Eating Disorders

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A further cause of eating disorders includes mass media. Media today has a significant impact for individuals to learn about body perfection and the how much is beauty and attractiveness valued nowadays. From a study made by “National Eating Disorders Organization” (2001) is shown that approximately 80% of Americans watch TV daily and the majority consists of teenagers, particularly young girls. Research shows clear evidence of the increasing rate, of how contact with media and pressure by it leads to young girls being unhappy with their bodies and as a consequence start developing disordered eating (Golden, 2003). The perfect body size has changed through the years. If previously the beauty icons like Marilyn Monroe, Sophia Loren etc. were curvy now time has changed and the ideal body size is getting thinner. Nowadays teenage girls want to be like Victoria Beckham, Angeline Jolie or the models of Victoria’s Secret. TV advertisements, magazine articles and TV show more and more are giving a big importance to the appearance. Various studies made from “Young adolescent health” (2003) have analyzed the relationship between the utilization of broad communications and body fulfillment, dietary problem symptomatology, and negative influence. Most of the studies have exhibited a direct relationship between media introduction and consuming pathology, body disappointment and negative influence.

In conclusion, eating disorders have become a serious issue that is affecting teenagers and young adults with an increasing level lately. There are 5 major factors, which are considered to be the potential causes of these eating disorders. They include family, media, genetic, biological and family. Eating disorders may be inherited they can run in families. Evidence has shown that in individuals with dietary problems some brain chemicals are unbalanced. People with personality traits like obsessiveness, perfectionism etc. are more predisposed to develop eating disorders than other individuals who don’t have these traits. Individuals with this problem worry too much about what others think rather than their own opinion. Family problems like physical abuse or different trauma children may have experienced can lead people to suffer from eating disorders. Nowadays, the fashion icons they see on TV influence young girls, who want to be and look like them. People need to be more conscious and realize that not everything they see in magazines or television is like it is shown.

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Bibliography

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