Eating Disorders Have Multiple Complex Causes; The Media is not to Blame

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

Hello everyone. My name is Ruth and I want to talk to you guys about eating disorders. An eating disorder is essentially an illness that disrupts a person’s every day diet which can cause a person to pretty much stop eating or over eat, depending on the illness. These illnesses are more apparent in the teenage years and in to young adulthood (Pinel, 2011), which makes sense because this is when we start becoming more aware of our bodies as well as other people’s bodies. We might want to look like the model we just saw on TV and will do anything to get that body, right? But an eating disorder is not the way to go; we will get in to the effects of

In my research, I explored the world of eating disorders. I wanted to see if there was anything specifically encouraging eating disorders and if there was a way to stop it. Eating disorders affect the community greatly because often times, they go unchecked or unrecognized. As a recovered anorexic, I feel it’s very important to address this issue. It’s a very big problem that is often not addressed at all, or is seen as normal, like counting calories. I hoped to find a way to improve the way that eating disorders are viewed and explain to people about what defines an eating disorder, because many people will never know if it is not explicitly explained to them. My study’s purpose is to bring light into the dark world of eating disorders

Eating disorders are mental illnesses that affect more than 7 million American women and usually develop in girls ages 12-25. The most common age for a girl to begin having an eating disorder is 17 years old (Discovery Health?). The National Eating Disorders Association states that eating disorders are conditions that arise from factors including physical, psychological, interpersonal, and social issues. Media images help define cultural definitions of beauty and attractiveness and are often acknowledged as one of the factors that contribute to the rise of eating disorders (NEDA). It is evident that the media influences teenage girls to develop eating disorders based on these reasons: the

According to the National eating disorders (NEDC) website: Every 60 minutes someone dies of an eating disorder related death. Over 30 million people in the United States are struggling with an eating disorder, and 5 in 200 people are struggling with just Bulimia or Anorexia alone, says Pearl, on people.com. People need to understand Eating Disorders are not a choice, and they are not to be glamorized, NEDC says, they are deadly mental disorders, that can affect anyone. Singer Demi Lovato has become an advocate for eating disorder help and even said herself, “Eating disorders are serious mental illnesses, not lifestyle choices”. If more people were correctly educated about eating disorders, they could be at

We live in a society ruled by the media. At every turn we’re bombarded with images of what a girl is supposed to look like, what she’s supposed to wear, and how she’s supposed to act. Models range from stick thin to plus size, with no representation of average size six girls to be found. All around the world, girls are starving themselves to look a certain way, with terms like “thigh gap” and “collarbones” running rampant in their minds. But why? What are those things really worth?

Symbolic Interactionism is a theory focusing on the approach that has evolved from social behaviorism and that stresses the symbolic nature of human interaction (p. 46). In society, there are norms and expectations that people are expected to follow and live by and trying to achieve this ideal self-image, people sometime behave in a self-destructing behavior. Because the media creates an image that we are suppose to fit, people will go to the extreme measures to meet this look even if it involves developing an eating disorder (DeGroat).

Why are women and men pressured because of an image of skin and bones or walking muscles? Most commercials and magazines flicker photos every second of photoshopped or unrealistic bodies. In addition, Americans on average spend 250 billion hours watching television. More importantly, children and teenagers gape at 20,000 commercials a year. Using unflawed advertisements, they gnaw at children's minds into thinking they aren't beautiful. For example, women are accentuated to live up to the expectations of a Victoria's Secret model--a skinny waist, huge breasts, and meaty thighs. Men, on the other hand, are bombarded with pictures of a projected, heavily built abdomen. In society, people are driven to look like living Barbie dolls. Human beings shouldn't have the weight on their chest to look like the model on an advertisement. Several people can have higher expectations of a person, develop eating disorders, and even lose self-esteem.

The media’s false portrayal of body image has a great influence on the development of eating disorders. There are three types of eating disorders; anorexia nervosa, bulimia, and binge eating. Eating disorders are major issues in today’s society. Instead of people using the media to influence good eating habits, they use it to influence bad eating habits. The numbers of people who have an eating disorder are rising at an alarming rate. It affects not only women, but also men, teens, and young children of all ages. It is not surprising that the number of young children who have an eating disorder is increasing each year. This is an issue that people do not take seriously. The media gets the attention to continue to

Healthcare, Acadia. "Eating Disorders - Anorexia, Bulimia, Binge Eating Disorder, Compulsive Overeating." Eating Disorders Anorexia Bulimia Compulsive Overeating at Something Fishy Website. Web. 03 May 2017.

Bulimia and Anorexia Nervosa is a serious issue in the world today. I feel that the issue of eating disorders does not gain enough attention from society especially because of its relevance to young females. These unhealthy eating habits are a social injustice issue because the various types of media that disperse an unrealistic image of female beauty. Society takes these images as a standard of how a woman should look. Women will go to the extreme to meet those qualifications to fit society’s female image.

The topic that I want to research for my final researched argument essay is the media influence on eating disorders focusing on children and adolescents. I want to explore, further expand, and support my argument stating that media does have an influence on eating disorders especially in children and adolescents using articles and reports to provide evidence and aid my thesis.

Eating disorders are a major category of mental disorders affecting persons in today’s world. Anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa and binge-eating disorder are the most prevalent examples of eating disorders experienced present-day. Anorexia nervosa is where individuals “maintain a starvation diet despite being significantly underweight” (Myers 640). Both bulimia nervosa and binge-eating disorder are similar in that they are highlighted by excessive consumption of food in a limited time frame however episodes of binge-eating are not followed by behaviours, such as forced vomiting, fasting, or excessive exercise as practised in bulimia nervosa. It is important to be kept abreast about eating disorders and its respective examples as it can be diagnosed

In today’s society many people put pressure on other individuals and that can cause self-destructive tendencies to strive for the perfect body that society has deemed “perfect”. Eating disorders are commonly known among individuals, especially anorexia and bulimia. Anorexia and bulimia are similar, but they have many differences. When someone has anorexia, they starve themselves, or they eat very little in a day, contrary to that, someone that has bulimia, they will binge eat, then they will force themselves to vomit.

Concerns with the development of disordered eating is of high importance due to the fact that body dissatisfaction can lead to anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa. There has been a increasing number of women who have reported disturbed body image and engaged in dieting. there has been a significant level of concern about the increasing incidence of eating disorders and this is a major concern in America (Polivy & Herman, 2002).