Print This Page
Teenage girls can be so impressionable. Magazines, movies, advertisements, and friends all play a large role in how young girls feel about themselves as they grow up. This is one reason why teenage girls have the highest incidence of anorexia and other eating disorders. For those that suffer with an eating disorder, food and body image take over the person’s life – nothing else matters.
Body Image
It’s easy for us to identify the causes of eating disorders in today’s ultra-glamorized world. Models are getting thinner and thinner, and stars that are an average size are considered overweight. Teens put so much pressure on themselves to look good that the thought that they might be gaining weight is sometimes enough to cause a panic in their minds. For some of these teens, gaining weight is their worst fear.
It is probably not beneficial, then, when companies design their clothes to fit only the smallest sizes, or use the sickly-thin models to show their clothes. Urban Outfitters has a new t-shirt that reads “Eat Less”, which unfortunately is going to send the wrong message to some people that are already insecure about their size.
The Effects of Anorexia on the Body
Anorexia, or the disorder that causes someone to starve themselves, causes damage to the entire body. The lack of nutrition is the main cause. Weak bones and muscles, skin, hair, and eye problems, and organ failure can all occur because of anorexia. The brain is also affected. A recent study from Yale University shows that women with anorexia have less brain volume then healthy women. Those that had suffered with the eating disorder for a longer time had the greatest reduction in brain matter.
Getting Help for an Eating Disorder
The good news that the Yale study found, however, is that when these women started gaining weight again through good nutrition, they were able to regain some of the gray brain matter that they lost. Treatment can be effective for these patients, but the sooner help is found, the better.
It’s good for us to be healthy, and to watch what we eat. Our country has seen a trend in recent years of increasingly overweight children and adults. But disorders like anorexia are also increasing, and more and more people are starving themselves in order to achieve a body they are satisfied with. Someone with anorexia spends years of their life trying to gain control. They want to get well, but their addiction to controlling their food intake is too powerful.
We must continue to work to put an end to anorexia. It starts with offering help to those with the disorder. Then we need to change the images we are bombarded with, and focus on health and wellness, rather than the best looking body.
Sources
Gaining weight may also bulk up brain volume for anorexic women
New Urban Outfitters T-Shirt Promotes Pro-Anorexia Movement
Brain Volume Lost to Anorexia Reversible
