are common influences which may contribute to the disorder. The transition into adolescents can be a confusing time for the individual, both physically and mentally. As the adolescent’s body begins to rapidly change during puberty, this physical transformation can lower self-esteem and raise self-consciousness. Adding to this confusing time for the adolescent is pressure from society. Adolescents are exposed to various media outlets where the ideal body image is promoted and often times reflect a thin or smaller appearance. This exposure leads to the adolescent comparing their changing physically appearance to the standard set in the media.

According to the National Eating Disorders Organization “Over five million American men and women suffer from eating disorders. 42% of 1st-3rd grade girls want to be thinner and over one-half of teenage girls and nearly one-third of teenage boys use unhealthy weight control behaviors such as skipping meals, fasting, smoking cigarettes, vomiting, and taking laxatives.” (National Eating Disorders.org) Dieting and striving for thinness has become a new obsession in our culture over the years. While there is nothing wrong with maintaining a healthy lifestyle and losing a few extra pounds, there is

Four out of every ten people in the United States have personally experienced an eating disorder or have known someone who has (Statistics&Research). Society tells adolescent girls and women that they have to have the “perfect” body type to be loved. Girls and women are told that they must be skinny, have a flat stomach, a thigh gap, long hair, perfect skin, long eyelashes, perfect eyebrows, and be a certain height to be considered beautiful. Society wants females to look like barbie dolls instead of humans. They set unattainable standards and judge women when they cannot achieve those standards.

The most commonly known eating disorders are anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa. Anorexia nervosa can be defined as “a serious, potentially life-threatening eating disorder characterized by self-starvation and excessive weight loss.” People with anorexia have an intense fear of gaining weight and are obsessed with the way they look. These people either exercise excessively or to prevent them from obtaining any more weight, they will restrict the amount of food they eat. This can lead to a

There are a few causes to eating disorders, but one of the biggest ones is how the media portrays body images. With photo shopped pictures and thinspirations, young girls see these and think they are realistic. “The effect of media on women’s body dissatisfaction, thin-ideal internalization, and disordered eating appears to be stronger among young adults than children and adolescents. This may suggest that long-term exposure during childhood and adolescence lays the foundation for the negative effects of media during early adulthood,” (National Eating Disorder Association). Everywhere they look, there are images of skinny woman on the internet, magazines covers, and in advertisements on TV. Unfortunately, women are given this image to aspire to and an idea of what is visually perfect. In reality,

In general, the main victims of theses above-mentioned eating disorders are adolescent women or those females who are in the phase of young adulthood ("Eating Disorders," 2009). However, eating disorders are not uncommon among men. It is believed by some researchers that chemical disproportions in the brain cause anorexia nervosa and bulimia. On the other hand, many believe that societal ideals that exceedingly give importance to thinness (skinniness) have originated

Eating Disorder – a combination of 14 letters that has the power to rock the life of the person who has it. Some of the most common eating conditions are anorexia, bulimia, and binge-eating disorder. According to the LA Times, “In 2009 the government published data that showed that kids under 12 were the fastest-growing population of patients hospitalized for eating disorders.” Not only are eating disorders becoming more popular and not in a positive way, but also the teens who have them getting them at a younger age. Eating disorders are a growing epidemic among teens, and it’s spreading to the younger generation; some of the most common causes of these disorders are social, mental, and familial influences.

The pressure of being thin, beautiful and simply just looking perfect has become a major dispute in Americas culture. Television, Magazines and social norms effect young kids in the way they see themselves and now has turned into a main health concern. Seeing other people who you think may look perfect, is deceiving to many young girls as they think they are either overweight or just not good enough. With implying that it might result in some type of eating disorder, such as anorexia nervosa. This obsession of being thin has rapidly increased over the years and is still accelerating.(DSM) This type of disorder, mainly appearing in females has over five million cases and one million in males.(family dr) Most kids with anorexia are usually

     An eating disorder is any of various psychological disorders, such as anorexia nervosa or bulimia, which involves insufficient or excessive food intake. They are a silent epidemic and a exceedingly negative response to a misinterpretation of one’s role in the world. Adolescents with eating disorders are usually convinced they’re ugly, worthless, and untalented. While some

The other major type of eating disorder is Anorexia Nervosa. Anorexia Nervosa is an eating disorder characterized by constant dieting, rapid weight loss and the feeling of being too fat during weight loss. Most anorexics are women and teenage girls, who see themselves as being overweight even though they are deathly underweight. The term "Anorexia Nervosa" means loss of appetite due to nerves, but the people with anorexia do not actually lose their appetite until the late stages of their starvation. Until then, they do feel hungry but they will not eat. There are numerous physical signs of anorexia, but there are four main ones. There is rapid loss of body fat, wasting away of body fat, pale dry skin , and irregular heart beat. An anorexic may also have dehydration and fainting may occur.

Every generation has a set of values that they believe make a person beautiful. In the 1980’s it was considered beautiful to be a curvy woman. A woman with a large chest and full hips was the ideal women, such as Selena Quintanilla. The difference between then and now is, women could escape this if needed. Today it is impossible to ignore the stick thin, supermodels, such as Kendall Jenner. They are on TV, Clothing stores, and magazines. The influence of society on a teenager is so much that man expects a woman to be a stick thin model or they are considered “plump”. The average fashion model weighs 108 to 130 lbs in proportional to height. The average woman weighs 142 to 166.2lbs. One study showed that 44% of middle school girls who frequently read articles about dieting were twice as likely to try fasting and dieting and were three time more likely to try self-introduced vomiting than girls who didn’t read this article (Recovery and Support Network, 2008). This proves that society does have a big influence on women and man. The role of society pressures for thinness, causing individuals to suffer from anorexia and bulimia. Anorexia and bulimia nervosa are two common eating disorders. They both result in a poor caloric intake. In anorexia, the poor calorie intake is due to inadequate eating. In bulimia, the person vomits soon after a meal without digestion and absorption. They are many similarities as well as the difference between anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa.