Bulimia Nervosa

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In most movies and television shows, the average person would depict a successful character to be thin, fit, have gorgeous hair, a flawless smile, and would be considered very attractive. Everyone in today’s world idolizes the idea of having the perfect body and living a fulfilled life; however, try to imagine what most people have to endure in order to reach their goals. One may have to spend countless hours at the gym, follow a diet that limits one to only eat “good” foods and staying away from “bad” foods, and there are even individuals who suffer from eating disorders. In today’s culture, there is a vast amount of people who suffer from an eating disorder, and many of these people are children and adolescents. The toys children play with, …show more content…
For example, Anorexia Nervosa is an eating disorder in which an individual starves themselves to lose weight and exercises excessively. Certain symptoms a person displays with Anorexia includes thin hair, brittle nails, 15% below their recommended weight, and pale skin. Next, Bulimia Nervosa is a mental disorder where a person consumes food, but uses laxatives or purges their food to lose weight. This form of losing weight can cause damage to the body by damaging the esophagus, stomach, and teeth. They have a distorted body image, a low self-esteem, and may possibly harm themselves in extreme cases. Bulimia and Anorexia are the most common eating disorders, but there is also another disease identified as a Binge Eating Disorder. The difference of this eating disorder compared to Anorexia and Bulimia is the fact that an individual consumes a large quantity of food to cope with their feelings and emotions, and is considerably obese. At any rate, eating disorders are complex mental diseases and can end a person’s …show more content…
According to professor Marita McCabe and professor Lina Ricciardelli, the time of puberty is when young boys and girls struggle most with their appearance due to the changes their body is experiencing: “With pubertal development, girls experience a normative increase in body fat and their hips broaden. These physical changes move girls further away from society 's ideal body shape for a woman. As a result, after the onset of puberty, many girls report higher levels of body dissatisfaction and a poorer self-image. In contrast, at the onset of puberty, boys gain muscle definition and their shoulder width increases, which moves the majority of boys closer to society 's ideal body shape for a man.” During this period of time when young men and women are transitioning through puberty, it is crucial that the community encourages adolescents to have a positive image about themselves and to reject the idea of comparing themselves to others. If this culture continues to build the idea that a person needs to be thin and fit to gain success, this can create the onset of an eating disorder. Furthermore, James Kirkup, executive editor of the Daily Telegraph, examines the influence of this culture on children: “The Children 's Society has said that three million children in Britain regularly feel depressed because of peer pressure and the need to conform to

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