Eating Disorders Essay Research Paper Eating DisordersEach

Eating Disorders Essay, Research Paper

Eating Disorders

Each year millions of people in the United States are affected by serious and sometimes life-threatening eating disorders. The vast majority are adolescents and young adult women. Approximately one percent of adolescent girls develop anorexia nervosa, a dangerous condition in which they can literally starve themselves to death. Another two to three percent develop bulimia nervosa, a destructive pattern of excessive overeating followed by vomiting or other ” purging ” behaviors to control their weight. These eating disorders also occur in men and older women, but much less frequently. The consequences of eating disorders can be severe. For example, one in ten anorexia nervosa cases leads to death from starvation, cardiac arrest, or suicide. Fortunately, increasing awareness of the dangers of eating disorders, sparked by medical studies and extensive media coverage, has led many people to seek help. Nevertheless, some people with eating disorders refuse to admit that they have a problem and do not get treatment. Family and friends can help recognize the problem and encourage the person to seek treatment.

Anorexia Nervosa is one of the most common eating disorders that can be characterized by intense fear of gaining weight or becoming obese, as well as a distorted body image, leading to an excessive weight loss from restricting food intake and excessive exercise. Sometimes they must be hospitalized to prevent starvation because food and weight become obsessions. For some, the compulsiveness shows up in strange eating rituals, some even collect recipes and prepare gourmet feasts for family and friends. Loss of monthly menstrual periods is typical in women with this disorder and men with this disorder usually become impotent.

People with bulimia nervosa consume large amounts of food and then rid their bodies of the excess calories by vomiting, abusing laxatives or exercising obsessively. Some use a combination of all these forms of purging. Many individuals with bulimia “binge and purge” in secret and maintain normal or above normal body weight, they can often successfully hide their problem from others for years. As with anorexia, bulimia typically begins during adolescence. The condition occurs most often in women but is also found in men. Many individuals with bulimia do not seek help until they reach their 30 s or 40 s. By then, their eating behavior is deeply ingrained and more difficult to change.

While a typical sufferer of Anorexia or Bulimia are members of the middle class or affluent society; recent findings show sufferers come from all backgrounds and many different styles and sizes of families. As Nagel and Jones stated, Over the past twenty years, anorexia and bulimia nervosa have reached epidemic proportions within the adolescent and young adult population (Nagel and Jones1992). There is also a tendency for anorexics to set unreasonably high goals and to aim for perfection in all that they do.

Generally speaking, bulimia is likely to begin after the late teens, while anorexia more often starts during adolescence. The majority of eating disorders occur in females and the incidence of anorexia or bulimia in males is about 5% of all cases, with the onset of the disorders generally mid-teens to early twenties.

There are many causes of the eating disorders anorexia and bulimia nervosa.

There are many theories, but no clear picture on which theory has more pull. It is an over simplification the mass media’s presentation of the ideal shape of the perfect body mostly represented though western society’s increased emphasis on the slim, fit body places pressure on many people. Romeo came to a conclusion that the cultural pressure from the advertising industry is for females to be thin . He says, that their fathers pressured them to excel in sports or to have a muscular physique (Romeo 1994). If the parents have control of the child emotionally and/or mentally, this can play a major role in the development of an eating disorder because the child feels that with this eating disorder they have the only and final say on what they do with their bodies.

We know there are many factors affecting the development of the disorders biological, psychological and sociological so the relationship between parent and child need not to be seen as the dominant cause. However, the reluctance to mature physically (sexually) and emotionally, and the issues of personal control between parent and child, could contribute to some cases of anorexia. Low self -esteem and poor body image contributes to both disorders; and it seems life crises- such as changing relationships, childbirth or death- may trigger the eating disorders. In a case study done by Holaday, Smith, Robertson, Dallas they stated that there subject he expressed a fear of becoming obese; and he had a history of experiencing his stomach as fat when he did eat a meal (Holaday, Smith, Robertson, Dallas 1994).

There can be side effects of Anorexia and Bulimia. The anorexic experiences physical side effects similar to malnutrition, which can be followed with severe sensitivity to the cold, loss of menstrual periods and growth of down-like body hair. Bulimic women may also stop menstruating or have irregular periods. Both disorders involve the possible dysfunction of the kidneys, imbalance in the bodily chemic