Imagine this: you go home, you look in the mirror and you hate every aspect of what you see; you hear the words “fat” or “ugly” on constant replay. You fall asleep and the next day it 's the same thing. This is a normal day for more than one-third of teens in the U.S , and the consequences are alarming. Everyday, thousands of teens fall under the pressure of the media’s ideal “beauty” look (skinny, thin, tall, etc.) Teens force themselves to fit this standard and result in health problems disastrous to ones body and mental health: Eating Disorders. Common eating disorders are Anorexia Nervosa, the starving of oneself to stay thin, Binge Eating Disorder, constant overeating, and Bulimia Nervosa, frequent eating followed by self induced vomiting.
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Teens having self esteem issues and wondering if they are pretty enough for the popular crowd. Yes, everyone has felt the doubt of their appearance, but the consequences now are more drastic. Nevertheless, countless parents today constantly say “oh its just a phase, I went through the same situation when I was younger” but the difference between then and now is that the number of eating disorders has risen significantly in the past years. “National University Hospital (NUH), said its number of new eating disorder cases has risen by 20 cents a year in the past three years...and is still climbing” ( Teo 1). Twenty percent in the last three years, now that doesn 't translate to a phase, more like an epidemic. The increase of eating disorders is puzzling parents, and researchers everywhere, on why teens are being influenced to do such harm to their body but the answer is simple: the media. Adolescent teenagers and parents should be wary of the effects media has on teen 's body self esteem because the media manipulates teens into thinking they need to change how they look in order to fit society’s standards, resulting in teens perform unhealthy activities, such as starving themselves and /or binge …show more content…
In the article Environmental Factors the Cause of Anorexia by Adam Cresswell, Scientist Howard Steiger explains his theory on epigenetics in relation to teens who have eating disorders. “People do not develop eating disorders because they are weak-willed, but because they carry measurable susceptibilities that may or may not be activated by various pressures in the environment." Steiger continues stating, “For some people, dieting can be a dangerous behavior. The reduction in certain nutrients can alter gene expression” (Cresswell 3.) The description Steger presents proves that having genes that are not easily triggered can alter a person’s capacity to be influenced by such drastic images, aka eating disorders. Yes, I agree that eating disorders may be hereditary or caused by environmental factors since teens still follow the term “monkey see, monkey do”. However, even though eating disorder can be developed through genes, that does not give the media the right to keep posting about how ideal skinny bodies are. Nobody can change their gene, its who they are, but that does not mean we can 't change how people perceive what “beautiful”
Teens having self esteem issues and wondering if they are pretty enough for the popular crowd. Yes, everyone has felt the doubt of their appearance, but the consequences now are more drastic. Nevertheless, countless parents today constantly say “oh its just a phase, I went through the same situation when I was younger” but the difference between then and now is that the number of eating disorders has risen significantly in the past years. “National University Hospital (NUH), said its number of new eating disorder cases has risen by 20 cents a year in the past three years...and is still climbing” ( Teo 1). Twenty percent in the last three years, now that doesn 't translate to a phase, more like an epidemic. The increase of eating disorders is puzzling parents, and researchers everywhere, on why teens are being influenced to do such harm to their body but the answer is simple: the media. Adolescent teenagers and parents should be wary of the effects media has on teen 's body self esteem because the media manipulates teens into thinking they need to change how they look in order to fit society’s standards, resulting in teens perform unhealthy activities, such as starving themselves and /or binge …show more content…
In the article Environmental Factors the Cause of Anorexia by Adam Cresswell, Scientist Howard Steiger explains his theory on epigenetics in relation to teens who have eating disorders. “People do not develop eating disorders because they are weak-willed, but because they carry measurable susceptibilities that may or may not be activated by various pressures in the environment." Steiger continues stating, “For some people, dieting can be a dangerous behavior. The reduction in certain nutrients can alter gene expression” (Cresswell 3.) The description Steger presents proves that having genes that are not easily triggered can alter a person’s capacity to be influenced by such drastic images, aka eating disorders. Yes, I agree that eating disorders may be hereditary or caused by environmental factors since teens still follow the term “monkey see, monkey do”. However, even though eating disorder can be developed through genes, that does not give the media the right to keep posting about how ideal skinny bodies are. Nobody can change their gene, its who they are, but that does not mean we can 't change how people perceive what “beautiful”