Eating Disorders Among Teenage Girls
Eating disorders have become an epidemic among teenage girls. Fueled in large part by the media's promotion of thinness as a physical ideal for young women, the eating disorder problem has escalated over the past few decades. Girls are beginning to diet in elementary school and may be binging, purging, or starving before they are ten years old. Because eating disorders reflect complex psychological issues, there is no clear cause or solution to the problem. However, there are clear connections between eating disorders and media influence. Eating disorders tend to be the symptom of larger psychological distress, and they are often accompanied by severe depression, self-mutilation (as in "cutting" practices), and other addictions. While many teenage girls eventually recover from their eating disorders to live a healthy lifestyle, many either continue their disordered eating habits. Some, up to 15%, will die. While eating disorders affect a large portion of the population, especially in the United States, most sufferers are adolescent women. Due to a variety of factors, including peer pressure and exposure to mainstream fashion magazines, teenage girls seem uniquely susceptible to developing one of the manifestations of disordered eating. There is no exclusive cure for anorexia, bulimia, or compulsive eating, but treatment usually includes some form of psychotherapy.
Eating disorders are extremely varied in scope and it can be difficult to strictly categorize young women as either being anorexic or bulimic. Many sufferers exhibit symptoms of both, and often patients will shift from one type of eating disorder to another. The New Zealand Health Information Network estimates that 40% of girls with anorexia go on to develop bulimia ("Scary Statistics"). Anorexia nervosa literally means a nervous loss of appetite. According to the National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders (ANAD), the term is a misnomer ("Eating Disorders Definitions"). Anorexia nervosa is characterized by an abnormal fear of being fat, and is accompanied by severe self-imposed...
Eating Disorders: Anorexia Nervosa, Bulimia Nervosa, Binge-Eating Disorder, Night Eating Syndrome and Eating Disorders Not Otherwise Specified Eating disorders are psychological illnesses associated with a host of adverse medical conditions, negative psychological affects, and substantial reductions in quality of life. This paper will explore some of the causes research has attributed to this behavior. According to Leslie Sim, et al. (2010) the main eating disorders are anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, binge-eating
Eating Disorder Anomalous eating habits involving too less or too much dietary intake that may lead to physical or mental harm to an individual is known as Eating Disorders. Classification of Eating Disorders According to Walsh and Sysko (2009) Eating Disorders are most commonly classified into three categories Anorexia nervosa (AN) Bulimia nervosa (BN) Atypical eating disorder or Eating disorders not otherwise specified (EDNOS) Anorexia Nervosa is a medical condition associated with exceptionally low food intake, less
Eating Disorders and Gender There are medical conditions which more commonly occur in one gender over another. These conditions can be either mental or physical. Very often, they are both mental and physical conditions. Certain medical situations are extremely severe and can potentially result in serious harm to the body or perhaps even death. There are certain conditions which being with a mental impression, a false belief that has been ingrained
Eating disorder is characterized by abnormal eating habits involving excessive or insufficient intake of food which is detrimental to the individual's physical and mental well-being. There are two common types of eating disorders although there are other types of eating disorders. The first is bulimia nervosa which is excessive eating coupled with frequent vomiting. The second type is anorexia nervosa which is immoderate restriction of food which leads to irrational
Eating Disorders How the Perception of Beauty Influences Eating Disorders With everything changing in this society, the aspect of beauty especially when it comes to women has kept changing, sometimes desperately to the extent of individuals adopting extreme behaviors in the pursuit of the ideal 'beauty'. Instances where different kinds of media communicate the significance of physical beauty in the contemporary world and the means of achieving such traits are widespread. The
Eating Disorders Is there a link/relationship between pathological dieting and eating disorders in young adolescents? (no American quotes or stats as I'm in Australia) Eating disorders and pathological dieting: An overview According to the Australian Psychological Society (2011) it is estimated five percent of all women and girls are suffering from anorexia nervosa, and two to three per cent have bulimia nervosa and other eating disorders. Males also suffer from eating disorders, affecting
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