Eating Disorders

2394 Words5 Pages

Look in the mirror. Do you like what you see? Most of us have come to appreciate ourselves for who we are. While other’s struggle to achieve the perfect body. They strive to be what is depicted in fashion magazines and movies. The never ending obsession to be the perfect size zero. This inevitably can lead to eating disorders. Eating disorders can cause someone to have an unhealthy image of themselves and food is the enemy. In a national survey at the Mclean Hospital in Massachusetts it was estimated that over 9 million people suffer with eating disorders. They can struggle with anorexia, bulimia or binge eating. A study conducted by the National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders states that most of these diseases start before the age of twenty. Another growing problem in the United States is obesity. Over 60 million Americans suffer from this disease, this according to the American Obesity Association (gale opposing viewpoints: eating disorders 2010).

Anorexia is a psychiatric disorder that is most common in young women. Those who suffer with anorexia have a fear of gaining weight and have an inaccurate portrayal of their own bodies. They see themselves as being fat, even though they are already thin to begin with. They are willing to go to extreme measures to lose weight, but the only outcome is a severely unhealthy body weight. To achieve the weight they want they will either starve themselves or do a tremendous amount of exercise.

Anorexia is a serious and life threatening condition. It can result in death due to starvation, heart failure, or electrolyte imbalance. The first step in helping someone suffering with anorexia is to diagnose the physical characteristics attributed with the disease...

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...tp://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/en

Buckroyd, J. (1996). Anorexia & bulimia: your questions answered. Shaftesbury, Dorset: Elements.

Bulimia nervosa. (n.d.). University of Maryland Medical Center Web. 25 Oct. 2015.

http://www.umm.edu/altmed/articles/bulimia-nervosa-000020.htm

Bulimia - PubMed Health. (n.d.). National Center for Biotechnology Information. Web. 23 Oct. 2015. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0

Eating Disorders." Current Issues: Macmillian Social Science Library. Detroit: Gale, 2010. Gale Opposing Viewpoints In Context. Web. 20 Oct. 2015.

"Obesity." Current Issues: Macmillian Social Science Library. Detroit: Gale, 2010. Gale Opposing Viewpoints In Context. Web. 21 Oct. 2015.

Smith, M., Barston, S., Segal, R., & Segal, J. (2009). Help guide Web. 24 Oct. 2015.

http://helpguide.org/mental/binge_eating_disorder.htm

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Brody, Jane E. “Attacking the Obesity Epidemic by First Figuring Out Its Cause.” New York Times. 12 September 2011. Print.
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Eating Disorders

Problems with Obesity in America

Anorexia Nervosa Case Study

An Overview of Anorexia Nervosa