Major Risk Factors for the Development of Anorexia Nervosa

Anorexia nervosa is an eating disorder and a mental health condition that could potentially be life-threatening. People with anorexia try to keep their weight as low as possible by restricting the amount of food they eat. They often have a distorted image of themselves, thinking that they're fat when they're not.  Some people with the condition also exercise excessively, and some eat a lot of food in a short space of time (binge eating) and then make themselves sick. People affected by anorexia often go to great attempts to hide their behaviour from their family and friends by lying about eating and what they have eaten. Anorexia is linked to

According to the Mayo Clinic (2016), eating disorders are “conditions related to persistent eating behaviors that negatively impact your health, your emotions, and your ability to function in important areas of life.” One such eating disorder is anorexia nervosa. Not to be confused with anorexia, which is simply a general loss of appetite that can be attributed to many medical ailments, anorexia nervosa is a serious eating disorder and mental illness (Nordqvist, 2015). Anorexia nervosa is estimated to affect about .9% of women and .3% of men in their lifetime (“Eating Disorder Statistics & Research,” n.d.). In general, the disorder is commonly characterized by a distorted body image or self-concept, critically low weight (with respect to the patient’s height and age), and an irrational fear of becoming fat or an intense desire to be thin. There are two subtypes to this eating disorder: restrictive and binge/purge. In the restrictive type, the individual limits caloric intake and may compulsively over-exercise. In the binge/purge type, the individual consumes a considerable amount of food in a short period of time (binging) and then deliberately vomits (purging), takes laxatives, or fasts intensely in order to compensate for the food eaten (“General Information: Anorexia Nervosa,” n.d.). In either case, anorexia nervosa is undoubtedly a dangerous and alarming illness.

Anorexia nervosa is an eating disorder that is categorized by severe food restriction, excessive exercise and body dysmorphia, which leads those that suffer from it to believe that they are overweight. Anorexia nervosa is commonly misunderstood by the general public. Research has disproved many of the previous thoughts about anorexia nervosa. According to the scientific research anorexia nervosa has a genetic factor, is not just a disorder of teenage girls, and that recovery is not simply gaining weight.

Anorexia nervosa is an eating disorder that consists of self-regulated food restriction in which the person strives for thinness and also involves distortion of the way the person sees his or her own body. An anorexic person weighs less than 85% of their ideal body weight. The prevalence of eating disorders is between .5-1% of women aged 15-40 and about 1/20 of this number occurs in men. Anorexia affects all aspects of an affected person's life including emotional health, physical health, and relationships with others (Shekter-Wolfson et al 5-6). A study completed in 1996 showed that anorexics also tend to possess traits that are obsessive in nature and carry heavy emotional

352). It is estimated that 1.0% to 4.2% of females in Western countries develop the disorder in their lifetime, with higher percentages who display symptoms (Renfrew, 2003). Currently, at least 30 million people of all ages and genders suffer from an eating disorder in the U.S. (Hudson, 2007). This is an alarming number of victims, where at least one dies every 62 minutes. Furthermore, one in every five anorexia deaths is due to suicide, signifying that there may be mental disorders that combine with anorexia, such as depression (Arcelus, 2011). Eating disorders do no discriminate, as they affect all races and ethnic groups. Ultimately, the disorder is quite prevalent, particularly in younger women in the Western

In addition to the history of anorexia nervosa, the causes of this eating disorder play a major role in their mentality. This is important to examine because people with anorexia are often using food and eating as a way to gain control when parts of their lives are stressful or overwhelming. According to Eating Disorders: An Encyclopedia of Causes, Treatment, and Prevention, “The causes of eating disorders are multifaceted and usually include a combination of psychological, familial, sociocultural, and biological or genetic factors rather than a sole determinant of the disorder. “(103). When it comes to the psychological causes of anorexia many individuals often have low self-worth, low self-esteem, and strive for perfectionism. Having a low

having the knowledge of how to defeat it, are both powerful tools in treating the people

Anorexic patients may also exhibit dental problems, especially those who binge and purge. These individuals may experience loss of tooth enamel as well as tooth loss due to the regurgitation of food. It is also important to note that some individuals not only withhold food in hopes of losing weight, there are those who will binge and purge for the same purpose as food restriction. Anorexia isn’t just a disease of its own. Chronic mental health disorders like “anxiety, obsessive-compulsive disorder, social phobia, and depression,” can also be found in individuals with anorexia nervosa (Redston, et al., 2014). Describing anorexic individuals as dying to be thin is hardly far from the truth when looking at the disease. Malnutrition is not something that is unheard of in the anorexic individual; in fact “Malnutrition is the primary cause of most medical complications seen in patients with anorexia,” (Steinberg, Barbara J, DDS, 2014). Because individuals with anorexia feel the need to have control over their disease and are quit good at keeping their disease secret until the disease if far progressed, females with anorexia are “50 times” more likely to commit suicide than women of the same age without the disorder, (Steinberg, Barbara J, DDS, 2014). Anorexia has also been shown to have a “strong genic link”, and can occur as early as the ages “7 and 12,” (Halter,

Anorexia Nervosa is defined as an eating disorder that involves an individual starving themselves for fear of becoming overweight. In many cases of anorexia, the individual has the self-perception that they are already overweight. This type of disorder is often combined with other disorders such as anxiety or depression within the individual but not always. Anorexia Nervosa also known as anorexia is an eating disorder that can effect both women and men. Polls show that almost one of one-hundred women and three of one-thousand men are affected by this disorder. Typically appearing during the adolescent years, anorexia can affect individuals later in life.

Anorexia nervosa is the culture specific syndrome that is being discussed. As stated earlier anorexia nervosa is a culture specific syndrome found predominantly in more industrialized states, where the possibility of starvation is very slim and also where beauty is linked to slenderness (Gooldin, S. 2008, 276). As other illnesses there are symptoms associated with anorexia, which are “self perception of fatness, aversion of food, hyperactivity, and, as the condition progresses, continued wasting of the body and often death” (Bonvillain 2015, 170).Current research shows no biological origin of anorexia nervosa, but it has shown that it has a lot to do with cultural influences and the ideals that are a particular society is

Anorexia affects millions of people worldwide with an estimated eight million in America alone. It is a complex eating disorder that is most commonly associated with teenagers and is characterized by an abnormally low body weight, intense fear of gaining weight and a distorted perception of body weight. It affects not only the people with the disease but also the people close to them who have to observe the extreme physical and mental changes the anorexic

Eating disorders are severe disturbances in eating behaviors, such as eating too little or eating too much. “Anorexia nervosa affects nearly one in 200 Americans in their lives (three-quarters of them female)” (Treating anorexia nervosa). Anorexia, when translated into Greek means “without appetite” which is not true for all suffering from anorexia most people with this disorder have not lost their appetite they simply have to ignore it. People with anorexia have an intense fear of gaining weight and have convinced themselves that they are overweight even if they are the opposite of overweight. Since the way that they view themselves is in a negative light they starve themselves and put their lives at risk. “In the most severe

Many factors contribute to the onset of anorexia. Researchers estimate the influence of genetic factors in anorexia to be between 33 to 84%.

The etiology of anorexia nervosa has three specific causes, the first being biological. Studies have showed that this disorder is seventy-one percent heritable (which is the

Eating disorders tend to run in families and female relatives are the most often to be affected. Some recent studies from researchers found that mothers who are too concerned about their children’s weight and appearance, it may put them at increased risk of developing an eating disorder. (Hoffman). Ultimately, genetic research may prove to be the key to unlocking our understanding of environmental risk factors for eating disorders (Mazzeo and Bulik). Multiple studies have been undertaken to that show possible genetic likeliness toward developing eating disorders as a result of inheritance (News Medical).