1 Zielinski Kersten Zielinski Final Research Paper ENGL 111 MW 5:30-6:50 December 12, 2007 Dying to Be Thin Every year eating disorders affect thousands of teenagers and young adults because they are not satisfied with their figure. More and more we see people associate success and popularity with beauty and with being thin. The media, one of the biggest influences on young people, is crammed with images of "the perfect body," and American life seems to revolve around diet pills, health clubs, and fat-free foods. As contributing factors to eating disorders continue to rise in everyday life, so do the figures. In the United States, conservative estimates indicate that after puberty, 5-10% of girls and women (that translates to 5-10 million girls and women) and 1 million boys and men are struggling with eating disorders ("Statistics"). This problem needs to be addressed by parents, physicians, and especially the media. An eating disorder is an illness in which a person experiences severe disturbances in eating behavior, such as an extreme reduction of food intake or overeating, feelings of extreme distress, and/or concern about body weight or shape. A person with an eating disorder may have started out just eating smaller or larger amounts of food than usual, but at some point, the urge to eat less or more spirals out of control. Eating disorders are very complex, and despite scientific research to understand them, the biological, behavioral and social underpinnings of these illnesses remain elusive (United States. National Institute). The two main types of eating disorders are anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa. A third category is "eating disorders not otherwise specified," or EDNOS, which includes several variations of eating disorders. Most of these disorders are similar to anorexia or bulimia but with slightly different characteristics.
Zielinski 2 Eating disorders frequently appear during adolescence or young adulthood, but some reports indicate that they can develop during childhood or later in adulthood. Eating disorders are much more prevalent in females than in males, but men and boys account for an estimated 5 to 15 percent of patients with anorexia or bulimia and an estimated 35 percent of those with bingeeating disorder. However, recent studies have shown that incidence and prevalence rates are increasing among males. Currently, there is approximately one male case to ten female cases. On top of that, up to one in four children referred to an eating disorders professional for anorexia is a boy. Many boys with eating disorders share the same characteristics as their female counterparts, including low self-esteem, the need to be accepted, an inability to cope with emotional pressures, and family relationships. Males with eating disorders are most commonly seen in specific subgroups. For instance, males who wrestle show a disproportionate increase in eating disorders, rates seven to ten times the normal. Additionally, homosexual males have an increased rate of eating disorders (United States. Department of Health). Anorexia nervosa, anorexia for short, is an eating disorder characterized by obsession with weight loss ("Anorexia"). The most severe and noticeable consequences of anorexia nervosa resemble those of starvation. The body reacts to the lack of food by becoming extremely thin, developing brittle hair and nails, dry skin, lowered pulse rate, cold intolerance, and constipation as well as occasional diarrhea. In addition, mild anemia, reduced muscle mass, loss of menstrual cycle and swelling of joints often accompany anorexia. In addition to the risks of recurrence,
malnutrition may cause irregular heart rhythms and heart failure. Lack of calcium places anorexics at increased risk for osteoporosis both during their illness and in later life. A majority of anorexics also have clinical depression, while others suffer from anxiety, personality disorders or substance abuse, and many are at risk for suicide. Approximately one in ten women afflicted with anorexia will die of starvation, cardiac arrest, or other medical complication, making its death rate among the highest for
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a psychiatric disease (United States. Department of Health). The people that suffer from anorexia
are often characterized as perfectionists and overachievers who appear to be in control, but in reality, they suffer from low self-esteem, low confidence, and they overly criticize themselves. They are also very concerned about pleasing others. Bulimia nervosa, bulimia for short, is an eating disorder characterized by eating large quantities of food followed by self-induced vomiting ("Bulimia"). Symptoms of bulimia include chronically inflamed and sore throat, swollen glands in the neck and below the jaw, worn tooth enamel and increasingly sensitive and decaying teeth as a result of exposure to stomach acids, gastroesophageal reflux disorder, intestinal distress and irritation from laxative abuse, kidney problems from diuretic abuse, and severe dehydration from purging of fluids (United States. National Institute). One example of an EDNOS is "diabulimia". In her article "A Dangerous New ,,Diet", Michelle Tan discusses Kelie Gardners struggle with "diabulimia." Gardner is a diabetic, and she, like others, was skipping insulin shots so that she could lose weight. Kelly Costello Allison, Ph.D., an assistant professor at the Center for Weight and Eating Disorders at the University of Pennsylvania Health System in Philadelphia, told Tan that "when [diabetics] dont take their insulin, their body is unable to process glucose, and as a result, they end up urinating out a lot of calories." However, losing weight isnt the only side effect, and while diabulimia isnt classified as an eating disorder, the condition presents itself like anorexia and bulimia. Other eating disorders are the starvation diet, binge eating disorder, orthorexia, hyperphagia, rumination, pica, night eating syndrome, and Waspuv Nervosa ("Eating disorder"). According to the National Eating Disorders Organization, eating disorders are most often about much more than food, even though they can begin with preoccupations about food and
Zielinski 4 weight. People with eating disorders often use food and the control of food in an attempt to compensate for feelings and emotions that may otherwise seem over-whelming. For some, dieting, bingeing, and purging may begin as a way to cope with painful emotions and to feel in control of ones life ("What Causes Eating Disorders?"). Most people point to the appearance of todays models as the cause for eating disorders. While people everywhere are dying to be thin like those models, there are other psychological, interpersonal, and social factors that can contribute to eating disorders. Family relationships, depression, substance abuse problems, and obsessive compulsive disorder can all lead to an eating disorder. However, the accusations of models as the blame for most eating disorders arent ill-founded. At least three catwalk models have died within the past year due to starvation diets. Most fashion models are thinner than 98% of American women. While the average American woman is 54" tall and weighs 140 pounds, the average American model is 511" tall and weighs a mere 117 pounds ("Statistics"). The chair of the Model Health Inquiry, Baroness Kingsmill, up set an inquiry into the health of fashion models after two Latin American models died from eating disorders. One writer said that "the fashion world was ,,numb, looking at models only as ,,clothes hangers and ,,failing to see whether they are healthy or not" (Bawdon 28). Teenagers are influenced by pictures of sickly-skinny women. The Model Health Inquiry report also included a recommendation for a code of conduct to govern the digital manipulation of photos after they heard of evidence of retouching to make models look thinner or even to make ill models look well. One of the suggestions for improvement was to place "health warning" labels on the retouched photographs so that those teenagers would know that the picture of perfection was manipulated to look that way. Susan Ringwood, the chief executive of beat, says that the media and the fashion industry "should present a more diverse mix of body types as beautiful and
Zielinski 5 acceptable" (Bawdon 29). While such a change would not be a total solution by any means, Ringwood argues that "we cant change brain chemistry and we cant protect young women from all forms of trauma. But of all the factors involved in eating disorders, images in the media are the one area we can change" (Bawdon 29). Eating disorders are a treatable disease, but parents and doctors need to be aware of the problem and help individuals who have these disorders. The first step is the individual admitting to having a problem. Treatment plans are molded to fit the individuals need. The intensity of the treatment is dependent upon how severe the individuals disease is. These plans often include medical care and monitoring, medications, nutritional counseling, and individual, group, and/or family psychotherapy (United States. Department of Health). In some cases, individuals need to be hospitalized in order to gain weight and treat malnutrition. The earlier the disease is discovered and dealt with, the better the chance for recovery. Not only are eating disorders treatable, but they are preventable. The National Eating Disorders Association says that "prevention efforts will fail, or worse, inadvertently encourage disordered eating, if they concentrate solely on warning the public about the signs, symptoms, and dangers of eating disorders." They advise that effective prevention programs must address our cultural obsession with slenderness as a physical, psychological, and moral issue, the roles of men and women in our society, and the development of peoples self-esteem and self-respect in a variety of areas (school, work, community service, hobbies) that transcend physical appearance (Levine). More can be done to help treat and prevent eating disorders. The fashion industry should start mandating that all models be at least a size three or five. While that doesnt sound like a big change, ten pounds can mean the difference between life and death. Not everyone in the world is a size zero. When the designers only make their clothing up to a size twelve, it causes people to
Zielinski 6 be more self-conscious. It really embarrasses people when they walk into a store and cant fit into the largest size that that store carries. The fashion industry needs to adapt to the changing styles of the people, not make the people adapt to fit into their clothes. The media can also help combat this body image issue. According to Mind on the Media, "the average young person views more than 3,000 ads per day on television, on the Internet, on billboards and in magazines. Ads are also creeping into schools, where marketers have cleverly placed them in ,,educational posters, textbook covers, bathroom stalls, scoreboards, daily news programs, and bus radio programming" ("Shocking Facts!"). Instead of trying to persuade people that they can and should achieve the perfect body, the media should show more ads that influence people to feel good about the way they are. In many television shows, movies, etc., the men that are shown cheating on their wives do so because, when he married her, she used to be a trophy wife. Now, after a couple of kids, she doesnt look as good as she used to, so its time to throw her out. These images influence how a woman feels about herself. The entertainment industry is also contributing to this problem by showing all of the young women in music videos as being clothed only in their bra and underwear most of the time. All of those women appear to only be a size two at most. The media, fashion industry, and entertainment industry need to start rethinking their image of the perfect body and adapt it to modern times. Thousands of citizens in the United States and other parts of the world fight with weight and body image issues. It seems like most little girls dream of becoming models. They want to be thin and pretty like the models they see on television and in magazines. Often the desire becomes an obsession and young girls see being thin as a necessary characteristic. For many girls, the teenage years are spent trying to acquire this look. The obsession of many young girls over their appearance or weight has led to a growing number of people who have developed an
Zielinski 7 eating disorder to try to deal with their lack of self-esteem or other related problems. The altered eating and exercise patterns of those with eating disorders can seriously damage physical and emotional health. With proper treatment, people can be relieved of the symptoms of eating disorders and can be helped to control them. Assistance from family members, early detection, and an acceptance of people of all shapes and sizes by society will help lower the statistics and lead to fewer teenagers with these terrible conditions.
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Works Cited "Anorexia." Webster's New World Dictionary and Thesaurus. 2nd ed. 2002. Bawdon, Fiona. "No model for girls." New Statesman 01 Oct 2007: 28-29. "Bulimia." Webster's New World Dictionary and Thesaurus. 2nd ed. 2002. "Eating disorder." WikiPedia. 05 Dec 2007. WikiMedia Foundation, Inc.. 5 Dec 2007 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eating_disorder>. Levine, Michael, Ph.D. and Margo Maine, Ph.D. "Eating Disorders Can Be Prevented!." National Eating Disorders Association. 2002. National Eating Disorders Association. 28 Nov 2007 <http://www.nationaleatingdisorders.org/p.asp?WebPage_ID=286&Profile_ID=41169>. "Shocking Facts!" Mind on the Media - Turn Beauty Inside Out. 2007. Mind on the Media: Inspiring Independent Thinking and Fostering Critical Analysis of Media Messages. 11 Dec 2007 <http://www.tbio.org/>. "Statistics: Eating Disorders and their Precursors." National Eating Disorders Association. 2002. National Eating Disorders Association. 25 Nov 2007 <http://www.nationaleatingdisorders. org/p.asp?WebPage_ID=286&Profile_ID=41138 >. Tan, Michelle. "A Dangerous New 'Diet'." People Magazine. 24 Sept 2007. pg 225. United States. Department of Health and Human Services: Office on Women's Health. Eating Disorders. Washington, DC: 2000. United States. National Institute of Mental Health. Eating Disorders. MD: 2007. "What Causes Eating Disorders?." National Eating Disorders Association. 2002. National Eating Disorders Association. 25 Nov 2007 <http://www.nationaleatingdisorders.org/ nedaDir/files/documents/handouts/WhtCauses.pdf>.