Risky Business: Eating Disorders (Final)

Slim figures, skeletal limbs, and hallow cheekbones surround our everyday lives. Women are obsessed with the pursuit of thinness, and it’s because of this eating disorders are on a rise. (“Eating disorders: Any range of physiological disorders characterized by abnormal or disturbed eating habits, such as anorexia nervosa.”)

            In today’s society, we are enclosed by images of skinny women, causing us to create this “ideal” body image in our heads. Media creates unrealistic images of woman, causing 55% of women who are normal view themselves as fat. It is almost impossible to watch TV without having to come across the sight of a very slim woman. A Peoples magazine survey showed that 80% of females feel that the skinny women they see in movies and television programs make them feel insecure about their bodies. Magazines are also filled with images of famous celebrity’s that are very slim. In fact, many of these images that we see are computer-modified images of woman to make them appear skinnier than what they actually are. All this media exposure causes society to create an “ideal” body image in their heads. Sadly, eating disorders not only occur to adult women, but to high school girls as well. 9/10 of the people who diet, starve, or self-purge are high school juniors. However, only 1/10 of these people are overweight.

           Once women crave the need to feel skinny, they resort to very risky and unhealthy solutions. These solutions are starving, purging, or dieting. A study is shown that one in three women are on diets.  Some people don't even eat at all. This is called anorexia nervosa. Starving, purging, and dieting are very harmful to the body. When starving, purging, or dieting, the body is denied the nutrients that it needs, which forces the body to slow down its processes to conserve energy.  It could also cause problems in the digestive system which affects your  heart and other major organs in your body We can see that eating disorders are very harmful to the body.

            However, many people would argue that the “ideal” body image does not have an effect on eating disorders. Some people say that Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is what causes eating disorders in many women. Those who have been through scarring, traumatic events try to self-manage their feelings by harming their bodies. For example, sexual abuse; 30% of people with an eating disorder have been sexually abused. This scarring event leads to body shame, which triggers habits geared to destroying the body, meaning starvation and/or purging.

            There's a wide range of eating disorders; whether it's anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, binge eating, etc. All of these are very dangerous and harmful to the body.  It can cause many problems to your body that have long-term effects. It's sad to know that many people strive to attain the ideal body image that media sets for them. It's even more sad to know that people don't care about the horrible effects eating disorders have on their body. People must understand that body image is not important. It doesn't matter what number they see when they step on a scale or the size they wear for a pair of jeans.