What are eating desorders?
-"An eating disorder is a compulsion to eat, or avoid eating, that negatively affects both one's physical and mental health. Eating disorders are all encompassing. They affect every part of the person's life. According to the authors of Surviving an Eating Disorder, "feelings about work, school, relationships, day-to-day activities and one's experience of emotional well being are determined by what has or has not been eaten or by a number on a scale."
-Anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa are the most common eating disorders generally recognized by medical classification schemes, with a significant diagnostic overlap between the two. Together, they affect an estimated 5-7% of females in the United States during their lifetimes. There is a third type of eating disorder currently being investigated and defined - Binge Eating Disorder. This is a chronic condition that occurs when an individual consumes huge amounts of food during a brief period of time and feels totally out of control and unable to stop their eating. It can lead to serious health conditions such as morbid obesity, diabetes, hypertension, and cardiovascular disease."
Who is at risk?
-"Many people believe that eating disorders occur only among young
white females, but this is not the case. While eating disorders do mainly affect women between the ages of 12 and 35, other groups are also at risk of developing eating disorders. Eating disorders affect all ethnic and racial groups and while the specific nature of the problem and the risk factors may vary, no population is exempt. Younger and younger children seem to be at risk of developing eating disorders. While most children who develop eating disorders are between 11 and 13, studies have shown that 80% of 3rd through 6th graders are dissatisfied with their bodies or their weight and by age 9 somewhere between 30 and 40% of girls have already been on a diet. Between ages 10 and 16, the statistic jumps to 80%."
Why do this happen?
-"Many eating disorder experts attribute this behavior to the effects of cultural expectations.
Stress is also considered to be a factor in the development of eating disorders. According to Abigail Natenshon, a psychotherapist specializing in eating disorders, children as young as 5 show signs of stress related eating disorders. This includes compulsively exercising and running to burn off calories. Natanshon notes that as children reach puberty younger and younger, they are less equipped to understand the changes in their bodies. They understand the message of the media to be "thin" and try to fit in without comprehending the effects on their bodies. While eating disorders affect younger and younger children, not only girls but also boys suffer from eating disorders. Boys who participate in sports where weight is an issue and often boys who experience issues regarding sexual identity are at risk of developing eating disorders."
Causes:
-"ENVIROMENTAL: The media may be a significant influence on eating disorders through its impact on values, norms, and image standards accepted by modern society. Both society’s exposure to media and eating disorders have grown immensely over the past decade. Researchers and clinicians are concerned about the relationship between these two phenomena and finding ways to reduce the negative influence thin-ideal media has on women’s body perception and susceptibility to eating disorders. The dieting industry makes billions of dollars each year by consumers continually buying products in an effort to be the ideal weight. Hollywood displays an unrealistic standard of beauty that makes the public feel incredibly inadequate and dissatisfied and forces people to strive for an unattainable appearance. This takes an enormous toll on one's self-esteem and can easily lead to dieting behaviors, disordered eating, body shame, and ultimately an eating disorder."
-"BIOLOGICAL: Patients with severe obsessive compulsive disorder, depression or bulimia patients were all found to have abnormally low serotonin levels. Neurotransmitters such as serotonin, dopamine and norepinephrine are secreted by the intestines and central nervous system during digestion.
Researchers have also found low cholecytolinin levels in bulimics. Cholecystokinin is a hormone that causes one to feel full and decreases eating. Low levels of this hormone are likely to cause a lack of satiative feedback when eating, which can lead to overeating. "
-"DEVELOPMENT ETIOLOGY: Research from a family systems perspective indicates that eating disorders stem from both the adolescent's difficulty in separating from over-controlling parents, and disturbed patterns of communication. When parents are critical and unaffectionate, their children are more prone to becoming self-destructive and self-critical, and have difficulty developing the skills to engage in self-care giving behaviors. Such developmental failures in early relationships with others, particularly maternal empathy, impairs the development of an internal sense of self and leads to an over-dependence on the environment. When coping strategies have not been developed in the family system, food and drugs serve as a substitute."
-"TRAUMA:Eating disorders should also be understood in the context of experienced trauma, with many eating problems beginning as survival strategies rather than vanity or obsession with appearance. According to sociologist Becky Thompson, eating disorders stemming from women of varying socio-economic status, sexual orientation and race, and finds that eating disorders and a disconnected relationship with ones body is commonly a response to environmental stresses, including sexual, physical, and emotional abuse, racism, and poverty. This reality is further detrimental for women of color and other minority women, since they are forced to live in a culture that embraces a narrowly defined conception of beauty: "people furthest from the dominant ideal of beauty, specifically women of color, may suffer the psychological effects of low self-esteem, poor body image, and eating disorders.""
-Others:
Anorexia Nervosa
-"Anorexia Nervosa is deliberate and sustained weith loss driven by a fear of becoming overweight and a distorted body image. It is not to be confused with anorexia, which is its symptomatic general loss of appetite or disinterest in food. DSM-IV characterizes anorexia nervosa as:
An abnormally low body weight (the suggested guideline ≤ 85% of normal for age and height, or BMI ≤ 17.5).
For postmenarcheal females, amenorrhea (the absence of three consecutive menstrual cycles).
An intense fear gaining weight or becoming fat and a preoccupation with body weight and shape.
Most anorexics become so as adolescents, with 76% reporting onset of the disorder between the ages of 11 and 20. The mortality rate for those diagnosed with anorexia nervosa is approximately 6%—the highest of any mental illness—with roughly half of those due to suicide". -"Anorexics are commonly perfectionists, driven to succeed; yet they set unattainable standards of performance for themselves. When they fail to meet these standards, they look for a part of their lives they can control; food and weight become that “control” for them. Low self-esteem and constant self-criticism cause anorexics to constantly fear losing control, and even consuming a small amount of food could be considered a loss of control."
Bulimia Nervosa
-"Bulimia nervosa is a cyclical and recurring pattern of binge eating (uncontrolled bursts of overeating) followed by guilt, self-recrimination and overcompensatory behaviour such as crash dieting, overexercising and purging to compensate for the excessive caloric intake."
-"Bulimics often have "binge food," which is the food they typically consume during binges. Some describe their binge episodes as a physical high they feel, numbing out, going into auto-pilot, losing all control, immediate comfort, etc. The reasoning or triggers behind a binge may serve different purposes for different people. This binge episode leads the individual to feel guilt, shame, embarrassment, and complete failure. Bulimics try to regain control of themselves and the situation by purging the food–making up for their mistake. This leads to feeling famished and empty again, and therefore, another uncontrollable binge, followed by feeling powerless, and the vicious binge/purge cycle continues. Bulimics have extreme eating and exercising habits, instead of demonstrating moderation. This compulsive behavior is often echoed in similar destructive behavior such as sexual promiscuity, pathological lying, and shoplifting. Some bulimics not only struggle with the eating disorder, but these other harmful behaviors as well."
Obesity
"Obesity is a disease in which excess body fat has accumulated to such an extent that health may be negatively affected. It is commonly defined as a body mass index (weight divided by height squared) of 30 kg/m2 or higher. This distinguishes it from being overweight as defined by a BMI of between 25-29.9. Many studies show an association between excessive body weight and various diseases, particularly cardiovascular diseases, diabetes mellitus type 2, sleeo apnea, certain types of cancer, and osteoarthritis. As a result, obesity has been found to reduce life expectancy. With rates of adult and childhood obesity increasing, authorities view it as a serious public health problem. Attempts to address it include population-wide measures to improve dietary choices and increase physical exercise."
Recomendation:
I recommend, for those who are facing and those who thinks they might have these kind of problems, to do the following:
Accept you have a problem and be willing to improve your situation.
Contact some organization who fights against eating disorders.
Hire a psychologist .
Hire a nutritionist to start with a healthy diet (obesity) or a healthy solution (Anorexia and bulimia)
Start making some exercise.
Avoid activities like seeing TV or the computer.
Never loose hope.
Healthy diet
-"Good nutrition has a positive effect on mental and physical well-being. Healthy eating can help Oklahomans live stronger and healthier lives. It can also help reduce the risk of chronic diseases, such as heart disease, some cancers, stroke and diabetes.
Remember, healthy eating begins at birth. Breast milk is the ideal food for babies and breastfeeding is beneficial to mothers, too. Improving nutrition means making healthy choices, such as eating foods rich in important nutrients, reducing fat and calories, monitoring salt and sugar intake, and drinking more water. Other healthy eating tips include:
To find healthy recipes that taste great and are easy to make, click on the links below:
Healthy Recipes for adults
Healthy Recipes for kids
Videos:
white females, but this is not the case. While eating disorders do mainly affect women between the ages of 12 and 35, other groups are also at risk of developing eating disorders. Eating disorders affect all ethnic and racial groups and while the specific nature of the problem and the risk factors may vary, no population is exempt. Younger and younger children seem to be at risk of developing eating disorders. While most children who develop eating disorders are between 11 and 13, studies have shown that 80% of 3rd through 6th graders are dissatisfied with their bodies or their weight and by age 9 somewhere between 30 and 40% of girls have already been on a diet. Between ages 10 and 16, the statistic jumps to 80%."
-"Anorexia Nervosa is deliberate and sustained weith loss driven by a fear of becoming overweight and a distorted body image. It is not to be confused with anorexia, which is its symptomatic general loss of appetite or disinterest in food. DSM-IV characterizes anorexia nervosa as:
