Societal And Environmental Influences On Eating Disorders

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

In the essay “The Globalization of Eating Disorders” by Susan Bordo speaks about eating disorders. In society today appearance is a huge factor. Even though appearance has always been a major thing but now day’s people take it to the extreme when trying to have a certain body image. Now day’s people think beauty is whatever is on the outside, instead of the inside and the outside. Most people go on crazy strict diets, surgery and some go through starvation in order to become a certain body size. Eating disorders are becoming more in effect now and not just in the United States , but happens to be going worldwide and not only with just the women, but now with men as well. Within the essay Bordo’s explains about how the body image, media, and culture influence the standard of the beauty leads to eating disorder. Another factor is family that causes someone to form an eating disorder. Those four factors are the main key roles that play apart on how eating disorders are being used.

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.

Thesis Statement: It is important to understand eating disorders and the types of eating disorders to overcome them and seek the proper treatment.

In longing to reach the norm many people fall victim to these detrimental illnesses. Sadly, women are more subject to these eating disorders than men, the number of men suffering from eating disorders is on the rise. Our culture puts pressure on each of its inhabitants to attain this ideal body type that is unrealistic for most people. The images that pollute television and magazines make us all feel inadequate if we don't meet the credentials of slenderness; therefore, continuing the role of our society in the development of eating disorders.

Since the 1950s the cases of eating disorders have been increasing, especially in westernized countries (Wade, Keski-Rahkonen, & Hudson, 2011). 1950 was the year where having curves was accepted, but this view changed when societal culture started to become more important to the average person. Culture is comprised of how people think, behave, and work in a particular society (Merriam-webster’s collegiate dictionary, 2015). Societal culture is comprised of athletic influence, media, and the fashion industry. All of the societal culture factors are responsible for the rise of eating disorders in young adults. In 2011, it was found that 20 million women and 10 million men suffer from eating disorders at some point in their lives (Wade et. al, 2011). Eating disorders are not always considered an important mental illness, but due to the high number of cases they should be because they can lead to health problems including slow heart rate, low blood pressure, and severe dehydration. These side effects can lead to death if not treated properly which is why eating disorders should be looked at as a clinical disease.

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

Analyse the extent to which the social, cultural and family environment may contribute to the development of eating disorders.

In today’s society, eating disorders has become one of the main factors leading to the increased mortality rates in the United States. The two major eating disorders include Anorexia and Bulimia. Young adults especially, are in greater risk of having an eating disorder. With eating disorders being the third leading cause of death in young adolescent girls, it has also acquired 15 percent of young males (Relevant, 2013). Social and cultural factors have been known to contribute to the onset of eating disorders, including media, family, and peer issue. Although such factors may lead to eating disorders, it may also reduce the cause. In this research paper, the effects of social and cultural factors will be compared to its effects on eating disorders.

When you settle down each day for a meal, whether it be breakfast, lunch, or dinner, you just eat, right? To reiterate, you don’t really take into consideration of what you’re eating, as it is something that you usually take for granted, that is, eating. Maybe that’s how it goes for you, eating without thinking. But for some people in the world, eating is something very difficult to do. Either they despise food because they feel that they are too overweight, or that they can’t stop eating because they are always hungry. These people are people who have eating disorders. Eating disorders mostly concern individuals that are usually stressed and depressed, and to deal with these problems they use food to solve it. More specifically they

Unfortunately, there are many people throughout every corner of the world that are pressured into being the perfect image of a woman in today’s society. This causes stress and the turn to eating disorders such as anorexia, bulimia, and binging; however, society has the power to prevent this. These are caused by disappointment in one’s body shape, and this disappointment can be triggered by depression, hateful comments, or the promotion of the importance of physical appearance. Eating disorders are extremely dangerous to one’s health, alter one’s mind to lead to depression, and can be prevented by minimizing certain factors in society. The influences leading to eating disorders should be discouraged, if not demolished because of these reasons.

1.There is a combination of different forces; individual, sociocultural and family, that lead to the development of eating disorders. Neurology is a factor as disturbances to neurotransmitters and serotonin can affect brain activities that make an individual more susceptible to develop disordered behaviors associated with eating disorders. Genetics are also an important factor to eating disorders as they are inheritable and recessive in future generations. Personal, predisposed characteristics are another influence in eating disorders. Those who have self-esteem deficits, easily persuadable, perfectionists and acutely self-aware individuals all bear risks to developing eating disorders as these traits burden individuals to achieve

Culture has been identified as one of the etiological factors leading to the development of eating disorders. Rates of these disorders appear to vary among different cultures and to change across time as cultures evolve. Additionally, eating disorders appear to be more widespread among contemporary cultural groups than was previously believed (Miller, 2010, para. 2).

A USA Today article reported, “According to a 2011 study in Archives of General Psychiatry about 6% of youths suffer from eating disorders. The report went on to say the 55% of high school girls and 30% of boys had eating disorder symptoms. They used diet pills, vomiting, laxatives, fasting and binge-eating to help them lose weight.” (Healy). Going along with the previous statistic, The Random House Dictionary defines peer pressure as “a social pressure by members of one’s peer group to take a certain action, adopt certain values, or otherwise conform in order to be accepted” (“Peer Pressure”). The aftermath of being constantly pressured by fellow peers can lead to various health conditions for both children and teens. This pressure doesn’t just have to be from unfriendly peers, it can also be friends or even family members. Children and teens want to be accepted and they often feel pressured to fit in. They often want to be one of the more popular students in their class. By being thin, they feel that they can achieve this. Then when someone is being pressured into believing that he/she is not thin enough; that can lead to serious health conditions. Also, when someone is continuously being told that they are fat they may end up believing that it is true. However, these health conditions are not only caused by peer pressure. In the end it is peer

In a society that discriminates against people, particularly women, who do not look slender, many people find they cannot - or think they cannot - meet society's standards through normal, healthy eating habits and often fall victim to eating disorders. Bulimia Nervosa, an example of an eating disorder that is characterized by a cycle of binge eating and purging, has become very common in our society. Although it generally affects women, men too are now coming to clinics with this kind of disease. This is not a new disorder. It can be brought on by a complex interplay of factors, which may include emotional, and personality disorders, family pressures, a possible genetic or biologic susceptibility, and a culture in which there is an