Nowadays a growing number of boys and girls within normal weight ranges have an intense fear of gaining

weight and therefore get anorexia. What do you think the causes of this are? What can be done to improve
the situation?

Anorexia is an eating disorder which can also be termed as a psychological condition. People suffering from anorexia
consume very restrictive quantities of food, which leads to starvation.

Superficial beauty standards and the pressure of maintaining them is making people become anorexic. It is
obviously detrimental to people’s health and encourages an abnormal perception of beauty in the society. This essay
shall explain the causes of anorexia and suggest ways to counter this growing issue.

Reasons:

 Fashion and lifestyle magazines are promoting unrealistic and impossible beauty standards. Wafer thin models
adorn billboards all over the world. As a result, many people, especially teens now equate beauty with thinness.
They refuse to eat because they are worried that they will become fat.
 While anorexia can be considered as a psychological disorder, it is a byproduct of our obsession with beauty and
thinness. Fashion magazines and designers have their own reasons to promote thinness. If everyone is of the
same size, it helps the mass production of clothes and other accessories. This will increase their profits.
Unfortunately, teens who adulate super thin models and who refuse to eat do not realize that they are doing a
disservice to their body.
 This can also be seen in many movies where many actresses strive to have size-zero figures. Social media sites
also add a number of forums for self-comparisons against a thin ideal.
 People with anorexia come to believe that their lives would be better if only they were thinner; this they do in
hope of over-achieving their goals and sometimes in lieu of becoming the widely accepted definition of
prettiness. Eventually, they can become dangerously thin and malnourished and may have to be hospitalized.

Solutions:

 Creating awareness about this menace is the first step to stop it. The government and the media can do a lot. In
my opinion, the government needs to ban publications and commercials that promote impossible and unhealthy
standards of beauty.
 Parents can try to help children develop resilience and self-acceptance by teaching children to be proud of who
they are. They can easily spot the eating disorders in their children. If they feel that their children are not eating
properly, they should consult a doctor and a counselor. Anorexia is not an incurable condition. Youngsters who
are counseled against its ill-effects are more likely to adopt healthy eating habits.
 Running campaigns and portraying models of all sizes, in contrast with the superficial fashion telecasts can help
teenagers differentiate between what looks good on screen and what needs to be observed in real life.

To conclude, creating awareness about health and beauty is the first step towards combating anorexia. Youngsters need
to realize that thinness is a sign of malnutrition, and not beauty. The government, doctors, media and parents need to
make a concerted effort to dispel myths surrounding beauty.