Eating Disorders Essay

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.

In our society, there has a been a significant concern of all eating disorders. This is very sensitive subject to majority of people. Everybody should be aware of the issue, it’s an issue that society should be more aware of. Eating disorders can result from genetics, environmental factors, society and social media. In today’s world, unfortunately there is so much social pressure of what beauty is. It is portrayed that being slim is the ideal. In addition, clearly the media has an influence, regardless of the gender, eating disorders and body dysmorphia can happen to both genders. I also learned that family attitudes concerning body shape and eating habits can have a profound effect too. Psychological issues such as depression, anxiety or substance abuse can also be a factor to eating disorder. Teenagers and adults also spend a great deal on social media sites that provide self-comparison of unrealistic expectations and media promotes a weight stigma by stereotyping other body types. In fact, so all this creates a controversial issue in my perspective. Throughout the years there has been a significant increase in eating disorder and body image.

Female adolescents can develop eating disorders because of the way the media portrays models. Adolescent girls’ attitude of the thin ideal leads to body dissatisfaction, which in return puts them at risk for serious eating disorders like bulimia and anorexia nervosa. Bulimia is an emotional disorder involving distortion of body image and an obsessive desire to lose weight, in which bouts of extreme overeating are followed by depression and self-induced vomiting, purging, or fasting. Anorexia nervosa is an emotional disorder characterized by an obsessive desire to lose weight by refusing to eat. Kara L. Kerr who is currently studying psychology, sociology, and women’s and gender studies at the University of Tulsa claims that “Approximately 40 percent of anorexia nervosa cases occur in females ages fifteen to nineteen” (1). Females’ that are the ages of fifteen to nineteen should not be worrying about the presentation of their

Typically when covering the topic of eating disorders and body image dissatisfaction athletes and young women are the center of research and are stereotyped to be the only groups of people who suffer from self-image issues. In “The Hidden Faces of Eating Disorders and Body Image,” authors Justine Reels and Katherine Beals look to breakdown the stereotypes and dig deeper into the issues that cross over the borders of ethnicity, age and gender. The book also looks into how religion, sexual orientation, and certain disabilities such as those who have suffered from a stroke affect how a person perceives themselves. Reels and Beals urge their readers to become educators and voice the “need for diverse treatment and prevention” (Reel 5). Not only does the book cover instabilities across social categories it also looks at the various ways of assessment, treatment and prevention (Reel 178,194,210).

Why is it that people develop eating disorders? There is no simple explanation, and no one answer that applies everyone. There are several types of eating disorders, but the most prevalent in adolescent and young adult females are anorexia nervosa and bulimia (Larocca, 1986). There are six main areas that potentially explain just why it is that people succumb to anorexia and bulimia. These factors are biological, psychological, family, social, cultural, and media (Siegel, Brisman & Weinshel, 2002).

Adolescence is a period of transition, a period in which body image is an important factor to them. Having a good nutrition is crucial to support the growth of youth and to establish healthy eating habits. What people eat affects how they look, how they feel, and how they can get sick, even to the point of dying. In the period of Adolescence, Ages 11 to about 20, body image is important to them, how people see them and how they look. Many people do not know what an eating disorder is, and they do not even know what it can do to someone. Some eating disorders that can affect the physical self of a teenager are obesity, binge eating, anorexia, and bulimia nervosa. Eating disorders affect millions of teens around the world, they are most common in a culture whose focus is on weight and body image, and can affect male or females, races, and ethnic backgrounds.

In today 's society, teenagers desire the stereotypical “perfect body.” Most girls want to be tiny and twig like, just like the models portrayed in the media. Frequently, the desire to become thin becomes an obsession and girls perceive thinness as being an essential trait. The obsession over weight has led to an increasing number of individual 's who have developed eating disorders due to low self-esteem or other related issues. According to a 2002 survey, 1.5% of Canadian women aged 15–24 years have had an eating disorder. Although, children are influenced by numerous external factors that are destroying their bodies, parents play the most significant role in the avoidance of eating disorders. During a child 's life, on no occasion should food be used as a reward or punishment. In order for a child to have a healthy life physically, socially, emotionally and financially parents must be role models as a child is heavily influence by their parents. Factors such as overall appearance, the ability to form a family, anxiety, academic performance, and the ability to financially support oneself are all influenced by the support children receive from their parents. Grocery shopping together, eating together, encouraging new interests and avoiding comments that directly target physical appearance are essential steps parents should consider.

Along with society and mental health affecting eating disorders in teens, genetics play a part in it

     One of the most prevalent disorders amongst the youth of this era is eating disorders. While some overlook it and don’t think it is a problem eating disorders should be given serious consideration. This is because the psychological ramification of eating disorders tends to have lasting effects over the course of the adolescents’ life.

During the psychosocial development in adolescence, there are various health issues that may transpire. This essay will focus primarily on how eating disorders affect both genders, predominantly in Western societies. The term ‘eating disorder’ is a very comprehensive term, which is further broken down into categories. The content of this essay will cover three of these categories; including Anorexia Nervosa, Bulimia Nervosa and Binge Eating Disorder (BED). Additionally discussed are the benefits of psychodynamic theory and cognitive behavioural therapy and how these approaches may be used in relation to eating disorders in a therapeutic environment.

In recent years, there have been growing concerns regarding the prevalence of eating disorders in adolescents. With noticeable occurrence of eating disorders in the younger age groups, many are concern if preventive measures are adequate or accurately target the main cause of eating disorders. As such, assessing which is the main cause of eating disorder development in adolescence is the purpose of this paper. The three common causes found in literature to relate to the development of eating disorders in adolescents include Media, Peer and Family All three factors are shown to initiate body dissatisfaction in teens and set unrealistic expectations of a socially constructed ideal physique thus, increasing the significance of abnormal eating habits in teenagers. By weighing the three causes in terms of the level of relative pressure faced by adolescents using literature reviews, an enmeshed family is found to be the primary cause. Another interesting finding is that media contrary to what most people thought to be the main cause has inverse relations to the idea of creating body dissatisfaction as adolescents with prevailing body indisposition may turn to media sources for dieting ways and not vice-versa. Hence, a direct cause in adolescents developing eating disorders by media is unclear and prompts further research on this area.

Bulimia Nervosa Within developmental lifespan psychology, eating disorders are often categorised under the heading of 'adolescence problems' along with suicide, delinquency, substance misuse and pregnancy. They are particularly associated with females, especially during the development stage of adolescence when one's physical, cognitive and social development leaves childhood and enters adulthood (Seifert et al, 1997: 333). It appears that young women are more dissatisfied with weight than women at any other stage of the female lifespan. This is due to an increase in awareness of their body shape and weight, therefore accounting for the large majority of eating disorder cases being

Eating disorders are a group of conditions characterized by severe disturbances in eating behavior with either an extreme reduction or an extreme increase of food intake, which negatively affects the individual's mental and physical health. There are two main types of eating disorders – anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa. There is a third category of eating disorders called “eating disorders not otherwise specified”. Binge eating disorder is categorized under this. Eating disorders mainly appear during adolescence and early adulthood and affect women and girls much more than males. Eating disorders are not self-inflicted diseases, but real illnesses with biological and psychological causes. They often co-exist with other disorders such

This literature review will review the issues concerning the impacts eating disorders has had on our society and how it has affected our families as well. Based on the research it will be able to point out the health issues eating disorders cause and possibly the treatment. This review will also identify the gaps and offer recommendations in order to improve our study and view of this issues. The relevance of this is to also put out more information to those who are still not aware of the impacts of eating disorders.

Eating disorders have been common among teenage girls and young women. The two problems which are most common are Bulimia Nervosa and Anorexia Nervosa. There are situational factors that can influence a woman to have eating disorders, which can cause them to have psychological distress and consequently, cognitive thoughts that will result in self-harming behavior such as Bulimia. The factors can include social isolation, loneliness, and pressure from