Effects Of Exercise Behaviors And Body Image And Eating Disorder Development

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

“Body image is linked to self-worth and self-deference, so when we feel down on ourselves, we may feel that we look exorbitantly corpulent as well.” (Chapman-Novakofski, 2014) Exercise has a huge impact on how one person may view himself or herself. The mental state of a person who feels great about their body as opposed to a person, who wants to hide under a rock because of their body, is significantly great in difference. After various tests were done, exercise was proven customarily positively cognate to self-esteem (Vealey, 1992). A study was performed using participants that

First, psychological consequences of being overweight or obese eating disorders such as binge eating, bulimia and anorexia. In “Bare Bones” (310), Emily Wierenga tells a powerful story of a 12-year-old girl named Carolyn who suffers from anorexia based on her fear of becoming fat. Wierenga’s purpose is to inform the psychological aspects that obesity evokes on one’s body. Anorexia may begin with a desire to diet to lose a few pounds, it also can be a fear of being overweight, but it occurs when the person becomes overly involved in the diet and limits food more than is healthy. In addition, being overweight also causes depression. Many times, people who suffer from obesity often feel they have a low quality of life. Obesity can cause poor self-image, low self-esteem, and social isolation, all known contributors to depression. People experiencing depression overeat or make poor food choices and avoid exercising. Depressed people experience decreased levels of the serotonin have a tendency toward obesity they tend to self-medicate by overeating and restore their normal serotonin levels. Also, obesity also causes lowered self-esteem and body dissatisfaction, most obese individuals feel ‘ugly’ or unattractive. This greatly affects their confidence to interact with people. Psychological issues play significant roles in both the development and consequences of

According to the National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders, “the body type portrayed in advertising as the ideals is possessed naturally by only 5% of American females.” (“ANAD”) Body image has been a controversial theme because of the influence of the media. It is a widely known fact that eating disorder cases are on the rise. The concept of body image is a subjective matter. The common phrase, “Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder,” holds true meaning in this sense. One’s view and value of their body is self-imposed. Falling into the destructive eating disorders reveals much about a person’s psychological and emotional state. Examining the mental, physical, and emotional conditions behind recognized eating

Females and males are both under pressure to conform to societies idea of beauty. Women feel pressure to be thin, big chested, while men feel the urge to be lean and muscular. Society portrays these images of thinness and muscularity through media, magazines, and even toys. These images can have an impact on peoples body images, which can lead to eating disorders such as Anorexia nervosa and Bulimia nervosa.

Cash, T. F., Melnyk, S. E., & Hrabosky, J. I. (2004). The assessment of body image investment: An extensive revision of the appearance schemas inventory. International Journal Of Eating Disorders, 35(3), 305-316.

Schwarz, C., Gairrett, L., Aruguete, S., and Gold, S. (2005) found 103 female participants that were undergraduate students from a community college and a private women’s college in Missouri, each person ranged from 18-22 years old. “Participants completed a survey that was administered to groups of students during classes and sports practices.” (Schwarz, C., Gairrett, L., Aruguete, S., and Gold, S., 2005, 347) Each survey contained a questionnaire that had four components. Schwarz, C., Gairrett, L., Aruguete, S., and Gold, S. (2005) used the Eating Attitudes test to measure the participants pathological eating habits. Each participant was put into a category of Dieting, Bulimia, and Oral control following the questions they had to answer. The second part of the questionnaire was body dissatisfaction. Schwarz, C., Gairrett, L., Aruguete, S., and

Over the past twenty years, there has been a great increase of anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa which have come out as major psychological and health problems. This increase in eating disorders has resulted from the intense societal pressure to diet and conform to an unrealistic weight and body size. For the general population of women, the lifetime number of anorexia nervosa is approximately 0.7%, and that of bulimia nervosa is as high as 10.3% ( Taub & Blinde, 1992). Since many athletes contain almost the same behaviors to those with eating disorders, there has also been an increase in interest in whether athletes are at a risk for eating disorders.

The (EDI) is used in “clinical setting to obtain cognitive, behavioral, and affective or emotional profiles of individuals with eating disorders (anorexia nervosa)” (p44). The Obligatory Exercise Questionnaire (OEQ) is also used it is a questionnaire that was developed to measure levels of obligatory exercise (p44). The study consisted of “one thousand second and third year students who were randomly selected from the Faculty of Education Services” (Matheson & Crawford-Wright 2000). The (OEQ) consist of 20 questions “scored on a Likert scale ranging from 1=never to 4=” (p44). If the participants “score 50 or greater it indicates exercise dependency” (p44). According to (Matheson & Crawford-Wright 2000) usual questions are:

I found a positive correlation between self versus ideal body image scores and eaten behaviors (r = .59), which was statistically significant (p <0.001). The p-value was significant at the .01 level; we can be over 99.9% confident that the results did not emerge due to chance. This suggests that as participants reports create a lower the average of self versus ideal body image, they also report more eating behaviors.

Once the symptoms of exercise addiction are clearly identified in a patient, medical and health professionals should seek appropriate treatments tailored to find the source or route of their addiction (Lane, 2008). Additionally, these professionals must differentiate if the addiction occurs in the absence of an eating disorder. In some cases, an addiction to exercise is typically a dissatisfaction with the individual’s physical appearance. Under stress from this displeasure, exercise is rationalized as a positive solution to combat this instead of turning to other potentially addictive behaviors (Landolfi, 2012).

An eating disorder is defined as any of a range of psychological disorders characterized by abnormal or disturbed eating habits. These disorders can be caused by a variety of things, but one that is commonly overlooked is exercise. The major consensus is that diet and exercise, will only contribute to a healthier lifestyle. In reality, this ideology of exercise as an unproblematic activity is pushing children and adults alike to develop eating disorders. With each of these disorders comes its own string of problems that can have implications that affect individuals for life. A problem that then arises is due to the grey areas of these disorders it is sometimes difficult to differentiate between what is a disorder, and what is considered healthy.

Over-exercising has many consequences. It can prevent proper rest, healing, or even medical attention and can cause long-term negative consequences on health and athletic performance. Excessive exercise can easily result in overuse injuries and stress fractures which could be temporary or permanent. Also, exercising too much can lead to decreased immunity and frequent colds or illnesses and is often a sign of an underlying eating disorder.

Body image dissatisfaction is increasingly being recognized as an important target for public health action (Paxton, 2000). Research evidence links body dissatisfaction to physical and mental health concerns, especially, but not exclusively, in women.

In addition, patients with eating disorders also exhibit other traits associated with low self-esteem, such as problems with their overall self-image, excessive concern over weight and shape, and globally negative attitudes about their self-control and discipline (Button 1997). The methodology for the research leading to these conclusions about low self-esteem and eating disorders typically involves elements such as questionnaires examining eating behavior, self-esteem and general psychological well-being (such as the Offer self-image questionnaire), depression and self-esteem scales (such as the Rosenberg self-esteem scale and the Hospital anxiety and depression scale), personal interviews with doctors, psychologists and researchers, and finally tests designed specifically for eating disorders (such as the Bulimia test and the EAT-40).