Eating Disorders Research Paper

1938 Words4 Pages

Eating Disorders and the Media Have you ever picked up a magazine and thought to yourself, “What I would do to have a perfect body like this girl or boy?” I can say I have caught myself comparing my body to other female bodies around me all the time. It’s in our nature. We all have this image in our heads of what the perfect body is, but is our idea of the perfect body unrealistic. We find ourselves going on crash diets, spending countless hours at the gym doing exercises we cannot pronounce, buying some crazy diet pills just to shed off three extra pounds, and for what? I believe women do these things for some type of acceptance from society. In our minds we just want to be like everyone else, and if we have the perfect body, what else could we possibly need. Is spending five hours at the gym and eating less than 500 calories a day really worth your dignity? Who knew a piece of paper with a photo-shopped girl on the cover could do so much damage? In the United States, around 86 deaths in 100,000 between the ages of 15-24 are accredited to anorexia nervosa. http://health.usnews.com/health-conditions/mental-health/eating-disorders/overview Personal Effect Eating disorders have effected young women for a long time. There are many factors that contribute to a young woman obtaining an eating …show more content…

Anorexia Nervosa is an eating disorder that individuals restrict their caloric intake and increase exercise, causing their bodies to become malnourished and weak. They begin to take part is crash diets, and exercise constantly. Some people with an eating disorder will refuse to eat in front of others so that they do not realize they have an eating problem. The other is Bulimia Nervosa, where the person binge eats a substantial amount of food and then purges. The term nervosa, is fear of becoming overweight.

Show More
Related

  • Media and Body Image

    1147 Words  | 3 Pages

    We hear sayings everyday such as “Looks don’t matter; beauty is only skin-deep”, yet we live in a decade that contradicts this very notion. If looks don’t matter, then why are so many women harming themselves because they are not satisfied with how they look? If looks don’t matter, then why is the media using airbrushing to hide any flaws that one has? This is because with the media establishing unattainable standards for body perfection, American Women have taken drastic measures to live up to these impractical societal expectations. “The ‘body image’ construct tends to comprise a mixture of self-perceptions, ideas and feelings about one’s physical attributes. It is linked to self-esteem and to the individual’s emotional stability” (Wykes 2). As portrayed throughout all aspects of our media, whether it is through the television, Internet, or social media, we are exploited to a look that we wish we could have; a toned body, long legs, and nicely delineated six-pack abs. Our society promotes a body image that is “beautiful” and a far cry from the average woman’s size 12, not 2. The effects are overwhelming and we need to make more suitable changes as a way to help women not feel the need to live up to these unrealistic standards that have been self-imposed throughout our society.

    Read More

  • Annotated Bibliography Eating Disorders

    587 Words  | 2 Pages

    Research, 2016. Bordo implicated popular culture as having a serious negative role in how women of America view their bodies. These images have led to drastic increase change in life altering female disorders and eating. Not only does these images affect Americans but young men and women too which they should be fighting against it, not for

    Read More

  • Anorexia Nervosa: Body Image and Internalization Issues Among People from Different Ethnic Groups

    965 Words  | 2 Pages

    Anorexia nervosa is characterized by a distorted body image. The individual is severely underweight and thinks they are fat or has a fear of becoming fat (Comer, 2013).

    Read More

  • Analysis of Eating Disorders

    2686 Words  | 6 Pages

    The rising frequency of teen Internet and social media use, in particular Facebook, has cause parents to lose sight of these websites harmful attributes that lead to eating disorders and extreme dieting. Michele Foster, author of “Internet Marketing Through Facebook: Influencing Body Image in Teens and Young Adults”, published October 2008 in Self Help Magazine, argues Facebook has become the leading social network for teens and young adults aging 17 to 25 years of age, and is also the age range that has significant increases in Anorexia and Bulimia Nervosa in women. Foster accomplishes her purpose, which is to draw the parents of teen’s attention to the loosely regulated advertisements on Facebook and Facebook’s reluctance to ban negative body image ads. Foster creates a logos appeal by using examples and persona, pathos appeal by using diction, and ethos appeal by using examples and persona.

    Read More

  • Anorexia, Restricting And Binge Eating Disorders

    739 Words  | 2 Pages

    Anorexia Nervosa is an eating disorder characterized by severe restriction of food, an intense fear of gaining weight, a distorted body image and a body mass index of less than 18.5 (Kring, Johnson, Davison, Neale, 2013). There are two subtypes of anorexia, Restricting and Binge Eating/Purging. An individual who falls under the Restricting subtype severely restricts food intake, while an individual who falls under the Bing Eating/Purging subtype regularly engages in binge eating and purging. Anorexia typically begins in adolescence and primarily affects women. The disorder is more common in women than in men, mainly because of the cultural emphasis that is placed on women’s beauty.

    Read More

  • Causes for Anorexia in Middle Age Women

    1647 Words  | 4 Pages

    The prevalence of research on women who suffer from eating disorders has customarily centered on either adolescent or young adult women. As the baby boomer generation ages a growing need has developed to expand the studies to include middle-aged women. Mounting evidence indicates eating disorders in this population has steadily been on the rise. (Lucas, Beard, O’Fallon & Kurkland, 1991). Although reports indicate that eating disorders can develop at any age, there is conflicting evidence in the studies reviewed whether there are actually new episodes of eating disorders in middle aged women. Every study confers that there can be relapses, of eating disorders or even lifelong issues that have gone undiagnosed. (Gadalla, 2008). A number of studies suggest that the same concerns or personality traits plaguing young women are also at the root of the issues within middle age women, with a few additional contributors.

    Read More

  • How Society Affects the Development of Eating Disorders

    1534 Words  | 4 Pages

    Eating disorders have become one of the most problematic issues in the world today. It is very common to hear that women are considered as the type of group who has the higher rate of eating disorders. Although that statement is true, many men also suffered from eating disorder as well. The development of eating disorders usually begins in the period of adolescents and continue until the period of adulthood. However, this does not limit to the fact that it may happen in an earlier period and continue until the latter period.

    Read More

  • Eating Disorders during Adolescence

    1894 Words  | 4 Pages

    An eating disorder is characterized when eating, exercise and body image become an obsession that preoccupies someone’s life. There are a variety of eating disorders that can affect a person and are associated with different characteristics and causes. Most cases can be linked to low self esteem and an attempt to, “deal with underlying psychological issues through an unhealthy relationship with food” (“Eating Disorders and Adolescence,” 2013). Eating disorders typically develop during adolescence or early adulthood, with females being most vulner...

    Read More

  • Origins of The Beauty Myth

    1573 Words  | 4 Pages

    According to Laura Shapiro, a notable researcher on eating disorders, the medical condition of anorexia consists of several elements. By definition, anorexia nervosa is a condition characterized by intense fear of gaining weight or becoming obese, as well as a distorted body image, and a feeling of loss of control (Shapiro 69).

    Read More

  • Eating Disorders Research Paper

    228 Words  | 1 Pages

    Gymnastics. Gymnastics is a very competitive sport. And coaches want their gymnasts to be fit and flexible. They may pressure the girls into doing something like perform in front of the class or going in front of a whole crowd. If the girls (and guys) are going to go in front of a crowd then they will want to look good. They might be wanting to impress someone or impress themselves. They might want to try to be the skinniest on the team, or the most flexible on the team. They have to wear leotards also, and when you wear a leotard you can see every curve on their body and if they are a little bigger then they won’t feel confident in themselves (but maybe some people do) and that

    Read More

  • Anorexia Essay

    1307 Words  | 3 Pages

    Anorexia Nervosa is an eating disorder that can have fatal consequences. Anorexics consume very restricted amounts of food and start to starve themselves. Eventually these people will become dangerously thin and malnourished, but still see themselves as overweight and continue to not eat....

    Read More

  • Anorexia Nervosa Research Paper

    976 Words  | 2 Pages

    Up to 24 million people of all ages and genders suffer from an eating disorders which include

    Read More

  • Anorexia Nervosa Research Paper

    1147 Words  | 3 Pages

    “Body image is how someone thinks and feels about his or her physical self,” (Conway, 2013). Media throughout the years have really increased body dissatisfaction among male and female adults and adolescents. “Approximately 80% of U.S. women do not like how they look and 34% of men are dissatisfied with their body,” (Gallivan, n.d). Not only have adults been affected but so have adolescents, “53% of 13-year-old American girls are unhappy with their bodies. This number grows to 78% by the time the girls reach 17,” (Gallivan, n.d). Something needs to be changed in the media, 13-year-olds should not be worried about how they look, they should be worried about growing up and doing well in school. Dissatisfaction in body image is caused by how the

    Read More

  • Informative Speech On Anorexia Nervosa

    462 Words  | 1 Pages

    Good afternoon Mrs Du Preez and/or class. Today I will be speaking to you about the eating disorders anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa. Anorexia Nervosa is an emotional and psychological disorder characterised by a desire to lose weight by refusing to eat. It is common among teenage girls. Anorexia Nervosa occurs as they believe themselves to be overweight and think that they will lose weight by not eating.

    Read More

  • Essay On Eating Habits

    1073 Words  | 3 Pages

    Eating disorders have greatly affected women in today’s society. Women tend to feel uncomfortable with their bodies and become caught up in the ideal of being perfect or flawless. An eating disorder is a range of psychological disorders characterized by abnormal or disturbed eating habits. Some can even compare it to drug abuse where food is the drug. Three main types of this disorder are Anorexia nervosa, Bulimia nervosa and Binge-Eating.

    Read More

More about Eating Disorders Research Paper

Open Document