FREE ESSAY ON EATING DISORDERS

EATING DISORDERS

In America today, we often here of people who suffer daily from illnesses such as cancer
and AIDS. What we don't often here about is the illness that takes away millions and
millions of Americans each year, that being eating disorders(Understanding…). But,
what does that term eating disorders mean. Think about it…. Did your answer center
around, food, weight or dieting? If so, then you understand something about the symptoms
of an eating disorder. But if that's all you're thinking about, you may be unaware of the
underlying causes of this disease. 
One of the biggest causes of this sometimes-fatal disease has to do with body image. The
impact of a disturbance in body image on a person's life may be frustrating or
debilitating depending on how severe the disturbance is. A large percentage of men and
women in our culture struggle with dissatisfaction with some aspect of their appearance.
Kim Chernin supports this point by stating, "One women disliked her thighs, another her
stomach, a third the loose flesh under her arms. Many would grab their skin and squeeze
it as we talked, with the grimace of distaste language cannot translate into
itself."(58). In 1996, a survey found that fifty-six percent of women and forty-three
percent of men disliked their overall appearance with an even larger percentage
dissatisfied with individual attributes such as weight and mid
torso(Understanding…). A person with an eating disorder typically suffers from a
body image disturbance that can impact many areas of his or her life.
Most women are given the message at a very young age that in order to be happy and
successful, they must be thin. Every time you walk into a store you are surrounded by the
images of emaciated models that appear on the front cover of all fashion magazines.
Thousands of teenage girls are starving themselves this very minute trying to attain what
the fashion industry considers to be the ideal figure. The average model weighs 23% less
than the average woman. Maintaining a weight that is 15% below your expected body weight
fits the criteria for anorexia, so most models, according to medical standards, fit into
the category of being anorexic(The Mind…). Teenagers need to realize that society's
ideal body image is not achievable. The photos we see in magazines are not real either.
Many people don't realize that those photos have gone through many touch ups and have
been airbrushed to make the models look perfect. Teenagers striving to attain societies
unattainable ideal image will just end up increasing their feelings of inadequacy.
Teenagers are under a lot of pressure to be thin. They are lead to believe that the only
way they can be accepted and fit in, is if they are thin. They resort to starving,
vomiting and eating only diet foods to try and be thin. Television is a big influence on
them. They watch shows like Beverly Hills 90210 and Melrose Place and feel they need to
look as thin as the actresses on these shows. Many actresses we see on TV have endured
hours of exercise and have deprived themselves of the proper nutrition in order to
maintain a thin figure. Some even resort to plastic surgery, such as liposuction and
breast implants. You just have to watch an episode of Baywatch to know that statement is
true. Society is brainwashing young people into believing that being thin is important
and necessary.
Another problem is, diet commercials are constantly appearing on our television screens
telling us that once we lose the weight, we will be happy. While your standing in the
check out line at the grocery store you are surrounded by magazines claiming to have the
newest and best diet. Each month another new diet appears claiming to be the diet to end
all diets. Whatever happened to last month's diets that claimed the same thing? Dieting
has become an obsession in the United States. We spend billions of dollars each year
trying to look the way society tells us we need to look. If diets really worked, then why
are there so many of them? The reason a new diet pops up each month, is because last's
month's diets did not work. You know, the ones that claimed to really work. The truth of
the matter is that diets don't work. As soon as you start to diet, you automatically set
yourself up for failure. Many of the diets on the market right now are also unhealthy.
They deprive you of the proper nutrition your body needs to survive and these diets can
lead to health problems.
But, the diet and fashion industries are not totally to blame for society's obsession
with thinness. We are the ones keeping them in business. We buy into the idea that we can
attain the ideal body image. We allow ourselves to believe the lies being thrown at us
constantly. We buy their magazines, diet books and products, hoping that this time they
will work. We are throwing away our hard earned money trying to live up to the standards
that society has set for us. Be prepared to spend lots of money on your quest for the
perfect diet and be prepared to never find it, because there isn't one.
It's unfortunate, but in today's society, people have forgotten that it's what's inside a
person that counts, not what's on the outside. We need to start loving and accepting each
other for who we are, and not what we look like. Instead of people starting another diet
because they feel they are too fat, they should sign up for a self-esteem class instead.
That would be money well spent. If we learn to love and accept ourselves, we will also
begin to love our bodies, no matter what size we are.
We also need to teach our children to be proud of whom they are. We need to remind them
that people come in all shapes and sizes, and we need to teach them to accept everyone
for who they are. Parents need to also teach their children the value of healthy eating
and not send the message that being thin is important. Many children, under the age of
10, are becoming obsessed with dieting and their bodies. They are afraid of becoming fat.
They don't just learn this from the media, they also learn this from their parents. If
their mothers are constantly dieting and expressing their desire to be thin, these young
children will start to believe they also need to be thin. We need to encourage and
support our children, especially teenagers. They need to feel good about themselves and
their accomplishments, they need your approval and they need to know that you are proud
of them. If a child is raised to love and accept who they are and what they look like,
they will be less likely to strive to fit into society's unattainable standards.