Weight Obsession Affects Millions Of Teenagers Today

Around 10-15% of all Americans suffer from an eating disorder. “More than 7 million women suffer from an eating disorder whereas only one million men suffer from an eating disorder” (Mirasol). In modern society, we are surrounded by media and images. Both men and women struggle to meet the expectations set forth in magazines, websites, and on television. The pressure to imitate the ideal body can lead many down unhealthy paths. Teens today face a lot more challenges which leads them to illnesses like Anorexia, Bulimia, and Binge eating. Although there are a lot of similarities in this disease, the differences can also affect people differently, which means different treatments are required.

Eating disorders in the United States are becoming more and more prominent as the years go by. Up to 24 million people in the United States suffer from eating disorders (ANAD, 2015), according to a secondary source research by the National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders (ANAD), the oldest and the most prominent organization aimed at fighting various eating disorders in the United States. Prominently, eating disorders in adolescents continue to be a serious problem and may result in premature death or life-long medical and psychosocial morbidity (Vale, B., Brito, S., Paulos, L., & Moleiro, P., 2014). According to a peer-reviewed, primary source by eating disorder specialists, eating disorders are classified according to Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th edition , as anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and eating disorder not otherwise specified (Vale, B., Brito, S., Paulos, L., & Moleiro, P., 2014). The two major eating disorders, anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa, are very common amongst adolescents, specifically young girls. While the symptoms of anorexia nervosa is more evident through the dramatic change in body weight, bulimia nervosa can be overlooked as many with the disease have a normal body weight (Mulheim, 2012).

Eating disorders are sweeping this country and are rampant on junior high, high school, and college campuses. These disorders are often referred to as the Deadly Diet, but are often known by their more popular names: anorexia or bulimia. They affect more than 20% of females between the age of thirteen and forty. It is very rare for a young female not to know of someone with an eating disorder. Statistics show that at least one in five young women have a serious problem with eating and weight (Bruch, 25).

Eating Disorders are defined as deviations of eating behavior that can lead to extreme weight loss (cachexia) or obesity, among other physical problems and disabilities. The main types of eating disorders are Anorexia Nervosa and Bulimia Nervosa. These two diseases are closely related because they represented some symptoms in common: a prevalent idea involving

According to The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) website, eating disorders are actually serious and often fatal illnesses causing serve disturbances to a person’s eating behaviors. People with eating disorders often have obsessions with food, their body weight, and their shape. There is, however, a difference between an eating disorder and a diet. It is important to know the difference. Eating disorders are a daily struggle for 10 million females and 1 million males in the United States (Eating Disorder Hope). An eating disorder is a compulsion to avoid eating in order to lose weight while a diet is cutting down eating or healthier eating in order to lose weight. The three types of an eating disorders are anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and binge-eating disorder. All three disorders are important and they all deserve immediate treatment. No matter what eating disorder someone has, it can resort in organ damage and sometimes even death.

According to the National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA), as many as 60 percent of children between ages 6 and 12 worry about weight gain, and half American teens think they’re overweight. (Turner, 2014) Girls want to lose huge amounts of weight because they think they will feel prettier when all there doing is damaging the inside of their body. Among adolescent girls, 1% to 3% have bulimia and 1% have anorexia. Only 5% to 15% of all people with anorexia or bulimia are male. (Harris, 2004) Most young females and males go through some type of eating disorder. A study in the Archives of General Psychiatry found that more than half a million teens have an eating disorder. (Turner, 2014)

The most well-known eating disorders include anorexia nervosa, bulimia, and binge eating disorder, but new diagnoses are emerging such as orthorexia nervosa. Anorexia is characterized by an overwhelming fear of gaining weight, an obsession with weight in general, and involves a

Girls are indoctrinated at a very young age that the well known Barbie doll is how a woman is supposed to look, which includes no fat, but large breasts, and due to that false view of a woman’s body, it is more than likely that young girls today will approach puberty with a negative body image. Although children can develop eating disorders as early as 6 years old, it is typically the teen years where it becomes out of control. Dr. Jonathon Rader says that “more than half of teenaged girls are, or think they should be, on diets. They want to lose all or some of the forty pounds that females naturally gain between 8 and 14. About three percent of these teens go too far, becoming anorexic or bulimic” (Rader). Almost everyone has heard of the terms “anorexic” and “bulimic” whether it was on TV or in a magazine, but not many people know the true facts and dangers that go along with them. They also might not even realize that there are other types of eating disorders that people are dealing with, some of which are not even specified. Exactly what are eating disorders?

There are many different types of eating disorders. The most common eating disorders are anorexia, bulimia and binge eating but there are many other ones. One type of eating disorder is called anorexia athletica this is a “disorder characterized by

Eating disorders were rarely heard of before the 1980s, but after that, they exploded everywhere. With the media constantly depicted “perfect” bodies, people have set unrealistic expectations for themselves. It is estimated that approximately 36 million women have an eating disorder. Over 5 million of those women are American. Although eating disorders know no boundaries, the majority of the people whom contract either of these illnesses are females ages 15-24. The most common eating disorder is binge eating, affecting about 3.5% of all women and 2% of all men. As the number of those affected continues to increase, so does to mortality rate. As mentioned before, eating disorders are the deadliest mental illness and are 12 times more deadly than all causes of death in females 15-24 years of

Ever since the development of the media such as television, the internet, various fashion magazines and commercial advertisements, society focused more and more on personal appearances. Not only were runway models becoming slimmer but the viewers that watched and read about them were becoming more concerned with their weight. In the past fifty years the number of adolescent girls developing eating disorders increased just as television, advertisements, and magazines were becoming a social norm that was easily and often available. Today, more than ever, adolescents are worrying about weight, shape, size and body image and. It does not help that these children are growing up in a world filled with media material emphasizing dangerously

Today, more than ever, teenagers and adolescents have many concerns about their weight, shape, size, and body image. Studies have suggested that eating disorders among adolescent girls have increased over the past fifty years. Approximately 1% to 5% of young girls meet the criteria for bulimia nervosa (Johnson, Chandra). Although the media’s emphasis on diet and fitness was designed to help people become healthier, it influences bad eating habits, body dissatisfaction, and eating disorders.

Eating disorders are sweeping this country and are rampant on junior high, high school, and college campuses. These disorders are often referred to as the Deadly Diet, but are often known by their more popular names: anorexia or bulimia. They affect more than 20% of females between the age of thirteen and forty. It is very rare for a young female not to know of someone with an eating disorder. Statistics show that at least one in five young women have a serious problem with eating and weight (Bruch, 25).

There are many different types of eating disorders such as binge-eating, bulimia, and anorexia. All three eating disorders are very similar, but they are also differ with the issue they cause. Eating disorders can be harmful to a persons’ body because when they keep vomiting, it causes certain parts of the body to deteriorate over time. Each disorder has many symptoms, causes, warning signs, and health problems. All disorders differ with the way they affect people and how the person is treated.

There are different types of eating disorders such as Bulimia and Anorexia. Anorexia is a lack or loss in appetite while Bulimia is more of an emotional disorder.