Issue of Anorexia in America

Photo courtesy of pink-iron.com

“I hated the way I looked,” said Katie Walsh, a current junior at Millersville University studying business management and former victim to anorexia. “I hated going to school since I knew I would be bullied about how my clothes fit or just my weight in general.”

            At the beginning of her freshman year, and in just a few short months, she lost more than forty pounds. “After losing that much weight, I felt great but I wanted to lose more,” said Walsh. “That is when things got out of control. My clothing would look huge on me and my face sunk in. And the scary thing is I still thought I was the weight I started at.”

            Walsh would barely eat anything all day. She stated that she would have maybe half a carrot and a glass of water per day.

            Walsh was just one of the many teens who suffered from anorexia and having a poor body image.

According to the Anorexia Nervosa And Associated Disorders Association (ANAD), “95 percent of those who have eating disorders are between the ages of 12 and 25.”

The definition of anorexia according to the ANAD is, “A relentless pursuit of thinness and unwillingness to maintain a normal or healthy weight, a distortion of body image and intense fear of gaining weight.”

According to Doctor Methis M.D, expert in eating disorders,  “Anorexia is common with adolescents and during this time, young people are supposed to be putting down the critical bone mass that sustain them through adulthood. Since they are not supplying their bones with the nutrients they need, this leads to bone loss and is irreversible. But the heart is the most damaged. Circulation is slowed down and blood pressure drops significantly. The cardiac tolls are acute and significant, and set in quickly.”

Doctor Methis M.D also stressed that anorexia is a multisystem disease that virtually no part of the body escapes its effects. “It leaves the individual with so many health risks of having a low immune system and low white blood cell counts,” She said.

Anorexia and other eating disorders have been increasing with teens and young adults over the years from the media and also having society create this idea of beauty that is unnatural and unattainable to reach.

According to authors Michael Levine and Gemma Lopez-Guimera of “Influence of Mass Media on Body Image and Eating Disordered Attitudes and Behaviors in Females” Doctor Frank Cheng, physiologist and graduate of Stanford University, “conducted a survey of 548 preadolescent and adolescent girls found that 69 percent acknowledged that images in magazines had influenced their conception of the ideal body, while 47 percent reported that they wanted to lose weight after seeing such images.”

Since teens follow the media, whether it is with music, movies, or celebrities, they are shown what is considered beautiful. Since most girls are not stick thin, this can lead to depression which is one of the leading causes of anorexia and other eating disorders.

Another huge factor that contributes to eating disorders is shopping for clothing. Recently popular clothing store Abercrombie and Fitch was criticized after their CEO Bruce Weber stated that they don’t offer larger sizes since they only want cool teens to wear their brand. It has also been told by store employees that if clothing isn’t sold after a period of time, they are told to burn them.

            The scary truth about eating disorders is that the idea or love of being thin starts as young as first graders.

            According to a study conducted by George Collins, a psychologist and nutrition expert found that, “42 percent of first to third grade girls want to be thinner and 81 percent of ten year olds are afraid of being fat.”

            Although young girls are affected by our image of beauty, college students are also affected by this negative message and cases of anorexia have increased over the year with college students.

            According to ANAD, “A survey of 185 female students on a college campus, 58 percent felt pressure to be a certain weight, and of the eighty three that dieted for weight loss, forty four were of normal weight.”

            Nowadays colleges and high schools are noticing how common these disorders are among students and are encouraging to seek and offer help to students suffering from depression or eating disorders.

            Although today our society is still silently enforcing weight loss, more celebrities like Jennifer Lawrence have refused to lose weight just for a part or character. Lawrence believed that losing weight will send the wrong message to her fans and believed that her character Katniss Everdeen from the Hollywood blockbuster “The Hunger Games” should look like the everyday girl. From this decision, she has gained a huge following and more respect among fans.

            Since the issue of anorexia and eating disorders has become more and more relevant, media like magazines and online blogs have embraced this new idea of beauty that believes that everyone is beautiful. One does not have to be a size two or have a perfect frame to feel beautiful. Beauty comes in all shapes and sizes and everyone is encouraged to embrace who they really are.

            “After almost a year of my anorexia, I weighed about seventy seven pounds and I ended up in the hospital from passing out,” Walsh said. “After that, my parents sent me straight into rehab.”

            After six months of attending rehab, Walsh eventually took notice on what she was doing to her body and switched to a healthier lifestyle. Six years later, she is still practicing good eating choices and getting enough exercise.

            “I won’t lie and say that it has been easy. There are still days where I feel heavy, but looking back and seeing how I looked when I was sick, I never want to turn into that again. I looked like a walking skeleton,” said Walsh.  “With the love and support from my family and friends, I am happy of how far I have come and I probably would not be here because of them.”