Primary Cause Of Eating Disorders

ere is plenty of evidence from researchers that indicates that psychological and biological factors are the primary cause of eating disorders. Biologically, certain genes may make a person vulnerable to eating disorders. One of the main points biologically is the hypothalamus which regulates functions such as eating. I believe that media also plays a significant role in negative body image that eventually leads to eating disorders. I do understand that biologically and psychologically people can be susceptible to eating disorders but I also strongly believe that for the people who do not fit into these categories still face body image issues due to social media. I am a tad older and back in my earlier years we also relied on social media but …show more content…
Today, I see how social media has increased and body image has gotten to an extreme. It is almost a matter of how skinny can someone really be?. For men, it is how muscular and physically fit. This has lead to dangerous steroid use and drug use for people who are striving for the "perfect" body. Even our text talks about how in the mid-90's a study was conducted in Ghana and these woman viewed a larger body as ideal but then years later when social media (relating to Western society) had been introduced to their country, they changed their views and now have women who are overly concerned about their body image. These woman were probably not suffering from biological issues or even psychological issues that made them susceptible to eating disorders in the beginning, on the contrary, I believe this was the negative influence of our social media that came into play. I feel so bad for the teenagers these days who feel the pressure of having to fit into the mold that is now "perfection" in our eyes. It must be very difficult for them to function and fit into a society whose views are so devastatingly …show more content…
I can understand that psychological and biological factors play a role in many cases of eating disorders but In my opinion, in order for us to even have a body image issue someone has to set a standard to which others want to follow. For us, that is social media. Who tells us what we need to look like? Social media and imagine what would happen if social media did not declare thin as being in. So many companies would be out of business. Imagine how much money would be lost on gyms and diet industries. If the media did not influence us to be thin, be beautiful, wear sexy clothes (that are intended for the thin), exercise, build muscles, eat healthy food, buy their products (that we are know are overpriced) how would they sell their products? We are all being brainwashed on a daily basis and body image is only the tip of the iceberg, so to