Eating Disorders Among Teens Eating Disorders have become a serious issue in the past twenty-five years. Many people have been diagnosed for having an eating disorder. More teens out of any other age group suffer from it. Sports, peer-pressure, and low self-esteem can cause teens to be driven to eating disorders. Anorexia and Bulimia are the two main types of eating disorders. Anorexia is the self-starving behavior that can lead to severe health problems and even death. Bulimia is when a binge/purge cycle is used or laxatives are used at an excessive amount. Anorexia and bulimia affect a person?s thoughts and feelings as well as his or her body (Erlanger 18). Anorectics starve themselves to lose weight. Experts have described how anorectics seem incapable of noticing that they have lost weight. They might loss fifty pounds and still think they are to fat. They eat very little, if any at all, but most of them claim that they do not get hungry. Most of them also exercise constantly as well as not eating. It is a very dangerous disease. About one out of every ten victims of anorexia result in death (Internet site). Bulimia is also a very sever eating disorder. About half of the victims of anorexia victims also suffer from bulimia (Internet site). Most bulimics use the binge and purge cycle and/or excessive laxatives. Bulimics first binge, which is eating as much food as they want at one time. In fact, bulimics take in around 2 3,400 (sometimes-even close to 5,000) calories each time they binge. The normal adult takes in around 2,500 calories a day (Epstien 67). After the binge is the purge. They either make themselves vomit or take laxatives. Many health problems can occur to a result of buli... ... middle of paper ... ...ing disorder. Model agencies should let normal women model and not women that are under the healthy weight. Family and peers need to surrport people with weight problems and not make them feel guilty about how they look. Until this society can accept the fact that everyone is different, teenagers will always have eating disorders! Bibliography: Claypool, Jane / Nelson, Cheryl D. Food Trips and Traps: Coping with Eating Disorders. London: A Grolier Company, 1983 Earhart, Elizabeth. Personal Interview: March 28, 2000 @ 4:15p.m. Epstein, Rachel. Eating Habits and Disorders. Philadelphia: Chelsea House Publishers, 1990. Erlanger, Ellen. Eating Disorders: A Question and Answer Book about Anorexia. Minneapolis: Lerner Publications Company, 1988. Internet site: http://www.allhealth.com/sponsors/aol/cgi-bin/frame_mental.html
Bulimia and anorexia Nervosa, the two most common eating disorders in the world, and neither of them are at all healthy. Even Though bulimia and anorexia are quite similar, they have many differences that set them apart. The main difference between the two is that bulimia is where a person eating an excessive amount of food in a short period of time, followed by purging all of the food out of guilt. Anorexia is where you barely eat, have a strict diet, and workout excessively. Just with a brief description, this just barely scratches the surface of this whole topic of bulimia and anorexia. We will begin by looking at the similarities of bulimia and anorexia.
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There are two major disorders, anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa. The first disorder, anorexia nervosa, happens when someone decides to stop eating. “People with anorexia nervosa often also limit or restrict other parts of their lives besides food, including relationships, social activities” (McConnell). These self-imposed limits lead to anorexia. The second disorder, bulimia nervosa, is another disorder, where someone eats but then gets rid of the food. “People who have bulimia nervosa routinely ‘binge,’ consuming large amounts of food in a very short period of time, and immediately ‘purge,’ ridding their bodies of the just-eaten food by self-inducing vomiting, taking enemas, or abusing laxatives or other medications” (McConnell). These actions can be fatal if they are not treated. “Eating disorders are illnesses, not character flaws or choices. Genetics have a significant contribution and may predispose individuals to eating disorders,” (Why do young). “Your environment can also play a major role in developing an eating disorder. Dieting, body dissatisfaction and wanting to be thin are all factors that increase the risk for an eating disorder,” (Why do young). Whatever the reason for having anorexia or bulimia these disorders can have diffe...
"Anorexia nervosa is an eating disorder on an overwhelming dread of becoming fat. The result of this unfounded fear is self-starvation and major weight loss. In addition, the undernourishment may cause hormonal disturbances, anemia, heart problems, brittle bones and many other problems, some of which are life-threatening ("Anorexia Nervosa," 1). Bulimia is an eating disorder that is psychological in origin and can have dire physical consequences. While anorexics starve themselves, bulimics binge on food and then purge by self-induced vomiting. Bulimics also frequently use diet pills, laxatives, and diuretics to reduce their weight.
Anorexia Nervosa or just Anorexia, is characterized by an extreme and intense fear of gaining weight, which leads the person to pursue continuous weight loss. Sometimes, a diet can begin innocently, but anorexics don't stop at a rational point. They keep going until their lives may be threatened. Anorexics may use many methods of weight loss along with dieting and fasting. They use excessive exercise, diet pills, laxatives, diuretics, or vomiting as ways of feeling thinner or controlling calories, but whatever the method, the primary goal is thinness. One may wonder why anorexics don't stop dieting once they become skinny. The reason is that a major characteristic of anorexia is a problem called distorted body image. This means that anorexics look at their bodies very differently than other people do. When they look in the mirror, they never see themselves as being too thin. They "feel fat" And usually overestimate their weight. If an anorexic is told she is too skinny, she is more likely to be happy than upset. Many times, anorexics don't believe that they have a problem. Using weight reduction is just a way of coping with other pressures.
Christine. “How Eating Disorders Start to Grow.” Phoenix Revolution. Word Press, 2014. Web. 6 Feb 2014.
Bulimia nervosa is a slightly less serious version of anorexia, but can lead to some of the same horrible results. Bulimia involves an intense concern about weight (which is generally inaccurate) combined with frequent cycles of binge eating followed by purging, through self-induced vomiting, unwarranted use of laxatives, or excessive exercising. Most bulimics are of normal body weight, but they are preoccupied with their weight, feel extreme shame about their abnormal behavior, and often experience significant depression. The occurrence of bulimia has increased in many Western countries over the past few decades. Numbers are difficult to establish due to the shame of reporting incidences to health care providers (Bee and Boyd, 2001).
The stage of adolescence contains major changes which can bring stress, confusion, and anxiety. Feelings of self-consciousness, low self esteem and comparison with peers start occurring during this time. Along with the physical changes there is also hormonal and brain changes that affect the adolescent physically, mentally, emotionally, and psychologically. During this time a person can feel tremendous pressure to find their place in the world among a great deal of confusion (“Eating Disorders and Adolescence,” 2013). Body image concerns and peer pressure are heightened during the period of adolescence, and are potential risk factors in the development of an eating disorder. While eating disorders can affects males and females of all ages, the average age of onset for Anorexia Nervosa, Bulimia Nervosa, and disordered eating takes place during adolescence. These disorders are often a coping mechanism for people to attempt to gain control of their situation when they feel helpless among other aspects of life (“Eating Disorders and Adolescence,” 2013). Eating disorders in children and teens can lead to a number of serious physical problems and even death (Kam, n.d.).
Teenagers are developing eating disorders at a very large rate. There are many factors that contribute to teenagers developing eating disorders. The first reason that so many teenagers are developing eating disorders is because they are influenced by society. Eating disorders among teenagers are at an increased rate because of the huge value society places on being thin. Teenagers everywhere are under the influence that to be pretty, beautiful, happy, and successful you have to thin or a certain size. They think that they have to be a mirror image of what society thinks makes a person perfect. Society is not the only reason that teenager...
Matthews, John R. Library in a Book: Eating Disorders. New York: Facts on File Inc. 1991
Eating disorders are a serious health problem. Personal Counseling & Resources says that eating disorders "are characterized by a focus on body shape, weight, fat, food, and perfectionism and by feelings of powerlessness and low self-esteem." Three of the most common eating disorders are anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and binge eating or compulsive eating disorder. According to Anorexia Nervosa and Related Eating Disorders, a person with anorexia "refuses to maintain normal body weight for age and height" and "weighs 85 percent or less than what is what is expected for age and height." A person diagnosed with bulimia has several ways of getting rid of the calories such as binge eating, vomiting, laxative misuse, exercising, or fasting. The person might have a normal weight for their age and height unless anorexia is present. The signs of a compulsive eater include eating meals frequently, rapidly, and secretly. This person might also snack and nibble all day long. The compulsive eater tends to have a history of diet failures and may be depressed or obese (Anred.com).