...Anorexia Nervosa is a severe eating disorder that mainly affects teenage girls, however, it can affect men and women of all ages. There are many factors that contribute to a girl becoming anorexic, including low self-esteem and depression. Common features of anorexia include weight loss and behavior changes. The weight loss is gradual and often starts with a “perfectly normal weight reducing diet.”(Rowan) Although the only person who can cure anorexia is the person that suffers from it, there are some treatment options available today. Many factors contribute to a girl becoming anorexic. A main one is an attempt to lose excess weight. Most anorexic girls do not have “excess weight” to lose, they only think they do. In fact, most often they are unhealthily thin. Oftentimes, the girl disregards the opinions of others and focuses on losing as much weight as she can. Attempts to make her stop are often met with hostility and even violence.(Rowan, Shelly) Another key factor that can lead to anorexia is depression. This can be associated with stress/pressure at school, home, or in relationships. Usually, an anorexic teenage girl comes from a family where the pressure to succeed is great. This leads to constant anxiety over big tests such as finals and S.A.T./A.C.T. exams. Because the girl has so much anxiety, problems in relationships often arise. If she has a boyfriend, he tends to feel neglected because the girl is constantly worried about her academics.(Rowan, Shelly) A...
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...Causes of Eating Disorders Elwyn Daroya Ryerson University Word Count-1695 For a lot of people, eating is a major aspect of everyday life; you eat to keep your energy up and to stay alive. There are however, people who face varying degrees of psychological problems in regards to eating. Eating disorders are a major concern, more so for women than men. According to Statistics Canada, women are ten times more likely to develop eating disorders than men, and of these individuals that suffer from eating disorders, the majority start developing eating disorders in their teenage years. Binge eating, which is an eating disorder where in which an individual uncontrollably eats, is the more prevalent eating disorder among many age groups in Canada. Furthermore, the latest studies have shown that in Canada, the two most common eating disorders are anorexia nervosa, and bulimia nervosa. Among young people in Canada today, 0.04% of females are diagnosed with the complete definition of anorexia nervosa, while young males are 0%. Bulimia nervosa on the other hand is common among 0.3% of young women and 0.2% on young men. Anorexia nervosa in the simplest terms is a condition in which a person is unwilling to maintain a healthy body weight. Likewise, bulimia nervosa is a condition in which an individual uncontrollably over eats in one session, then tries to balance this action of over-eating by getting rid of it through various ways (usually vomiting). Unlike bulimia nervosa, people who...
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...The Harmful Effects of Media on Teenage Girls’ Self Image Media is one of the most effective tools in the world. People learn more from the media than any other single source of information. No matter where people look, they are constantly assaulted with images and ads, whether it is online, watching television, or even walking down the street. Because of the media’s ease of accessibility, it is vital that America understands the subliminal messaging behind the entertainment and advertising, not necessarily for the adults’ sake, but for the sake of their children’s impressionable minds. With the average teenager spending 10 and a half hours a day absorbing the media’s messages, it is imperative that parents become aware of the negative effects it is having on their child, especially young teenage girls. The media has targeted this demographic and the results are tragic. The average teenage girl spends 31 hours a week watching TV, 10 hours a week online, and 17 hours a week listening to music. (Kaiser Family par. 13) With that much time spent doing these things it’s a safe assumption that the media has a huge influence on teens and takes up a majority of their free time. Drew Altman, Ph.D., President and CEO of the Kaiser Family Foundation said, “When children are spending this much time doing anything, we need to understand how it’s affecting them – for good and bad” (par. 7). With the media imposing so much influence over young America, it is crucial that action be taken...
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...When a girl becomes a teenager, her mother rewards her with plastic surgery so she can look more “caucasian” (Hidayat). The previous statement was written about young asian women in Japan and Korea. Nina Hidayat wrote an article about the expectations and body image issues for young women in Asia. When people think about body image, they only think of the US. Not many people think about how those in other countries have the same issues we do. Studies show that the more reality television a young girl watches, the more likely she is to find appearance important (Web 1). The media plays a large role in how women perceive body image and themselves (ie, magazines, internet, television, etc). The results said peers predict the negative outcomes...
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...Eating Disorders in Adolescents and Young Adults Eating disorders are a prevalent problem in today's society. Many people have either experienced the effects of these disorders themselves, or witnessed family or friends who are suffering. Anorexia Nervosa and Bulimia are among the most prevalent eating disorders in society today and mostly begin in adolescence and teenage years. These disorders are frequently misunderstood and notoriously difficult to treat by medical professionals. By examining these horrible diseases, hopefully awareness can help to generate and implement everlasting changes within society. Anorexia Nervosa and Bulimia Anorexia Nervosa and Bulimia are two of the most common eating disorders in society today. Although these...
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...There may be murmurs about that girl who only fixes herself a salad with only vinegar at dining services or suspicious glances at someone who spends 45 minutes on the treadmill and then switches to the stair stepper at the rec. On-campus eating disorders are talked about everywhere and yet are not really talked about at all. There is observation, concern, and gossip, but hushed conversation and larger scale efforts to help and change never seem to earn public attention. There is this girl that I grew up and graduated with. I talked to her almost everyday at school, but we were never that close. I never saw much of her over the summer except when she was out running after a two to three hour softball practice. At my younger sister's volleyball game about a month or two ago, I saw this girl. She was so thin it was almost disgusting. Her skin was pale, her hair was thin, and I could see her ribs through her shirt. She went from looking healthy and physically fit to looking sick and fragile. This is why I chose this topic. People need to pay more attention to this disease. Anorexics are literally dying to be thin. Most of you probably already know what anorexia is, however in case you don't anorexia is basically a disease involving self-starvation. Anorexia victims have a very low "ideal" weight. It might begin as a normal diet carried to extremes, reducing their food intake to a bare minimum. Rules are made of how much food they can eat in one...
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...Does our society promote eating disorders? The demand for perfection is greater than ever in today’s society. People would do anything to have the body of their dreams, even if it’s just for a day. Because of this, many people are unsatisfied with their bodies. Many of these people develop eating disorders. They think that if they are overweight, they are unattractive. If a person has an eating disorder, that person could be in serious trouble with their health. An eating disorder is an illness that causes a person to adopt harmful eating habits. Eating disorders are most common among teenage girls and women, and frequently occur along with other psychiatric disorders such as depression and anxiety disorders. The poor nutrition associated with eating disorders can harm organs in the body and, in severe cases, lead to death. The three most common types of eating disorder are anorexia nervosa, compulsive overeating, and bulimia nervosa. Anorexia nervosa is a refusal to maintain minimal body weight within 15 percent of an individual's normal weight. Anorexia is basically starvation. Anorexia is a serious, life-threatening eating disorder that is quite serious and can result in death. People with anorexia nervosa ignore hunger and thus control their desire to eat. This desire is frequently sublimated through cooking for others or hiding food that they will not eat in their personal space. Obsessive exercise may accompany the starving behavior and cause others to assume the...
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...explanation and one biological explanation of one eating disorder. (8 marks + 16 marks) Anorexia is an eating disorder of abnormal weight loss dropping below 85% of what was previously considered normal. This is characterised by low blood pressure, amenorrhoea and depression, as well as other bodily changes. Anorexia is caused by strict controls on weight and unusual eating habits which can be explained through both psychological and biological explanations. The psychological explanation of anorexia is explained through cultural ideas in the media which portrays thin models on TV and magazines. This is a significant contributory factor in body image concerns and the drive for thinness among Western adolescent girls. Research by Jones and Buckingham found that people with low self-esteem are more likely to compare themselves to idealised imagines portrayed in the media. There is a wealth of evidence to support the view that the mass media portrays slender as a beauty ideal which people strive to follow. For instance, Goresz et al (2001) reviewed 25 studies and showed that this ideal causes bodily dissatisfaction and contributes to the development of eating disorders, particularly affecting girls aged 19 and below. Furthermore, there also comes support from a natural observation carried out by Becker et al (2002) in a study of Fijian adolescents. It was found that after the introduction of television to an island, these girls stated a desire to lose weight and be like the...
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...could have helped a victim because they didn’t know any of the warning signs. The article goes on to talk about the risks of suicide, that 60% of all suicide in America are used with a gun. This is why no one should ever have a gun unlocked or kept in a place where it is easily out of reach. In 1996, more teenagers and young adults died of suicide than from cancer, heart disease, AIDS, birth defects, stroke, pneumonia and influenza, and chronic lung disease combined .In 1996, suicide was the second-leading cause of death among college students, the third-leading cause of death among those aged 15 to 24 years, and the fourth- leading cause of death among those aged 10 to 14 years. From 1980 to 1996, the rate of suicide among African-American males aged 15 to 19 years increased by 105 percent. (NAMI) Kids Health says that girls think or attempt suicide about twice as often as boys. In Thirteen Reasons Why, Hannah commits suicide by overdosing on medication. Girls tend to attempt by cutting or...
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...U01d2 Eating Disorders Patricia Jones I have chosen the eating disturbance of anorexia nervosa. Explaining, the historical pattern of disturbances related to eating, I found this to be of considerable interest to me. Anorexia nervosa was first introduced in the medical literature by, ( William Gull, 1874) and first in the year 1684 and in the Western world. Anorexia affects an estimated eight people out of 100,000 per year. It's not clear how many of them are male. However, women take the lead nationally. The term anorexia nervosa was first coined in 1988. A doctor writing the British medical journal, the Lancet, used the term to describe people who, although thin and weak, insisted that they needed to lose weight and would not eat a sufficient amount of food to remain alive. Anorexia nervosa is a nervous, psychological eating disorder characterized by a refusal to eat, even to the point of starvation. Other symptoms include an intense fear of becoming fat that never goes away, no matter how thin the individual becomes; extreme activity and an obsession with working out; negative feelings about the way the body looks; deep feelings of shame; and problems with drug and or alcohol abuse, and most of the people who suffer from this disorder are female. Anorexia typically appears during adolescence, the incidence of eating disorders, particularly among young women in the United States, has escalated...
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...Abstract Bulimia nervosa is an eating disorder which is associated with several adolescent and young adult. This disorder is usually associated with female adolescents, and it is very difficult for an individual to notice that an adolescent has bulimia nervosa. Many adolescents are suffering from bulimia because of poor perception them about themselves, and the media also has great influence for the cause of bulimia. There is a high increase for adolescents who are suffering from bulimia and majority seek help whiles others battle with this disorder without being notice. There are several options for treatment but parent and family has a great influence in treatment for an adolescent with this disorder. The Christian has a little influence on bulimia nervosa and eating disorder among adolescents, because they are more focused on teenager’s alcohol and drugs. Topic Paper: Adolescence and Bulimia Nervosa Most adolescent believe in having good body image. For the adolescent a good image is being skinny, and having size two body types as seem on television. Body image is the subjective concept of an adolescent physical appearance based on their self-observation and their reaction with others. Adolescence perception about their self is based on their inner sensations and functioning as well as their function derived from external environment. Since most adolescents want to have the perfect body type, they will do anything to have the right body image. Most teenagers role...
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...Media Effects of Women’s Body Image This paper aimed at to help 15-30 years old women to build a healthy and positive attitude toward their body image. The research question that I raised is how do TV advertisements and fashion magazine affect 15-30 years old women to build their self-esteem and body image view in the U.S.? More specifically, I will examine the various aspects of negative effects that the television and fashion magazines bring to the 15-30 years old women. I proposed that the negative effects that television and fashion magazines bring to young women is more serious than people expected. I do intend to cite the relatively few statistic data and clinical studies that have been conducted on media’s negative effects on women’s body image. My audience will be the 15-30 years old women who do not aware enough of the problem that I describe or who was struggled by the problem that I describe for a long time. Nowadays, a woman’s identity is linked strongly to her physical appearance. In this situation, coverage of women in media mostly concerns women’s appearance and set them as sexual objects. Most social commentators agree that the media reflects current social norms (Grogan, 1999). Body image is the picture of the size, shape, and form of people’s bodies that people see in their mind’s eye (Honigman & Castle, 2007). It is also central to the self-concept and to self-esteem, influencing psychological functions and diverse behaviors (Cash & Pruzinsky...
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...describe the anorexia nervosa disease. By definition, anorexia nervosa is an eating disorder in which a normal-weight person diets and becomes significantly underweight, yet, still feeling fat, continue to starve themselves. People with this disorder are suppressing a strong desire to eat, because they are afraid of becoming fat. Anorexia is characterized by extreme starvation that leads to a disastrous loss of weight. Anorexia nervosa affects a large number of people today in the world, and does not discriminate against anybody. This research paper shows how dangerous and life-threatening anorexia is on adolescence, as well as, how self-image, family issues, and the media influence anorexia. Anorexia in Adolescence Adolescence is a chaotic time in the life of a growing teenager in which he or she experiences many physical as well as emotional changes. Not knowing where they stand in the world yet and trying to figure themselves out, adolescents may fall subject to influences and become victims of such horrible things as eating disorders. During adolescence a major importance in life is to be accepted and to fit in somewhere which brings about the issue of eating disorders. In order for them to be accepted and feel as if they are able to fit in with the status quo, some adolescents, mostly girls, will develop an eating disorder during adolescence. Anorexia Nervosa is one of the leading eating disorders in adolescents and is a serious psychiatric illness with both psychological...
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...Madelyn Chase Chandler Mrs. Harmon ENG 101 6 Dec. 2014 The Struggle for the “Perfect” Image How much pressure do teenage girls feel to have the “perfect” body? There are hundreds of issues today that deal with girls and their image. From the very cliché question of “Does this make me look fat?” to the thoughts of “what will they think?” girls are constantly brought down about not looking how they “should”. If people can see the perfections in each other’s imperfections, then there wouldn’t be a need for a “perfect” image. The causes of this figure are our public figures, such as models and actresses, the diets everyone goes on, and then there is also the photo shop and photo editing that happens on a daily basis. Some effects of it are negative like bullying in schools and on social media and then eating disorders. There are some people who try to keep females positive about their image. Overall there needs to be something said about the way girls think they should look based on what other people think. The women that young girls look up to do not always give off the best examples of not only self-image, but also their attitudes and mannerisms do not set respectable examples. Everyone is built differently. I was taught this useful lesson when I was younger from a show called “That’s So Raven” on Disney Channel. In this particular episode, titled “That’s So Not Raven”, Raven designs a dress and it gets featured in a runway fashion show. She wants to be the one to walk...
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...liver cancer as well, due to the disruption of the change in hormones that comes with pregnancy, and cervical damage that went untreated. Another risk is damage to the uterus, such as uterine perforations and cervical lacerations. Should a woman want to have children later on, they would encounter many issues such as miscarriages, premature deliveries, and abnormal development of the placenta causing the baby to be born with various handicaps. Around 5% of patients who have had an abortion in their first trimester end up having Pelvic Inflammatory Disease within four weeks. This disease, while not always life threatening, can lead to ectopic pregnancies or infertility. Endometriosis is a risk for all women who have had an abortion, but teenage girls are twice as likely to have it in comparison to a woman in her twenties. There are also emotional and mental health risks that come with having abortions. A few of them being insomnia, severe anxiety, PTSD, and abuse of alcohol and drugs. In one particular study, it said that 14% of women have developed symptoms of PTSD such as intense fear, feeling helpless, and loss of control after having an...
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