Eating disorders mainly affect teenage girls and young women throughout the world but are more prominent in countries and cultures that promote weight loss and body style. The constant bombardment and pressure to be thin leads to negative body image and unhealthy eating habits. The result is that children now between 10yrs - 15yrs are now experiencing eating disorders like anorexia, bulimia, binge eating and ED-NOS (eating disorders not otherwise specified).

These four eating disorders create negative and distorted body images due to intense emotions and behaviours surrounding food. This is more frequent in younger women who are starting to eat less as they become conscious of their body image and do not want to gain weight. Physical and emotional health issues can be extremely dangerous and at times fatal if left untreated.

Research has found that there are numerous theories surrounding the cause of eating disorders. In general combinations of social, genetic, family, psychological and environmental issues are the main attributes. The society in which the majority of us now live focuses intensely on being thinner and thinner. This does not obviously have a direct effect on what we consume but it is a major contribution to its development.

Teenage girls who participate in sports such as ballet, gymnastics, running, skating even dancing and especially modelling are more likely to develop eating disorders. They are often associated with the feeling of helplessness and sadness and the need to be perfect. This can cause the individual to use dieting or weight loss to provide a sense of order and control especially if family history of emotional problems, depression and anxiety has been apparent.

Communicating with people who have eating disorders can be very hard and challenging as they often do not think they have a problem in the first place. One of the most common things to do as a concerned person at the early stage though is the urge to give-up. This is due to your patients defensiveness and unwillingness to accept help. Do not in anyway let these reactions prevent this from happening. Continue to care and be aware that you can make an enormous difference by helping them face their illness and get the correct treatment. Often they will find it difficult to make that first call for assistance and may need close family and friends to initiate that first step.

They need to find trust in people to allow themselves to share there feelings and understand there problems. Do not expect them to immediately be positive towards your concerns. Eating disorders have shown to be challenging to overcome due to the length of time taken to rectify. By being honest and patient with one another has shown you will both make it far easier to support each other and succeed.

We must remember that eating disorders are both medical and psychological problems. Treatments are tailor made to an individuals needs but usually includes working with a therapist, a nutritionist and your local GP. Once diagnosed and with the correct medication, safe eating plan and therapy treatments significant gains can be achieved. You will begin to create weight stabilisation, a healthier diet and good positive self-image.

As a society we have to understand how we can prevent eating disorders of entering our lives and cultures. Constant teasing and harassment about body weight and style leads young women to develop eating disorders. Magazines promote airbrushed models who are naturally unrealistic. We must realise we are all different shapes and sizes and that the diet industry must stop now in trying to change our bodies into something we are not.

We must fight back against the industry that places these ideas in our heads and together we will reverse the social environment and mind-set that create eating disorders.

Thank you for taking the time to read my article and if you have found this information helpful, and would like more on various health issues, please take a look at My-Perfect-Weight.




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