Eng1p reAP​ PERIOD 7

Eating Disorders
By: Ana Becerra
INTRODUCTION:

Now a days eating disorders are so common in America that 1 or 2 out of every 100 students
will struggle with one. Each year, thousands of teens and some adults develop eating
disorders, or problems with weight, eating, or body their image.

The most common eating disorders are anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa (usually they
are just called "anorexia" and "bulimia". But there are other food-related disorders, like
avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder, binge eating, body image disorders, and food
phobias, are becoming more and more commonly identified throughout.

Anorexia:

People with anorexia have a real fear of weight gain and a distorted view of their body size
and shape. As a result, they eat very little and can become dangerously underweight. Many
teens with anorexia restrict their food intake by dieting, fasting, or excessive exercise. They
hardly eat at all — and the small amount of food they do eat becomes an obsession in terms
of calorie counting or trying to eat as little as you possibly can.

Others with anorexia may start binge eating and purging — eating a lot of food and then
trying to get rid of the calories by making themselves throw up, using some type of
medications or laxatives, or exercising excessively, or some combination of these.

You find that you often:

● worry more and more about your weight

 
  

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● eat less and less - start calorie counting

● exercise more and more, to burn off calories
● can't stop yourself from wanting to lose weight, even when you are well below a
safe weight for your age and height
● smoke more or chew gum to keep your weight down
● obsessively check your weight, shape or reflection in mirrors
● withdraw from social situations which may involve eating
● wearing baggy clothes to hide one's body
● water loading before being weighed
● excluding certain food groups and making certain foods "good" and "bad"
● avoiding mealtimes, especially at school
○ In girls or women - monthly menstrual periods become irregular or
may even stop.
○ In men or boys - erections and wet dreams stop, and the testicles may
shrink.

People of any age can have anorexia, but it commonly starts in the teenage years. It affects
around:

● 1 fifteen-year-old girl in every 150

● 1 fifteen-year-old boy in every 1000.

The following things may occur

● Your family may be the first to notice your thinness and weight loss.
● You may find yourself not able to tell other people the true amount you are
eating and how much weight you are losing.
● You may also make yourself sick if you eat anything you did not plan to allow
yourself, particularly if you lose control of your eating and find yourself
bingeing. However, this is known as 'anorexia, binge-purge subtype' rather than
bulimia nervosa. Bulimia nervosa sufferers are by definition in the normal
weight range.
  

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Bulimia:

Bulimia is similar to anorexia. such as making themselves throw up or ​exercising all the
time​, to prevent over weight gain. Over time, these steps can become very dangerous both
physically and emotionally. They can also lead to compulsive behaviors ( The ones that are
hard to stop).

In order for a person to have bulimia a person must be binging and purging regularly, at
least once a week for a couple of months. Binge eating is different from going to a party and
"pigging out" on any type of food, then deciding to go to work out the next day and start
eating more healthfully

The people with bulimia eat a large amounts of food often the most unhealthy foods like junk
food at once, usually in secret. Sometimes they eat food that is not cooked or might be still
frozen, or they may retrieve food from the trash. They usually feel powerless to stop the
eating and can only stop once they're too full to eat anything else, or they may have to go to
extreme measures like pouring salt or anything else all over something to make it inedible in
order to get themselves to stop eating. Most people with bulimia then purge by vomiting, but
also may use laxatives or may perform excessive exercises .

You find that you:

● worry more and more about your weight

● binge eat
● make yourself vomit and/or use laxatives or other ways to get rid of calories
● have irregular menstrual periods
● feel tired
● feel guilty
● stay a normal weight, in spite of your efforts to continue a diet.

Anyone can develop bulimia Nervosa but it often starts when people are in their mid-teens.
However, people can be unwell for several years before they feel able to ask for help or feel
the need to.
  

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About 4 out of every 100 women suffers from bulimia at some time in their lives, rather
fewer men.

Although anorexia and bulimia are very similar, people with anorexia are usually very thin
and underweight at times, but the people with bulimia may be an average weight or can be
overweight even tho it seems odd. ​communities have created their own type of beauty
icons which influence many younger women and men to try to be something there not
like some of them strive to look like the victoria secret models or seartin male models
because that's the beauty icon they see every where on boards,social medias,t.v. etc….
And many of us are ignorant of what is going on around us and just judge these people
who suffer from eating disorders and judge them when in reality you have no idea of their
sufferings. Everyone strives to look good and fit in with others and many go to the
extreme lengths to achieve it

What may cause eating

disorders:
● Puberty: Anorexia can reverse some of the physical changes of becoming an
adult – pubic and facial hair in men, breasts and menstrual periods in women.
This may help to put off the demands of getting older, particularly sexual ones.
● Social pressure: Our social surroundings powerfully influence our behaviour.
Societies which don’t value thinness have fewer eating disorders. Places where
thinness is valued, such as ballet schools, have more eating disorders. ‘Thin is
beautiful’ in Western culture. Television, newspapers and magazines show
pictures of many beautiful thin young women/men,artificially slim people. For
someone with a negative body image, gyms and health clubs can also reinforce
this perception. So at one point in our lives most of us try to diet. Some of us can
diet too much, but for a person who may be at risk of developing an eating
  

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disorder, this can make dieting dangerous and the person may develop
anorexia,bulimia.
● Depression: Most of us have eaten for comfort when we have been upset at one
point, or even just out of boredom. People with bulimia are often depressed, and
it may be that binges start off as a way of coping with feelings of unhappiness.
Unfortunately, vomiting and using laxatives can leave you feeling just as bad but
people keep going anyways.
● Low self-esteem: People with anorexia and bulimia often don’t think much of
themselves for various reasons , and compare themselves unfavourably to other
people. Losing weight can be a way of trying to get a sense of respect and self-worth
or just a higher self esteem the feeling of fitting in.
● Emotional distress: We all react differently when bad things happen, or when our
lives change. Anorexia and bulimia have been related to:
○ life difficulties
○ sexual abuse
○ physical illness
○ upsetting events - a death or the break-up of a relationship
○ important events - marriage or even leaving home.

Many eating disorders do seem to have become more common in boys around their teen
years than in men.

Eating disorders are more common in occupations which demand a low body weight or
certain body weight. These things include horse riding, body building, wrestling, boxing,
dancing, swimming, athletics, and rowing and many more activities.It may be that men are
now seeking help for eating disorders rather than keeping quiet about them and trying to
deal with them on their own.

In conclusion, eating disorders may not seem like the big shot but it is something that is
affecting our communities each and every day 1 out of 100 people may start dealing with any
type of eating disorders. It is not something to take lightly and needs to be treated as soon as
possible. Though these disorders can be treated they will never be completely cured,they are
  

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more under control than anything. So just because a person may start to eat more does not
mean that everything is over and should be forgotten about. Right from the very beginning
when it is first noticed that there is a problem, professional help should be soughted out
even if it may be a false alarm it is better prepared than unprepared.People should not force
themselves to become something they are not everyone is beautiful and have a life to cherish
one's weight shouldn't define that or the fact of who you are and what you can achieve in life.

Resources:

Bulimia.com

ulife.org

blogs.britannica

webmd.com