Essay on The Fear of Fat Criterion Within the DSM IV

Cultural beliefs regarding obesity also include perspectives on body size and whether or not obesity is a disease, an illness or just an issue created by Western influences (Brewis, 2011). Some cultures accept a larger body size and do not view this as unhealthy but instead, accept it as expected and culturally acceptable. Brewis (2011), explains that

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

The progress of obesity has developed over the course of four decades has many contributing factors that can not be ignored. Such as cultural beliefs, attitudes and personal preferences towards certain food

This article describes how unrealistic standards of attractiveness set by Western society are internalized by women from a variety of cultural backgrounds and translated into fat-phobia and body dissatisfaction and then discusses alternative cultural influences for food refusal such as issues of control, acculturation, and religious asceticism. The author claims that there is a need for culturally sensitive questionnaires and diagnostic criteria and suggests that the notion of anorexia as a culture bound syndrome is no longer valid as the illness as been identified in a number of non-western societies. A valid point is made

Food not only acts as a necessity of life, but it also provides a way for people to bond and display their culture. People’s food habits act as a way for them to identify themselves. Food habits refer to the reasons why people eat, their methods of eating, the form of food they eat, and the way they get, store, and get rid of food (Rodriguez, 2002). Several factors influence people’s food habits and culture. Some of these factors include a person’s budget, health, and religion. Other factors such as age, gender, and social and cultural backgrounds determine people’s food habits. People buy what they can afford. Some people have the desire to eat in a healthier way, but they are not able to do this because they cannot afford healthy food. Junk food tends to be more readily available and consequently cheaper to buy than healthy food. People with low incomes find it hard to eat at restaurants, and they find it more economical to make their own meals. Food availability also determines people’s food habits. People tend to eat what they can find easily. Rare foods tend to be more expensive, and people avoid this. Foods in season are cheaper. This makes a person’s food habit seasonal and flexible, yet homogenous enough to define a person’s identity (Bellisle, 2012).

The author gives cases of woman from different cultural backgrounds that are forced to accept the westernized beauty standard. She explains that a woman named Zahra Dhanani was pressured by her mother to be thin, because her mother thought that by being thin means beautiful, and it results Zahra to developed bulimia. According to one of the interviewee, Niva Piran, a clinical psychologist, explained that “The ideal of standard beauty is uniformed by the mass media, and attractiveness is often perceived as thin body figure, and light skinned”( McCelland,2013, paragraph 3,p.445). Thus, this component has contributed to people from different culture to develop body image anxiety which can lead to eating-disorder such as, anorexia and bulimia. The author also discuss the history aspect of body image; before the 19th century woman who are larger are consider as healthy and this idea was shifted after the industrialization, and woman are now pressured to accept that being thin is considered beautiful. The author also criticized that the media are constantly demanding light skinned and thin figured woman to be presented. The essay concluded that if the media and the society do not change the idea of accepting themselves, woman will continued to be pressured and scrutinized by the society and therefore feel pressured to look like a certain way.

In the American culture, obesity is seen as a bodily abnormality and deviance that should be corrected. Obesity has indeed become one of the most stigmatizing bodily characteristics in our culture (Brink, 1994). In the Western culture, thinness does not just mean the size of the

The study of body image is a broad topic that touches many subjects including gender. However, the study of body image has been focused mainly on females. This is because the physical shape and image of male bodies have not changed over the history. From the ancient Greek until the modern era, the masculinity is the predominant stereotype for men. Masculine traits include courage, independence and assertiveness (Judith, 2001; Murray, 2000). In contrast to the male body, the female figures have been varied over time and across culture. In the modern era, the thin shaped figure is the ultimate desire of most women because it reflects the beauty and attractiveness of women according to our modern culture (Thompson et al, 1999; Thompson and Stice, 2001). Therefore, failing to meet the societal expectations of being muscular male or thin female may lead to a separation between virtual and actual social identity.

There are diverse cultural beliefs and practices among the world's population that is seen in aspects of dietary preferences. In the United States, there are different communities that compose of Whites, Hispanics, African-Americans and other minority groups. Each of such groups has a type of diet that is different from another. For instance, most African-American children are exposed to fast foods which form their main diet. Such a case may be perceived by other people as unhealthy, therefore they too subscribe to a different type of diet that is passed to them through the generations or as determined by the economic ability of the people (Yon, Malik, Mandin & Midgley, 2017). This is one of the outstanding cultural variations related to food in the United States.

According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) between 2009 and 2010 more than 35 percent of adults across the U.S. and Canada were considered obese (Mcguire, 2011, pp. 368-369). While the rates of obesity in adults has been slowing over the past decade or so the world population has become more media centric and the idea of the ideal body type has certainly been affected by the mass media and the influence of Hollywood movies, sports and television. This change in the perception of the ideal body image has almost certainly affected the rates and types of discrimination as well. As ideal body image changes to leaner more fit athletic and “underwear model” looking individuals the more overweight and obese individuals pale in

Even though eating disorders are less prevalent in society today than they have been in the past, they are still one of the most diagnosed mental illnesses today. These three illnesses have short term as well as long term effects that can leave a damaging toll on the patients’ lives and are very hard to overcome. This is shown through not only the characteristics of Anorexia nervosa, Bulimia Nervosa, Binge-eating Disease, but also through the psychological and physical harm these diseases leave on the body.

The media can strongly effect what we perceive our body shape to be and what we believe our body shape should be. While it is primarily believed to affect women, more research is beginning to focus on male and various gender identities’ eating and body image issues. Adolescents and young adults are at the greatest risk of having eating and body image issues that can cause mental health concerns. This can lead to dangerous, unhealthy habits in all genders. In this lab, we hope to examine the relationship between various self-reports of behavior, cognitions, and feelings towards body image, eating, and societal standards of body shape.

The existence of several different cultures can make it challenging for dietitians in practice. Accordingly, culture is imperative when it comes to health and nutrition counselling. Culture determines what people eat, when they eat it and why. It impacts the food choices and beliefs that they have. Moreover, aside from food, culture also influences how one understands health, and how they pursue treatment (Goody & Drago, 2009). Evidence demonstrates

You are what you eat, is a common phrase characterizing the idea of food and identity. Several questions that discuss the notion of using food as a cultural clue will be addressed, such as: What do food choices represent? How do food choices represent cultural identity? Is it important to recognize the difference between what you eat representing what you are and what you eat constructing who you are? Our identity

In this age of globalization, people are moving from their birth countries to other countries to improve their lives. In the case of the US, we have immigrants from almost any corner of the world thus leading to food diversity. While the diversity is a good thing, people often do not change their eating habits despite knowing that the lifestyle in their new home country is completely different from their previous country. In addition, they do not change food habits to preserve their culture and identity. However, if they do not modify their diet as per the new living conditions, they might