Anorexia Nervosa Research Paper

Jean Morrow once stated “I am forever engaged in a silent battle in my head over whether to lift the fork to my mouth, and when I talk myself into doing so, I taste only shame” Often time’s the general public view an eating disorder, is lackluster in the thoughts of deciding not to intake calories, fat or other “harmful” nutrients to our bodies. People also believe that eating disorders are most often found in females between the ages of 16 and 25. However, eating disorders are much more than a lack of healthy eating for anyone. Males and females have been diagnosed with these harmful diseases between the ages of five and ninety-five years old. The struggles include but is not limited to problems with extreme thoughts, emotions and behaviors,

such as depression and suicidal ideations. There are four documented forms of disordered eating; anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, “chew-n-spit”, and binge/purge eating. Each eating disorder style comes with its individual symptoms and side-effects.

Anorexia Nervosa is ranked as the number one struggled with eating disorder. It is defined as the lack or loss of appetite for food, caused by emotional distress or obsessive desire to lose weight (Mayo). Bulimia is the second highest ranked eating disorder. The definition explains that bulimia comes with a distorted body image, but uncontrollable eating. It is followed by bouts of self induced vomiting, purging or fasting ( Mayo). The least known, most recently recognized, disordered eating is “Chew - N - Spit”. Chew - n - spit is exactly how it sounds. The individual tastes the food, with the enjoyment of chewing the flavor straight out of the morsel, then it is discarded into different objects (ie cups, bags, water bottles), as to not pack on the weight (Danser). Lastly, binge/purge eating (BED) is the hardest eating disorder to diagnose because of its similarities to overeating. Individuals with BED are said to meet the criteria of “at least once per week for 3 months, they experience a loss of control over eating and consume an abnormally large amount of food in a short period of time compared with what others might eat in the same amount of

time.” (APA).
Nearly one in ten children face the definition of disordered eating before the age of thirteen (NEDA).

Many of the children are thought to have been too young for awareness of the overwhelming problem. However, it is said that the children suffering from these disordered habits are said to be exposed to an average of 5 to 7 hours of television per day, viewing the ideal body style (Morris). The media is said to “apply a set of values, norms, and aesthetic standards to embrace modern society [ideals]” (Harrison). Scientists believe that the link between media and disordered eating was higher than originally expected. By exposing young children to “ideal body image”, the brain develops an individual expression of true beauty. A 2005 poll commissioned by NEDA (National Eating Disorders Association) revealed that American adults think that dieting (66%), the media (64%) and family (52%) are the primary causes of eating disorders (TETYANA). The link between media and eating disorders has become stronger and stronger over the years as models and social icons are encouraged to loose more and more weight in order to fit into a “size 2” style. A student run study, placed two independent subjects, of thirteen years old, with images from local magazines (both men’s and women’s) into a compact pile of images. The subjects were asked to rate the images on their ideas of “thin”. The results rated the “coders rated 69% of female characters and only 17% of male characters in a sample as

thin” (Harrison). By comparison, young girls believe that women are held to a 52% higher standard to maintain “thinness” than young males. The content analyses of these facts demonstrates that the media plays a large role into the image young girls believe they must obtain.