 |  |
 |
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
|
About-Face facts on EATING DISORDERS
The most recognized eating disorders are anorexia and bulimia. Anorexia is characterized by starvation dieting, excessive exercising, weight below what is considered normal, and an intense fear of weight gain. Bulimia is characterized by intense fear of weight gain and episodes of dieting and bingeing, as well as purging of the food from the body by vomiting or emetic use, fasting, dieting, diuretics, diet pills, excessive and compulsive exercise. 90-95% of all anorexics and bulimics are women. Women are more likely to suffer from depression and low self-esteem, accompanying body image dissatisfaction, then men. Low self-esteem has been found to be related to body image dissatisfaction and various eating disorders/disturbances. America, which has the greatest number of women to make it into the male sphere, also leads the world in female anorexia (Wolf, 1992). The American Anorexia and Bulimia Association states that 1000 American women die of anorexia each year. 15% of young women in the US (who aren't diagnosed with an eating disorder), display substantially disordered eating attitudes and behavior, according to the National Institute of Mental Health. Anorexia and bulimia are classified as mental disorders, criteria for the diagnoses are made up of specific symptoms and behaviors (e.g. excessive exercising, refusal to maintain "average" body weight, as well as loss of monthly periods, for the diagnosis of anorexia). Treatment for the disorders usually involve therapy and at times medication in addition to therapy. Eating disorders can be understood as having multiple roots, such as depression, low self-esteem, dysfunctional family dynamics, sexual/physical abuse history and other psychological problems. These components are important to consider, yet the cultural component also needs to be recognized as one of the possible constituent in conceptualizing etiology of eating disorders. The classic view of eating disorders fails to recognize the pathology inherent in the culture, the pressure for women to be thin, to diet. Many women in this society do not fit neatly into the categories of anorexia or bulimia, but fall on a continuum of eating disordered behaviors. In fact, one of the medical criteria of anorexia nervosa: body weight 15% below a weight that is considered "normal", would be met by the majority of models and beauty contestants. Indeed, the fear of fat is widely spread in this society, so that many women resort to self-destructive or painful behavior. Plastic surgery and dieting being two examples. The unrelenting pursuit of thinness, which is the hallmark of the eating disorder anorexia nervosa, seems in part to have its origins in the culture's transitions toward a thin beauty ideal. Self-destructive dieting behavior is culturally supported.
EDAP states that a CONSERVATIVE estimate of eating disorders prevalence (bulimia, anorexia, binge-eating, and borderline conditions) in the US is: 5-10% of girls and women after puberty (5-10 million) and 1 million boys and men. In 1998, according to the American Medical Association, eating disorders rank as the third most common illness among adolescent females in the US with an estimated prevalence of 4%.
Population studies indicate that 63% of high school girls and 16% of boys report dieting to lose weight. Within one year 35% of normal dieters progress to pathological dieting, 20-30% of all pathological dieters progress to full or partial eating disorders. Of those 30- 40% develop full disorders within four years. AMA policy asks that its members help their patients to avoid obsession with dieting, and to develop individualized approaches to find their own optimal weight (Policy 150.965). (as cited by Sarah McVaughn, Boston Phoenix, October 98 issue).
Eating Disorders affect a person's psyche, health and functioning level. They pose serious threats to psychological and physical health, ranging from dental problems, cardiac and gastrointestinal problems to death. Eating disorders have the highest mortality rate of all psychiatric disorders. Yet, the NIMH only allocated 1.4 % of their total research budget for 1996 to this field |
