Society’s Influence on Teenagers: Anorexia Nervosa and Bulimia Nervosa

Bulimia nervosa, also called bulimia is a possible life threating eating disorder. A person that suffers from bulimia may secretly binge their food. They may eat large amount of food and then purge their food to get rid of the additional calories that they’ve digested. Bulimia is categorized in two ways, purging bulimia and non-purging bulimia. Purging bulimia is when a person regularly self-induces vomiting after eating. Non-purging bulimia is when an individual may use other methods to try to prevent weight gain, such as fasting, extreme dieting, or overly exercising.

Under society’s norms for decades, young women have been put under the pressure and anticipation to have perfect bodies. That is, thin and curved, beautified by applying pounds of the makeup to their face but not appear ridiculously overdone. Who’s responsible for these standards imposed on young women? When a young girl picks up the model along the cover of Vogue being called flawless, it’s easy for her to then aspire to be a real-life imitation of the photocopy. These companies produce magazine covers shown with girls’ images daily. As if keeping the perfect body wasn’t hard enough our culture also forces girls into the forever expanding world of composition, however, body image is a pressing issue for young women. Advertisements and posters of skinny female models are all over. Young girls not only could be better but need to be more upright and feel driven to throw the perfect figure. Moreover, girls are evaluated and oppressed by their physical appearances. With supplements and apparel designed to enhance a facial expression; social media, magazines, and marketing campaigns and advertisements add to the burden of perfection. The fashion industry is a prime object of body image issues, as they believe clothes look better on tall and svelte women. Established on a survey participated by 13 to 17-year-old in the U.S., 90% “felt pressured by fashion and media industries to be skinny”, with more than 60% routinely compares themselves to models, while 46%

An equally disruptive eating disorder that has been seen in increasing numbers in recent years is Bulimia. About two percent of American women are affected by this disorder. Bulimia is characterized by a distinctive binging and purging cycle. Individuals with this disorder will often times consume large amounts of food, and the immediate throw it back up. These binging and purging actions have substantial medical risks. Additionally, some individuals consume large amounts of food and then proceed to exercise for exorbitant amounts of time. This can also be a risk to ones wellbeing. Other characteristics associated with Bulimia include the abuse of laxatives and diuretics. Individuals with this disease often times completely lose control over their dietary habits. The massive highs and lows cause emotional instability. The mood swings that

Bulimia has many symptoms. Bulimics have a preoccupation with food and are usually secretive about their addiction to food. A bulimic’s self-evaluation is unduly influenced by body shape and weight. Bulimics suffer from internal bleeding, including gastric ulcers due to trauma from forceful vomiting. Bulimics have tooth and gum decay caused by stomach acids. They also have swollen salivary glands, and broken blood vessels in their eyes, as a result of self-induced vomiting. Bulimics are typically high achievers.

Model’s work so hard to have the perfect body for magazines and other things but it is not enough for people they have to photoshop everything that is natural for a girl and it makes girls self conscious about themselves. The interest in this topic is that this is a serious problem,girls should be proud of there body but people think that if a girl is fat then that girl does not care and if a girl is too skinny that girl is trying too hard. In the 1840’s people were fat because it showed that that person was wealthy and could eat a lot, and if a person is skinny you could not afford to eat. But by the 1920’s dieting and calorie counting were apart of daily life. There is way too much pressure on girls to have the perfect body because girls think they are not as pretty as the girls in magazines, society is also the problem because society thinks if a girl is not skinny that girl is not pretty, they always try to change girls because nothing is

Still, the vast majority are adolescents and young adults. Approximately one percent of adolescent girls develop anorexia nervosa, and dangerous conditions where they will literally starve themselves to death. (National Eating Disorders Info Centre 1) Warning signs of anorexia nervosa include the following: dramatic weight loss, refusal of eating certain foods, frequent comments about being or feeling fat, denial of hunger, constant excuses to avoid meal time, and withdrawal from usual friends or activities. ( National Eating Disorders Association 2) With bulimia a person will binge food and then force themselves to vomit. They also use laxatives to get the food out of their systems. Between eighty and ninety-five percent of bulimics are women.

A study was recently done to determine how body image was viewed in society several years ago and how it is viewed in today’s society. When comparing the average model and the American woman, it is stated by Dr. Jonathon Rader, PhD, chief executive and clinical officer of Rader Programs that “twenty years ago, the average fashion model weighed 8% less than the average woman. Today, she weighs 23% less” (Rader). Twenty to thirty years ago, full figured women were accepted and also admired. Being voluptuous was a sign of wealth and beauty. Women were not obsessed with diet fads, or trying to look a certain way, but were more concerned with eating healthy and were comfortable with the

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

Many negativities have resulted from what the media is portraying as the idealized body image; the body size of women portrayed in the media is noticeably getting smaller. The media will do everything to sell a product, especially when it tugs on someones insecurities. The term “thin-ideal media” refers to media images, shows, and films that contain very thin female leads (“Body, Of”). The media has made a thin body appear as if that is what the ideal body image should be, even if it is harmful to a person’s health. The average fashion model is typically 4-7 inches taller and 50 pounds lighter than the average American (Insel 292). Many consider that having good looks means you have good health; furthermore, it then makes it difficult for some women to go without thinking

Bulimia nervosa is a condition where a person is so preoccupied with their body weight and physical appearance that they develop an unhealthy habit of binge eating, and then use extreme methods of to counteract the effects. (Bacaltchuk & Hay, 2001). The most common method of counteraction is purging by self-forced vomiting, however, other methods are also used such as abusing laxatives, emetics, and diuretics. While anyone can suffer from bulimia, about 95% of people suffering from it are female, and most of them are white from the middle and upper classes (Yager, 1991). Bulimia is a dangerous and sometimes fatal issue

“To be happy and successful, you must be thin,” is a message women are given at a very young age (Society and Eating Disorders). In fact, eating disorders are still continuously growing because of the value society places on being thin. There are many influences in society that pressures females to strive for the “ideal” figure. According to Sheldon’s research on, “Pressure to be Perfect: Influences on College Students’ Body Esteem,” the ideal figure of an average female portrayed in the media is 5’11” and 120 pounds. In reality, the average American woman weighs 140 pounds at 5’4”. The societal pressures come from television shows, diet commercials, social media, peers, magazines and models. However, most females do not take into account of the beauty photo-shop and airbrushing. This ongoing issue is to always be a concern because of the increase in eating disorders.

People everywhere especially young girls, and women look at magazines and dream to one day look like the models in the pictures. They do this because thin, beautiful women are what they are used to seeing everywhere. There are rarely advertisements with curvy, real looking women on them. Plus size models are also scarce and compared to the ultra skinny models, they are not looked up to. What is happening to society? Size ¾ is no longer considered thin. There are double zeros and negative sizes that are taking over the clothing racks. Changes need to be made with the media and the fashion industry immediately. The rampage of being so thin that your rib cage is clearly seen and you suffer from many health issues is not in. Thin is not in! Healthy, real looking girls and women who are happy with their figures is what's in. Being active and enjoying a normal lifestyle is in. There is no need to conform to the so called "perfect body image" when there truly is not one. Psychologists say the fashion industry has gone too far in pushing dangerously thin image in that women and even young girls try to imitate. In recent surveys 40% of first, second, and third graders want to be thinner. 80% of ten year olds are concerned that they will become fat. 50% of children ages eight through ten are unhappy with their current size and more than 50% of nine through fifteen year olds say that they exercise to lose weight and reduce

According to the American Psychiatric Association (2013) bulimia nervosa is when a person has repeatedly binged when eating. During the binge phase, the person will have very little control over their actions and consume large amounts of food in a short period of time. Typically a person battling with bulimia will exhibit inappropriate behaviors to refrain from gaining weight by exercising excessively, using laxatives, vomiting, taking medications, diuretics, and fasting. It is required that the person continue these behaviors for at least once a week for three months, and there is a major

Common symptoms of Bulimia Nervosa include: damage to your heart or cardiac functionality, liver damage, kidney failure, damage to the esophagus, damage to the functioning of your gastrointestinal system and damage to tooth enamel. (Schulherr, Eating Disorders For Dummies)

More recently, Sports Illustrated model, Kate Upton whom is a size 4, is now considered a plus size model and deemed to be “too curvy”. In the United States the “normal” sized woman is between the size of 6 and 10. Most of us do not understand why some put themselves through so much anguish to satisfy these body image complexes. Back in the 1950’s, models were