Dangerous Issues Arising from Anorexia and Bulimia
Dangerous Issues Arising from Anorexia and Bulimia
Anorexia and Bulimia are the two main dietary disorders which have swept other dietary disorders aside. They mostly effect girls aged 14-17. The causes vary between culture, family pressures, chemical imbalance, emotional & personality disorder. Also genetics might play a small role in contributing to this disorder. In this era, we are constantly bombarded with the images of extremely thin, anorexic models. We are constantly told, if we want people to like us we must get thin. It has crossed ever women’s mind, to be thin and to be popular. These images draw in many girls at tender ages (14-17). First they start dieting, consuming less and less food as the weeks progress. Eventually it gets to a point where they will not place a single piece of food in their mouth because of the fear of getting fat. This would be called anorexic behaviors. Anorexia is a severe revulsion towards food, making him/her malnourished and thin, leading to a possible death if not helped. The other alternative would be to be bulimic, meaning to binge, to eat till your hearts content, and then spend time in the washroom or wherever and throw it up either by yourself or with the aid of laxatives, diuretics, vomit-pills, etc.
You may not realize it, but a simple suggestion can lead to one of these disorders. Statistically, around 40% of 9-10 year-old girls try to lose weight because their mothers’ might have mentioned they should try to eat a little less. Mothers or other family members of bulimic girls are usually very critical about outer appearance and are detached from their children. Now it’s not only the mother, but the mother is usually closer to her children when they are at the age of 9-10. These disorders might be the results of having parents who abuse drugs, alcohol or other substances. The genetic linkage is that when some people have anorexia there were problems when the mother was pregnant or after the birth like: infections, physical trauma, seizures, etc. It’s eight times more common when you have a relative with this disorder. Earlier I mention how families of bulimic girls are usually very critical etc., I put family in brackets because a family could be the blood family, or another type of family, like a sports family. Take gymnastics for example, the coaches (family) keep urging the gymnasts...