Eating Disorders In Women

Over the past few decades, there has been a great increase in the prevalence of eating disorders and they have caused major psychological and health problems. This increase in eating disorders has resulted from the intense societal pressure to diet and conform to an unrealistic weight and body size. Females develop an eating disorder at an increasingly higher rate than males. Ten million women in the United States battle eating disorders. Eating disorders do not discriminate, they affect girls of all ages. They develop in girls at a young age and they continue to grow in prevalence throughout their lifetime. Societal pressures, the media, peers, physiological and biological changes all play a role in developing an eating disorder. Girls grow …show more content…
The longing for thinness follows females into their adult lives. The diet industry preys on women’s low self esteem by pumping out products that secure a “quick fix” and will help women achieve their dream body. The obsession over appearance also has an impact on female athletes. The desire the athletes have to train their body to perfection for their sport is inevitably hurting them in the long run. The three primary types of eating disorders I will be highlighting are anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa and binge eating disorder. This paper will justify that one of the most prevalent disorders amongst women are eating disorders. Whether it is anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa or binge eating disorder; eating disorders plague thousands of women in the United States. Eating disorders affect women of all ages and women involved in sports. Some people overlook eating disorders and do not think that it is a problem, eating disorders should be given serious consideration. This is because of the physical and psychological ramification of eating disorders tends to have lasting effects over the course of a woman’s …show more content…
Society sets guidelines on how thin an athlete should be. In judged sports, sports that score, participants prevalence of eating disorders is thirteen percent compared with three percent in refereed sports. Among girls with eating disorders, athletes; primarily dancers, gymnasts, and endurance runners, can be seen with these problems. Coaches and parents encourage their athlete to meet these standards, forcing many stresses and psychological problems on the person. Female athletes are at greater risk to develop an eating disorder. Once they develop the disorder, they are most likely to assess the female athlete triad. If the female athlete gets these symptoms they develop the following chain of events: disordered eating, amenorrhea, and osteoporosis. Normally, a person pressuring them causes an athlete who displays these three symptoms to meet weight standards. An athlete’s weight should be heavier than a non-athletes weight should be because they have more muscle mass and muscle weighs more than fat. They try to get their weight down by not eating or by going on eating binges and then purging. A better way to check your weight for an athlete is to check your body fat percentage. If a female athlete does have an eating disorder amenorrhea and osteoporosis can occur. Amenorrhea is when a female athlete does not menstruate for three months or more.