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Eating Disorders
The media has always played an important role in people´s life. It puts pressure on society giving people a superficial idea of and how they ¨should¨ look. People, mostly young women, have always modified the way the look and dress to fit in what is ¨in¨ at the current time. What has definitely changed in the last few years is the idea of what is beautiful and what is not.Nowadays, people´s biggest desire is to be thin and even skinny, so that they will look ¨beautiful¨. For women, it is known that they want to have slimmer waist and larger breast. This fact has led to an increase of all kind of plastic surgery having breast implants at the top. On the contrast to popular belief, this is not only a women´s issue; although in a smaller percentage, men also suffer fromeating disorders. Since they are only children, society in general is exposed to unrealistic images of a misunderstood beauty concept. Hollywood stars are the best example of what the world thinks is beautiful today. People who prominently feature on the magazines are very skinny women with no curves at all. Nicole Richie and Victoria Beckham are good examples. They are both very thin, have longslim legs and none of the womanly curves that women used to desire in the past. These women do not look healthy in any way; however, magazines have them in their covers and best dressed pages. This fact has as a result children concerned about their weight and physical appearance at earlier ages. Consequently, the numbers of people suffering from eating disorders has rapidly increased in last fewyears. There are three most common eating disorders which are: anorexia, bulimia and compulsive overeating.
Anorexia is an eating disorder characterized by an obsession to be thin. The person suffering from this disease may show a great fear to become fat or to be perceived as fat to others. Another clear characterize is low body weight and a distorted self-body image. According to the NationalEating Disorders Association website, ¨An anorexic can lose at least 15% to as much as 60% of their normal body weight¨. Anorexic people are usually extremely concerned about having full control over the amount of food they consume. By controlling what they eat, they get the feeling of having control over their emotions and find the way to cope with these emotions. They have such a low self-esteemthat makes them think they do not deserve any kind of pleasure. Anorexics will become so obsessed with their weight that they will go through strict dieting and even starvation. There are some behavioral signs that must be considered to get to know if a person is suffering from anorexia such as: obsessive exercise, starvation episodes, use of diet pills and laxatives, and constant concern ofgaining weight. (Littleton, K., 2006) In addition, it is very likely for people who suffer from anorexia to waver through periods of other eating disorders such as bulimia.
Another illness that is included on the eating disorders list is bulimia. Men and women suffering from bulimia go through binge and purge episodes. This means that in contrast to anorexics, bulimics eat but they control theirweight by inducing vomit after eating. In the majority of cases, bulimics eat large amounts of food in short periods of time, then; they will excuse themselves to leave the table and go straight to the bathroom to self-induce vomiting. ¨New research indicates that for a percentage of sufferers, a genetic predisposition may play a role in a sensitivity to develop Bulimia, with environmental factorsbeing the trigger¨ (Eating Disorders The Something Fishy Website on Eating Disorders). This means that similarly to anorexics, bulimics face emotional struggles. These struggles include low self-esteem and need for acceptance. As anorexics do, bulimics need to have control over their weight in order to feel satisfied and confident. People who suffer from bulimia are usually aware that they have an...