Eating Disorders Have Multiple Complex Causes; The Media is not to Blame

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When the topic of eating disorders (ED), anorexia, bulimia, starving, purging, or any other form of self harm is brought into an everyday conversation, it is simply looked at as nothing out of them norm and is just brushed off as if the topic was concerning what the President had for lunch that day. At first glance, the average person would probably conclude that the main reason eating disorders are so noted in young women today is simply due to the fact that the media puts so much pressure on these women to be “perfect”. Eating disorders are a very prominent and common factor in our society, it is not something anyone can really evade. There are many theories as to what causes eating disorders. Although doctors and ED specialists cannot specifically pin point the direct underlying cause, there are some characteristics of EDs that can be proven. The causes of eating disorders are simply a mix of biological, psychological, social, and cultural factors and the media should not be held accountable as a main influence to these wide spread health disorders. Even though the media is one of the factors that possibly could and has contributed to the development of an eating disorder in our youth, it is not even relatively close to one of the main components. Many people have misleading concepts as to what anorexia actually is. As stated in the article “Anorexia Nervosa” found on Wikipedia: The term anorexia nervosa was established in 1873 by Sir William Gull, one of Queen Victoria's personal physicians. The term is of Greek origin: an- (ἀν-, prefix denoting negation) and orexis (ὄρεξις, "appetite"), thus meaning a lack of desire to eat. Although the term "anorexia nervosa" literally translates to "neurotic loss of appetite" the tran... ... middle of paper ... ...p.com/ic/ovic/ViewpointsDetailsPage/ViewpointsDetailsWindow?displayGroupName=Viewpoints&disableHighlighting=true&prodId=OVIC&action=e&windowstate=normal&catId=&documentId=GALE%7CEJ3010128240&mode=view&userGroupName=stjohn&jsid=59f16e7b892031a328b16401ef5adc95>. Kuenhal, Debora. "History of Eating Disorders." Eating Disorder Recovery Center. EDRecover, 1998. Web. 20 Feb. 2012. . Mantell, Ellyn. "Consumed by Guilt, I Just Stopped Eating; First Anorexic, Then Bulimic, I Always Found New Ways to Punish Myself. Finally, I'm Whole Again." Newsweek. Gale Opposing Viewpoints In Context, 20 June 2006. Web. 20 Feb. 2012. .

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