Eating Disorders In Adolescent Girls

Topic: What is causing young adults and teens to develop eating disorders and how can we help them?

Around 10-15% of all Americans suffer from an eating disorder. “More than 7 million women suffer from an eating disorder whereas only one million men suffer from an eating disorder” (Mirasol). In modern society, we are surrounded by media and images. Both men and women struggle to meet the expectations set forth in magazines, websites, and on television. The pressure to imitate the ideal body can lead many down unhealthy paths. Teens today face a lot more challenges which leads them to illnesses like Anorexia, Bulimia, and Binge eating. Although there are a lot of similarities in this disease, the differences can also affect people differently, which means different treatments are required.

Many children and adolescents not only express dissatisfaction with their figure, shape and weight, but also exhibit disordered eating behavior, such as binge eating (eating a large amount of food with a sense of lack of control), food restriction, laxative abuse and vomiting. For children and adolescents, eating disorders can overlap in many instances. As an example, some children alternate between periods of anorexia and bulimia. Eating disorders typically develop during adolescence or early adulthood. However, research has shown that they can start in childhood, too. Females are much more vulnerable. Only an estimated 5% to 15% of people with anorexia or bulimia are male. With binge eating, the number rises to 35%

Eating disorder is a term used to describe several psychological disorders characterized by abnormal eating habits. Some of the most common eating disorders include anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and binge eating disorder. Anorexia nervosa is probably the most well-known of these. A person suffering from anorexia nervosa will obsess over weight gain and show unusual anxiety related to weight gain. Depending upon the type (binge-eating/purging type or restricting type) a person will either consume food and then attempt to “purge”, a term used to describe a method of forced removal of food from the body such as self-induced vomiting, or they will restrict the amount of food consumed. In most cases the person will be under healthy weight and often see themselves as average weight or even overweight. In bulimia nervosa and binge eating disorders the affected person will eat excessive amounts of food. People suffering from these diseases report feeling out of control during their binge eating episodes. In bulimia nervosa binge eating episodes are followed by some method of purging whereas in binge eating disorder they are not, although the person normally expresses feelings of guilt or embarrassment afterwards. People suffering from bulimia nervosa are usually average weight which can make detection difficult. Those with binge eating disorder are normally

Bulimia Nervosa refers to when an individual over-eats excessively and then takes action to purge the body of the intake. There are five criteria for Bulimia Nervosa in the DSM-IV, which include: recurring episodes of binge eating, recurring actions of purging, the patterns must continue at least twice a week for three months or more, a huge emphasis on body weight in self-evaluation, and the actions must occur apart

According to the DSM-5, eating disorders are characterized by a persistent disturbance of eating–related behavior that results in non-normative eating patterns which leads to impaired physical and psychosocial functioning, (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). Bulimia Nervosa is an eating disorder characterized by recurrent episodes of binge eating with inappropriate compensatory behaviors to prevent weight gain. Binge eating is described as eating an amount of food definitely larger than normal with a sense of lack of control. Compensatory behaviors include misuse of laxatives, self-induced vomiting, diuretics, fasting and excessive exercise, (Comer, 2014) . Another key feature is

Two of every 100 students will develop or have developed an eating disorder (“Eating Disorders”).

There are multiple types of eating disorders besides Anorexia Nervosa and Bulimia Nervosa, such as binge eating disorder, purging disorder, and night eating syndrome. Atypical Anorexia nervosa as is it most commonly known is having a weight that is extremely below the recommended weight. As a result, many of the people who are classified under this eating disorder starve themselves, so that their body can become thin. In some situations, they starve themselves so much that it can at times become fatal. According to the Palo Alto Medical Foundation, approximately 1 % of the adolescent girls will develop this eating disorder and about 20 % of the people struggling with this eating disorder will die prematurely from complications such as, heart problems or suicide (Miller, 2013, para 2). Bulimia Nervosa occurs when the person has an insanity for overeating too much in short periods and this is then followed by binge eating or purging. The main cause for Bulimia is when the patient has a distorted image of themselves and they see something different from what they really look like. Bulimia Nervosa can be categorized as overeating, fasting, or purging. According to the Palo Alto Medical Foundation, they say that 3 % of young women will develop Bulimia nervosa. The source also says that about 50 % of the people who had Anorexia will most likly develop Bulimia or Bulimic patterns later on in their life (Miller,

This research task is based on the prevalence of eating disorders amongst teenage girls in our School amongst the ages of 15-18. This is a valid topic as being a teenage female in an all-girls school; it is a very easily relatable topic. I am interested to find out about the prevalence of eating disorders in my school and ultimately in helping the girls who are suffering from a disorder and are not getting the sufficient help that is needed when one if suffering from Bulimia or Anorexia Nervosa.

Eating disorder in adolescents is a source of grave alarm. An effective definition of eating disorders, as they are evident in school surroundings, describes victim of eating disorder as being extensively anxious and conscious about food, weight, and body shape. This results in being engaged in strange eating behaviors (Gowers & Bryant-Waugh, 2004). This paper seeks to investigate the effects of eating disorders on adolescent's life and education and comprehensive school based model of interventions is suggested for the prevention and treatment of this disorder.

There are two categories of Bulimia Nervosa and both are serious and life threatening: Purging bulimia is where the patient regularly self-induces vomiting. The patient also misuses laxatives, diuretics or takes enemas after eating large amounts of food. The second type of bulimia is non-purging bulimia where the patient uses fasting, strict dieting or excessive and prolonged exercise in order to not gain weight. Both types of bulimia are an attempt to avoid gaining weight by purging what was consumed (Hay). Bulimic patients are preoccupied with their weight and body shape and judge themselves severely and harshly for self-perceived flaws. Because it's related to self-image, and not just about food, bulimia can be hard for the patient to overcome (Mayo Clinic Staff). Risk factors are being

Studies have shown that three percent of males and eight percent of females who were in high school said that they have either purged or took laxatives to lose weight (3). The symptoms of bulimia are tooth erosion, swallowing problems, esophagus problems, and acute stomach distress (“Eating Disorders”). However, binge eating disorder is completely opposite from anorexia and bulimia. Binge eating is when a person over eats in a short period of time. According to Susan Frissell and Paula Harney, two percent of the population suffers from binge eating disorder (27). Studies show that depression, anxiety, high blood pressure, and stomach pain is found in many people who suffer from binge eating disorder (Elkins 45; Kittleson 4). Many people will develop binge eating disorder because they want to distract themselves from a painful event that has happened in their life (Frissell and Harney 27).

Eating disorders in children and teens cause serious changes in their health. Eating disorders are characteristics and cause by eating behaviors, also people with this disorder use eating, purging or restructuring with their issues. Eating disorders is divided into three parts as anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, compulsive overeating, etc (Eating Disorders,n.d.).Eating disorders can overlap between and alternate of anorexia and bulimia. Eating disorders around the adolescence, but it can also start in childhood. Girls with bulimia nervosa fall within their normal range of body weight, but to them some girls feel that they are overweight. Almost 25 percent of females have bulimia in their lifetime. There are many celebrities who suffer from eating disorders while coming up in Hollywood or currently battling the disorder. Like, former pop singer/ performer Lady Gaga struggled with bulimia and anorexia while beginning her career. Another singer name Kesha, has recently been treated for an unspecified eating disorder (n.d.). Karen Carpenter, a former singer, died from cardiac arrest at the age of 32, for years she suffer from severe anorexia. Another singer name Demi Lovato, has become one of the most outspoken about her mental issues within her eating disorder (n.d.). Sharon Osbourne, wife of Ozzy Osbourne and former ‘The Talk’ host, Sharon has struggled with bulimia for over 30 years. Another famous daytime talk show host, Oprah Winfrey is a sufferer of disordered eating.

This research plan is about the causes of eating disorders among teenagers. Environmental and personal factors play important roles in determining eating patterns and these need to be examined in order to understand how they are related or not to eating disorders. In so doing, it will also be possible to determine the significance of this research and apply it to the modern-day context.

Bulimia Nervosa is a little different to anorexia, and is the act of binging and purging. This means that when you eat a lot, you try to make yourself feel better by throwing it back up. Often you can feel out of control where food is concerned and you might go through periods of starving yourself and then overeating. If you suffer from bulimia, you can become involved in unhealthy behaviours such as induce vomiting, misuse of laxatives or diuretics, or like anorexia, you exercise excessively to try and get rid of the food you have binged on. Your weigh may not change greatly, but fluctuating weight is common. Bulimia is a secretive disorder. If you suffer from it you can often feel ashamed or disgusted about what