How Eating Disorders Affect Health

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

It has been found that eating disorders are most common in the western and industrialized culture where food is abundant. This is because these individuals attach a lot of importance to their physical appearance and are willing to do anything to get the dream figure. An eating disorder is not just watching what one eats and exercising on a daily basis but is rather an illness that causes serious disturbances in eating behaviour, such as great and harmful cutback of the consumption of food as well as feelings of serious anxiety about their body shape or mass. They would start to stop themselves to go out anywhere just so that they could work out and burn all of the calories of a meal or snack that they had scoffed earlier. Two of the most common eating disorders are anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa. The regular description of a patient with either disease would be a youthful white female, with an upper social standing in a predictably socially competitive environment.

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

Eating disorders are diseases in which people have an unhealthy relationship with their food, and negative image reflecting how their body looks, such as, the fear of gaining weight. This type of body dysmorphia can lead to damaging eating habits, such as; starvation, purging, and even binging. Furthermore, there are numerous eating disorders recognized today, the most common being binge disorder, causing the affected person to eat far too much and experience pain, discomfort, and irritable bowel symptoms, bulimia which causes the affected person to purge their food through vomiting, and one of the most common eating disorders -- anorexia nervosa. (Eating Disorders, 2008) Many of these disorders can be treated in multiple ways, the most common way is through counselling with a social worker, the social worker helps develop a treatment plan for the client and aids them in their recovery.

An eating disorder is an obsessive collection of interrelated behaviors directed towards persistent eating behaviors that negatively impact one’s health, emotions, and ability to function in important areas of life. These compulsive practices and attitudes about food, weight and body shape, manifest into deep psychological fears and an incessant need for control. Some common features of eating disorders include an irrational fear of fat, dissatisfaction with one 's body often coupled with a distorted perception of body shape, unhealthy weight management and extreme food intake. This disordered eating behavior is usually an effort to solve a variety of emotional difficulties about which the individual feels out of control. Males and females of all social and economic classes, races and intelligence levels can develop an eating disorder (Perfect). There are currently three main types of eating disorder, anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and binge eating disorder. Each one as dangerous as the next, but yet heavily overlooked and/or misunderstood in society today (Perfect); A review of nearly fifty years of research confirms that anorexia nervosa has the highest mortality rate of any psychiatric disorder (Arcelus, Mitchell, Wales, & Nielsen, 2011).

An eating disorder is an illness that involves an unhealthy feeling about the food we eat. “Eating disorders affect 5-10 millions Americans and 70 million individuals worldwide” (www.eatingdisorderinfo.org 1). They also affect many people from women, men, children, from all ages and different races. People who have eating disorders usually see themselves as being fat when they really aren’t. This usually deals with women or teenage girls mostly. They watch television, movies, read articles in magazines, and see pictures of the celebrities whom they want to be like because they have the “ideal body” that everyone wants and craves for. The media makes us all think we need those types of bodies to be happy with ourselves, be more successful

Eating disorders refer to conditions where individuals have an unhealthy relationship with food, which in turn negatively influences various aspects of their lives. Individuals suffering from eating disorders eat either excessively large amounts of food or little food that cannot sustain their normal body functions. Such persons can equally be obsessed with thoughts of food and exercises, an aspect that may result in them having distorted bodies. Millions of American citizens suffer from eating disorders such as anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa and binge eating, as well as eating disorders that are not otherwise specified (EDNOS). The most worrying concern nonetheless, is the fact that close to 90% of those suffering from eating disorders are adolescents and young women, the former who are routinely regarded as one of the most active segments of the population (Dancyger et al., 2014). The high incidence within adolescents and young women should note be taken to denote that young men and adults do not suffer from eating disorders. The failure to adequately attend to those suffering from eating disorders predisposes them to serious mental and physical health issues, thereby routinely interfering with their personal, professional and social lives (Mehler et al., 2015). In as much as eating disorders may coexist with different mental conditions, the eating disorders tend to go undiagnosed, implying that only a small number of sufferers obtain treatment for eating disorders.

Most people experience concerns about their weight or body shape at one time or another; however, an eating disorder is a complex psychological disorder which modifies a person's eating habits and does not represent normal issues with food (Becker, Grinspoon, Klibanski, & Herzog, 1999). Typically these disorders involve eating extremely small amounts of food, no food at all, or overeating severely. An eating disorder may begin as a desire for weight loss or physical attractiveness but somehow in some people this desire gets out of control. A person who develops an eating disorder may have started by eating smaller or larger amounts of food, but then the urge to eat more or eat less became uncontrollable at some point. Marked distress or over concern about one's weight or body shape also often typifies an eating disorder (National Institute of Mental Health [NIMH], 2011). Most eating disorders develop during the teens or during early adulthood; however, these disorders can develop between childhood up through later adulthood (Sadock & Sadock, 2007). Each year millions of people are affected by varying types of eating disorders, many of whom go untreated. In certain cases these disorders can become life-threatening. The major eating disorders include anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, binge-eating (compulsive eating), and pica. These disorders affect people from different age groups, social economic statuses (SES), adults, and children (American Psychiatric

Though eating disorders are inextricably linked to genetics, the environment also largely determines them. Anorexia Nervosa, Bulimia Nervosa, and most recently Binge eating are three central types of eating disorders cited in the Diagnostic Statistical Manual of Eating Disorders (DSM-5, 2015). The prevalence of eating disorders is fundamentally a result of Western cultures construction of thinness as an ideal form of beauty. Eating disorders are often discounted as a myth of white privilege. Those in developing countries suffer from malnourishment; so the notion that people willingly restrict their diet is inconceivable to them. However, developing an eating disorder is simply one way of dealing with an issue (actually avoiding) that may

An eating disorder is then characterized as a psychological problem where people have abnormal eating habits. Mayo Clinic states that, “The most common eating disorders are Anorexia Nervosa, Bulimia Nervosa, and Binge-eating Disorder” (2015). According to the American Psychological Association, these disorders “are abnormal eating habits that can threaten your health or even your life” (n.d). Most people with these disorders focus too much on their weight and shape of their body. Dr. Beate Herpertz-Dahlmann reports, “Eating disorders are the third most common chronic illness among adolescents, after obesity and asthma” (2015). “The National Association of Anorexia Nervosa Associated Disorders says, “An eating disorder is an unhealthy relationship with food and weight that interferes with many areas of a person’s life. One’s thoughts become preoccupied with food, weight, or exercise” (n.d). Because of this condition, the daily life of a student becomes altered physically, emotionally, and

Eating Disorders are one of the top ranking disorders and are known to be one of the leading cause of disorders among young women. But in order to better grasp the concept of what causes a disorder such as this one, we must first be able to define it. An Eating Disorder is a range of psychological disorders characterized by abnormal or disturbed eating habits. Simply put, it is a serious condition related to persistent eating behaviors that negatively impact an individual’s health, emotions, and ability to function in important areas of their lives. Those suffering with this illness, have a focus on the weight, body shape and food resulting in act of a dangerous eating behavior. The negative result of this illness causes harm to the heart,

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.

There are several research methods that are used to study eating disorders. Scientist have used correlation research to try to determine if DNA could be associated with developing an eating disorders. One of them includes the self- report standardized Eating Attitude Test (EAT-26). This test is designed as a screening tool to see if students in high school, college, or athletes may be at risk for an eating disorder (David M. Garner, 1998), as is does not diagnose a disorder. The EAT-26 is highly valid and reliable and can determine if professional help is needed (David M. Garner, 1982). Another method used to study eating disorders is the fMRI studies. The University of California San Diego Eating Disorder Research and Treatment Program came up with a new way to compare the brains of people who have recovered from an eating disorder, to people who have never had one at all. In this type of research they use an fMRI to take

Health can be expressed in many different ways: physical health is easily identified by an individual’s ability to perform tasks with agility, endurance or speed. There are ways to enhance these factors through exercise and healthy eating as well as regular health screenings. However, there is another facet of human health that is less easily identified: mental health. Mental health impacts everyone in varying ways and in varying degrees. Sometimes the symptoms are easily identified, such as with schizophrenia disorders, but other times, the symptoms are hidden and the sufferers remain in silence until the situation becomes dire. In the case of an eating disorder, the disease is not usually made visible to the people around the sufferer, and it’s a long, painful road to recovery. Even with a medical “all-clear,” the effects can be life-altering and permanent. The onset of eating disorders are often attributable to low self-esteem or bodily insecurity, which could lower sex drive on its own; however, the physical, emotional, and mental toll the disease-and recovery from it-wreaks on the afflicted could forever change how they view and participate in sex or intimate encounters.

Eating disorders can cause problems for both men and women of all ages. According to authors Brytek-Matera and Czepczor, “An eating disorder is defined as a persistent disturbance of eating or eating-related behavior leading to changes in the consumption or absorption of food that results in physiological and psychosocial