| What Is Anorexia Nervosa? |
Anorexia nervosa is a serious, and often life threatening eating disorder where the person is afraid of gaining weight. A person with anorexia limits what he or she eats leading them to become too thin. 90%-95% of those with anorexia are girls or women, and an estimated .5 to 3.7% of all females suffer from this disorder. Often an anorexic:1 |
| - sees them self as overweight even if they are dangerously thin - has a body weight that is too low for their height - has a strong irrational fear of becoming overweight - (for girls and women with their periods) can have irregular menstrual cycle or skip their period altogether - may have mood swings2 |
How is the Weight Lost? |
A person with Anorexia might repeatedly weigh themselves, and there are many other techniques used to try to lose weight such as intense exercise, vomiting, abuse of laxatives, enemas, and diuretics.3 An anorexic could take pills to increase bowel movement, diet pills. Even counting calories can become and obsession. |
Effects on the Body: |
Anorexia can have serious repercussions on the body. Lack of proper nutrition affects a person’s health and can change their body, causing medical complications. With a mortality rate of 6%, as a psychiatric condition anorexia kills a high rate of its victims. Starvation can cause pulse rate and blood pressure to drop. The following diagram displays the effect this disease has on many different parts of the body: 4 |
Who Has This Disease? |
Anorexia is most common in girls in pre-puberty or post-puberty. Almost 90% of those affected are young women.5 Commonly these girls share some traits such as a low self-esteem, social isolation, and perfectionism. It’s also common that those with anorexia are high achieving students or athletes, and the weight loss or obsession with food helps them to ignore other problems they do not want to face. This eating disorder can also run in a family, for example there is a 10 to 20 times more of a risk for a girl to get this disease if a sibling has it.6 Other aspects of life that contribute to anorexia are environmental influences and anxieties, family problems or traumatic events. |
The Influence of Media: |
Adolescents are constantly under the influence of media and advertising. The average American child may view as many as 40,000 television commercials every year.7 Even from a very young age, girls are exposed to startling images that can later influence their desire for perfection. For instance, the “Barbie” doll in real life would be five feet seven inches and weigh 100 pounds.8 50% of nine year olds and 80% of ten year olds have dieted. As these girls get older the problem increases, for 90% of high school juniors and seniors diet regularly, although only between 10 to 15% of them are over weight and have been recommended to diet by a doctor.9 Every woman, young or old, will feel unhappy with their body at some point in their life, and often these feelings of imperfection are inspired by the media. Supermodels, singers and actresses can also suffer from anorexia because they are constantly under the pressure of the public eye. Yet progress is being made, and in |
How to Help: |
No matter their age or gender, someone with anorexia nervosa should get immediate help. It is important to have support, whether from a trained professional, family, or friends. Because of the problems this disease causes, it is important for the anorexic to return to normal health. Educating people you know about anorexia can help them not to worry so much about their weight. A startling 78% of adolescent girls wish to weigh less, and ¾ of all adult women are dissatisfied with their appearance.11 Yet, it’s important for everyone to feel confident and happy with their body. Each person looks different and each person is unique, so let us disregard this image of “perfection.” To feel beautiful you have to start by accepting your own body, exercising, eating healthy and spending time with others who do the same. This will show people around you how to take care of themselves, and in turn help them love their body as every man and woman should. |
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References: |
| 1 http://womenshealth.gov/faq/easyread/anorexia-etr.htm 2 http://library.thinkquest.org/27755/Anorexiahome.htm 3 http://www.nimh.nih.gov/publicat/eatingdisorders.cfm#ed 4 http://womenshealth.gov/faq/easyread/anorexia-etr.htm 5 http://www.nimh.nih.gov/publicat/eatingdisorders.cfm#ed1 6 http://www.nimh.nih.gov/publicat/eatingdisorders.cfm#ed1 7 http://www.mediafamily.org/facts/facts_childadv.shtml 8 http://library.thinkquest.org/27755/FactsandFigs.htm 9 http://library.thinkquest.org/27755/FactsandFigs.htm 10 http://news.softpedia.com/news/Skinny-Models-No-Longer-Wanted-on-the-Catwalk-35437.shtml 11 http://library.thinkquest.org/27755/FactsandFigs.htm |
