Eating Disorders: A Fight in Today's Society
...s to make their bodies rid themselves of the food they have just eaten.” The next two types of eating disorders are not very common or cannot be easily diagnosed. “Body dysmorphic disorder is caused by an overly obsessive concern with appearance.” People with this disorder “may not eat, they may use steroids excessively, or throw up the food they eat,” they are almost a combination of an anorexic and a bulimic. The last eating disorder is “sub-clinical.” People with “sub-clinical eating disorders are much too preoccupied with food and weight, there eating and weight control behaviors are not normal, but they are not disturbed enough to qualify for a formal diagnosis.” The exact amount of people with eating disorders is hard to predict or know, but research has found certain age groups and other trends in people with eating disorders. In the United States, estimates indicate that after puberty, five to ten million girls and women and one million boys and men are struggling with eating disorders; this is according to the National Eating Disorders Association. Some scary statistics have been found by the National EDA, for example 51% of nine and ten year old girls feel better about themselves if they are on a diet and because this age of thinness is starting so early, 20-25% of dieters will progress into full blown eating disorders. Imagine letting these young children die because they were not helped. The age group affected by eating disorders is alarming. Today, eating disorders are not only affecting teenagers and adults, but they are affecting young children between the ages of six and twelve according to the NEDA. The young children as well as teenagers and adults are seeing the era of thinness, on television and in magazines; these people want to look like the actresses and actors whose body shapes are sometimes altered for television, magazines, and movies. Today, the average woman should be five feet four inches tall and weigh between 130 to 140 pounds, that is not the case though, they want the five feet eleven inch and 117 pound “Barbie” look that the media broadcasts everyday. With so many people trying to achieve the look the media has put out as the right weight, eating disorders have increased and will continue to increase, unless something is done. Next the effective and not so effective ways to approach someone you know or suspect has an eating disorder. “Before you approach someone you suspect has an eating disorder,” find out all you can about the eating disorders and be ready to support them, you can not become frustrated and angry with them. When talking to someone you know or suspect has an eating disorder, “av...