The Eating Disorders

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Recommended: Eating disorders and its effects

What was once classified as a physical medical condition is now diagnosed as a psychological mental disorder. Eating disorders distort the perception of the human body causing the person to obsess with the idea of losing weight and body image. This not only causes serious physical harm, but mental and emotional harm as well. Many teenage girls develop eating disorders due to their idea of skinny being the equivalent to beauty and being strong. The novel, Wintergirls, by Laurie Halse Anderson, demonstrates the life and struggle of a girl dealing from the conditions of an eating disorder. Eating disorders affect a person's physical appearance, and control the thoughts and actions of a person. Eating disorders are characterized into three different forms- Anorexia Nervosa, and Bulimia Nervosa. Anorexia is restricting the intake of calories on a day to day basis in order to lose or maintain a specific weight. Bulimia is consuming large amounts of food in short periods of time, called binges. Afterwards, Bulimics attempt to eradicate the body of the food eaten, typically by purging, vomiting, taking laxatives, or exercising for long periods. (Engel, Reiss, and Dombeck) “She was gagging, finger shoved down her throat. Most everything she had eaten was splashed on the mulch: a bag of potato chips, most of a carton of onion dip, two fudge brownies, and a slice of strawberry shortcake,” shows the activities of a bulimic (Anderson 146). Since the first century, eating disorders have been believed to exist. Binging and purging was present in 700 B.C. by the Romans who ate extravagantly at banquets and then rid of the consumed food by forcing it out of their bodies, which would then allow them to continue eating. Another examp... ... middle of paper ... ...ing disorders are diagnosed as a psychological mental disorder. Works Cited Anderson, Laurie Halse. Wintergirls. New York: Penguin Group, 2009. Print. "Anorexia Nervosa." NEDA. Feeding Hope. N.p.. Web. 20 Feb 2014. . "Anorexia nervosa fact sheet." Womens Health. US Department of Health and Human Services. Web. 20 Feb 2014. "Eating Disorders." National Institute of Mental Health. US Department of Health and Human Services. Web. 20 Feb 2014. . Engel, Bridget, Natalie Staats Reiss, and Mark Dombeck. "Causes of Eating Disorders." Mental Help. N.p., 2 Feb 2007. Web. 20 Feb 2014. .

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