Eating Disorder Essay

Eating Disorder Essay
Eating disorders are prominent within younger children mostly involving problems that arise in
childhood and adolescence. Many times eating disorders could be less prevalent, but throughout
today's era eating disorders have increased significantly; the most common eating disorder, anorexia
nervosa has increased three times over the past forty years (BГ¤ck, 2011). Moreover, overweight
and obesity within children and adults has increased significantly over the past twenty years (BГ¤ck,
2011). These dramatic statistics are influenced from parent–child interactions. The relationship the
parent has with their children reflects back to the child's emotional stability. If the child has body
dissatisfaction, has a low self–esteem, or is crying out...show more content...
Eating disorders in young children are more apparent because of the role of attachment with their
mother and father. The role of attachment within a parent–child relationship can be very important to
the child's health and especially habits. According to Zachrisson & Skarderud, it has been apparent
that the quality of enmeshed relationships has detrimental effects on mental health problems. The
attachment styles related to parental styles, such as secure attachment, which is like the authoritative
parenting style, the child knows they are safe within this context, nurtured and supported. Whereas,
insecure attachment, which is, like the permissive parenting style, the child is very unhappy and
their parents are not involved in their lives. According to Bowlby, secure attachment is when the
parent successfully fulfills the needs of the child. Although, insecure attachment has a negative
effect on the child because the parent is enable to fulfill the child's needs. Out of all the different
parenting styles and attachment styles, Schore suggests that secure attachment is the most beneficial
parenting style for the child because the child develops a healthy well–balanced life. With that said,
Wilfley and colleagues (1997) suggests that, insecure attachment can relate to children having low
self esteem, which can result to binge eating or weight gain in order to feel comfort and cope with
their emotions. Throughout previous research, insecure
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Women Eating Disorders Essay
Tabitha HernandezMrs. HammillBiologyJune 11th, 2012 Eating Disorders Eating disorders are a
worldwide problem and effect the lives of many. Women are much more likely than men to
develop an eating disorder. One of three women have eating disorders, most of these women began
to have the eating disorder due to stress, depression, and anger. Eating disorders stem is often
formed with problem with self image caused by the media. Eating disorders are complex conditions
that arise from a combination of long–standing behavioral, biological, emotional, psychological,
interpersonal, and social factors. While eating disorders may begin with preoccupations with food
and weight, they are most often about much more than food. People with eating...show more
content...
In March 2005, findings concluded from those surveyed that three out of four Americans believe
eating disorders should be covered by insurance companies just like any other illness. Americans
believe that government should require insurance companies to cover the treatment of eating
disorders. Four out of ten Americans either suffered or have know someone who has suffered from
an eating disorder. Dieting and thrive for thinness is very common in America. Over one half of
teenage girls and nearly one–third of teenage boys use unhealthy weight control behaviors such as
skipping meals, fasting, smoking cigarettes, vomiting, and taking laxatives. Commonly eating
disorders are accumulated by society. The average American woman is 5'4'' tall and weighs 140
pounds. The average American model is 5'11'' tall and weighs 117 pounds. Most fashion models are
thinner than 98% of American women. Americans spend over $40 billion on dieting and diet–related
products a year! The list is never ending on the different types of eating disorders there actually are.
The three most common types of eating disorders are Anorexia Nervosa, Bulimia Nervosa, and Binge
Eating Disorder. Other eating disorders are mainly any combinations of the above listed. Anorexia
Nervosa includes the symptoms of dramatic weight loss, dressing in layers to hide weight loss,
constantly preoccupied with weight, food, calories, and dieting, makes frequent comments about

Eating Disorders Essay
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...show more content...
People with anorexia may also suffer with dry skin, thinning hair or hair loss, brittle nails, cold or
swollen hands and feet, bloated or upset stomach, fine hair growing all over the body and on the
face, low blood pressure, poor circulation, fatigue, abnormal heart rhythms, and osteoporosis.
Anorexia slows and prevents growth and stops pubertal development. Suffering from anorexia
before the age of twelve is not very common. A girl before the pubertal stage suffering with the
disease will not go through puberty. She will physically remain in the body of a child. She will not
develop hips, breasts, or buttocks. Her hormones will also remain as those of a child and will have
no sexual interest. Fortunately physical development and normal body shape will return upon
recovery. There are also behavioral characteristics associated with anorexia to watch for, like having
an obsession with food, refusing to eat, forgetting or difficulty in remembering things,
obsessive–compulsive behavior, low–self–esteem, loneliness, social isolation, withdrawn behavior,
self–hatred, and depression (www.umm.edu/Anorexia nervosa). People who suffer with anorexia
may start to skip meals. They will eat very little and start to make excuses not to eat. An anorexic
will often refuse to eat in public and hide her eating habits from others. She will often plan and
prepare huge meals for others but not eat any of the food. At times they will take a plate of food with

Eating Disorders Essays
Eating disorders are a group of conditions characterized by severe disturbances in eating behavior
with either an extreme reduction or an extreme increase of food intake, which negatively affects the
individual's mental and physical health. There are two main types of eating disorders – anorexia
nervosa and bulimia nervosa. There is a third category of eating disorders called "eating disorders
not otherwise specified". Binge eating disorder is categorized under this. Eating disorders mainly
appear during adolescence and early adulthood and affect women and girls much more than males.
Eating disorders are not self–inflicted diseases, but real illnesses with biological and psychological
causes. They often co–exist with other disorders such...show more content...
Treatment for eating disorders is expensive and long term – as many as six years. Many people with
eating disorders are spending all their life savings on treatment and even dying as a result of a
lack of it. Treatment options include in patient care where the patient resides in the facility and
works with a team of specialists, partial residential care where the patient goes home at the end of
the day, and outpatient care in which the patient sees therapists, but lives at their own home. The
cheapest of these options is outpatient care and even then insurance companies refuse coverage.
Just one day of inpatient care can cost from $800 to $2500 and a month of treatment can range
from $24000 to $78000. Many people and families spend their live savings trying to pay for
treatment. Often times appearances can be deceiving when it comes to people who suffer from
eating disorders. They may feel and look well, but may have electrolyte, fluid and mineral
imbalances, heart and blood pressure irregularities, and stomach problems which puts them at risk
for sudden death. A bulimic person at a normal weight may actually be starving and severely
malnourished. Short periods of treatment have been showed by studies to lead to a high rates of
readmission. Despite the American Psychiatric Association's care guidelines, because of the high
cost of treatment insurance providers might require early patient discharge. There are

There are two main types of eating disorders, and one that has not yet been confirmed as a disease.
These are Anorexia Nervosa, Bulimia Nervosa, and Binge–Eating Disorder. These disorders are not
due to a failure of will or behavior, but are real, treatable illnesses in which certain poor patterns of
eating take on a life of their own.
These disorders usually co–occur with other illnesses such as depression, substance abuse, and
anxiety disorders. Women are more likely to suffer from eating disorders, but they do occur in both
sexes. They can happen at any age, but mostly occur in adolescence or young adulthood. Sometimes,
these illnesses are serious enough to cause death, so early detection is essential in learning how to
treat the...show more content...
This disease can lead to death, and the most common causes are complications of the disorder, such
as cardiac arrest, electrolyte imbalance, and/or suicide.
Bulimia Nervosa is surprisingly more common than anorexia. This disorder involves binge eating
and then immediate purging of the food by self–induced vomiting, diuretics, enemas, or other
medications. It may also be followed by fasting or excessive exercise. These people usually weigh
within the normal range for their age and height, but they fear gaining weight and feel intensely
unhappy with their bodies. They will almost always hide the behavior due to shame and disgust of
the binging, and will feel relieved once they purge.
These are the two most common eating disorders, and I believe society has contributed to these
immensely. So many magazines, movies, and commercials depict women and men with almost
impossible body types. America is the only country which will condemn a person for being
overweight. All too often, images of what is beautiful involves having a size two dress size or a 30
" waist for men, which is almost unachievable for most of us. I have spent the better part of my life
comparing myself to
models and movie stars wishing I could look like they do. As a society, it is important to teach our
young ones that God gave us what we have, and some

Binge Eating Disorder Essay examples
Introduction
According to the Merriam–Webster online dictionary, binge eating is defined as uncontrolled
compulsive eating, especially as a symptom of bulimia or binge eating disorder(BED).
Individuals, who suffer from a (BED), usually, consume, abnormally large amounts of food,
quickly. The condition causes sufferers to eat until they are painfully full. we live in a society
that accepts encourages overindulging . Therefore, there are probably several occasions on
which we eat more than we should. In order for a person to be diagnosed with a (BED), they would
have to experience episodes of ("Binge Eating"). that "occur, on average, at least 2 days a week for 6
months Wonderlich et al. (2003). Binge eating is an old problem, whose...show more content...
Research also suggests that genes may be involved in binge eating, since the disorder often occurs in
several members of the same family.
Certain behaviors and emotional problems are more common in people with binge eating disorder.
These include abusing alcohol, acting quickly without thinking (impulsive behavior), and not feeling
in charge of themselves
What Are the Symptoms of Binge Eating Disorders?
Those who suffer from binge eating disorder may have a problem with obesity. Even if patients
with binge eating disorders are not obese They are usually in poor health. According to the article
Medical morbidity in binge eating disorder, patients with (BED) Have "poorer functioning and
lower scores on all six scales of the General Health Survey." (Bulik & Kjennerud, 2003). Research
proves that Low scores on the general health survey leads to an "increased prevalence of joint pain,
headaches, gastrointestinal problems, menstrual problems, shortness of breath, chest pain, and Type
II diabetes (Bulik & Kjennerud, 2003) Bingers have been known to suffer from sleeping problems;.
in fact Statistics show that people with (BED) "are Seven times more likely to experience sleeping
difficulties than those without binge–eating disorder" (Bulik & Kjennerud, 2003). A study from the
article Patterns of food selection during binges in women with binges eating disorder, has proven
people with binge–eating disorder "consume significantly more meat than (those) without

An eating disorder is an illness that involves an unhealthy feeling about the food we eat. "Eating
disorders affect 5–10 millions Americans and 70 million individuals worldwide"
(www.eatingdisorderinfo.org 1). They also affect many people from women, men, children, from all
ages and different races. People who have eating disorders usually see themselves as being fat when
they really aren't. This usually deals with women or teenage girls mostly. They watch television,
movies, read articles in magazines, and see pictures of the celebrities whom they want to be like
because they have the "ideal body" that everyone wants and craves for. The media makes us all
think we need those types of bodies to be happy with ourselves, be more successful...show more
content...
But in order to do this we need to stop looking at other people and seeing what's missing from
ourselves. Stop buying the magazines and diet products, stop looking at the people in television and
movies, and just be us. We need to have more confidence in ourselves and show other people what
we can get in life without having the perfect body.
People who have Anorexia Nervosa have this fear of gaining weight so they result by not eating
regularly or eat little amounts of food or not eating at all. People see themselves as being fat but
instead they are skinny. "Anorexics usually strive for perfection" (www.mirror–mirror.org 1). So in
doing this they feel like not eating anything can make them look perfect and have the body they
want. "The lack of food can cause a person to become very thin, develop brittle hair and nails, dry
skin, and a low pulse, become not able to stand the cold, and suffer from constipation and sometimes
diarrhea" (Hendrick 3).
Anorexics put other people's feelings in front of theirs. They also feel that the only thing in their
lives is food and their weight and this shows that they have low self–esteem for themselves. "Signs
and symptoms are noticeable weight loss, becoming withdrawn, excessive exercise, fatigue, always
being cold, and muscle weakness" (www.mirror–mirror.org 1). There are many more signs and
symptoms for this illness. "An estimated 10

Introduction
Eating disorders are psychological problems marked by an obsession with food and weight.
There are four general categories of eating disorders these are; Anorexia nervosa, Binge eating
and Bulimia nervosa. However this disorder affects individuals of various age groups; it has
become more popular among teenagers these days. For the purpose of this research plan the
writer will focus on age group of ages 15 to 19 because teenagers most vulnerable to eating
disorders fall into this age group. Moreover, in doing so it will also be possible to determine the
significance of this research and apply it to today's lifestyle. Anorexia is a medical condition in
which youngsters, mainly during the onset of puberty, begin to starve...show more content...
It was found that "Anorexia, Bulimia and Binge eating are life threatening diseases.'' (Voelker, 2008).
These findings support the view that Anorexia Nervosa is known to be the third most common
chronic illness for teenage girls in Australia after obesity and Asthma Beumont, (cited in Eating
Disorder,2008).
Genetic factors Bulik et al. (2007) states that genetic trait responsible for heritability of anorexia
ranges from 50% to 83% thus it is uncontrollable and these could cause some people to be
vulnerable to developing anorexia. These findings support the fact that, if a teenage girls with
biological mother or a sister with anorexia is at a higher risk of getting or inheriting the disease. It
may also be that some teenagers have a genetic tendency towards perfectionism, sensitivity and
perseverance, all traits associated with anorexia. Consequently, Diconsiglio (2009) discovered that
from 50–80 percent of suffers inherit a gene that makes them more likely to develop an eating
disorder. "Emotional problems are not the root causes of these diseases; instead they spark it in
children who already have the gene. He further explained that it is quite vital for teenagers to avoid
cases which may increase the gene coding for eating disorders. On the other hand care should be
shown to them so that teenagers can overcome the eating disorder promptly.
Parental Behaviours
Research has shown that, family plays the vital role on the growth of a child, for instance study

Nutrition is both physically and mentally essential in daily lives. While people have knowledge of
severe underdeveloped nutrition in other parts of the world, they fail to realize the malnutrition that
may be affecting their own bodies. Every human needs a proper diet with nutrients which provide the
individual with energy, structure, and regulation to maintain the body (Smolin and Grosvenor
21–22). In order to lead a healthy lifestyle, a person must also have a healthy body image.
However, healthy body images have been rapidly decreasing in recent years. Both men and women
are constantly urged to fit a specific body image in order to be happy, admired, and loved. In
countries where a food shortage is a constant concern, obesity is...show more content...
After a period of time, their extreme hunger overpowers their control and they eat a great amount
of food in a short period of time, which is referred to as binging. In fact, the name bulimia is taken
from the Greek words bous ("ox") and limos ("hunger"), implying hunger of such intensity that a
person can eat an entire ox (94). Since the great amount of food that they consume is not on their
strict diet plan to be thin, they become very fearful of a possible weight gain and they purge.
Induced vomiting, taking laxatives, and excessively exercising are examples of purging in
somebody with bulimia. After doing this they feel guilty, yet relieved. Once the person realizes that
they can eat basically anything that they want without gaining weight, they make it an ongoing
cycle. However, there are many side effects. These include constipation, dehydration, damaged
tooth enamel, breakage of stomach and esophagus lining, depression, and may even result in death
(101). Bulimia may be caused by pressure to achieve or to fit a certain body image. Since they
often crave and binge on foods rich in carbohydrates, the illness can be from an imbalance in the
neurotransmitter serotonin in the brain (Engel, Reiss, and Dombeck). There are many psychological
illnesses associated with this eating disorder and others. These include alcoholism, drug abuse,
self–injury, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, Panic Disorder, and
Multiple Personality

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