Eating Disorders
The want and need to be skinnier and healthier these days has reached an all time high. It seems like everyday there is a new diet trend that is guaranteed to get one’s body to look like the bodies of celebrities and models seen on TV. This obsession with dieting that America has created is getting out of control to the point that these diets are slowly forming into eating disorders. There are several different types of eating disorders, all of which have different symptoms, but it seems that college freshman girls are more prone to them because of stress, gender, and their constant need to feel they ‘fit in’ to society.
There are several different types of eating disorders and none of them consist of the exact same symptoms, however all eating disorders can fall under the same definition. The National Eating Disorders Association’s website identifies an eating disorder as an illness with “extreme emotions, attitudes, and behaviors surrounding weight and food issues” (NEDA “What is an Eating Disorder? Some Basic Facts” 1). Eating Disorders, a book by L. K. George Hsu, characterizes anorexia and bulimia as a disease where one is obsessed with their weight and being fat and has an unclear view of what a healthy looking individual should look like (Hsu 1). There are three eating disorders that are the most common but someone doesn’t necessarily have to have all of the symptoms of one of those illnesses in order to be considered as someone who is suffering from an eating disorder. There are numerous behaviors concerning one’s weight that can contribute to an eating disorder. According to The Management of Eating Disorders and Obesity these behaviors include “fasting or skipping meals, use of diet pills, vomiting, use of laxatives or smoking cigarettes, and binge eating” (Goldstein 42).
The most common eating disorders are anorexia, bulimia, and binge eating which can result in obesity. All three eating disorders are somewhat tied...
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