Eating Disorders: Anorexia Nervosa and Bulimia Nervosa

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Using the cases of two eating disorders (anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa), or obesity, one can determine that health and illnesses are just as much of a societal and cultural issue, as they are a medical issue. Eating disorders anorexia nervosa and bulimia are both mental illnesses. Anorexia nervosa involves starving oneself to avoid gaining weight, while bulimia involves binge eating followed by purging to avoid weight gain (Gerber and Macionis 2012). Both of these disorders stem from a fear of weight gain, and can result in health problems and sometimes death. Meanwhile, obesity is the condition of an individual who is greatly overweight. This condition can also result in medical issues. Societal and cultural factors such as issues of poverty, differences in gender, and trends over time, prove that societal and cultural factors do have a great impact on people’s health, as well as their illnesses.
Eating disorders and obesity show that health and illness are based both on cultural and medical aspects through poverty. The issue of poverty has an effect on health and illness because the stress of poverty can have an impact on a person’s existing mental illness, or result in a mental illness entirely (Gerber and Macionis 2012). Poverty has an effect on obesity because people with very little income may be forced to purchase inexpensive packaged foods, which are full of preservatives and have a high fat content. Fresh foods such as fruits and vegetables may be too inexpensive for families in poverty (Gerber and Macionis 2012). Overall, poverty is a societal issue that may act as an aid to induce illnesses and health issues such as eating disorders and obesity.
Gender differences are a societal issue that contributes t...

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...ugh knowledge to forge identities, and hack into people’s private internet accounts (Gerber and Macionis 2012). Scammers prey on the successful and are able to ruin lives because of the Information Revolution. In conclusion, the Information Revolution has contributed to provide more equality within the workplace, but fails in allowing people to pursue careers as scammers.
In the end, the Information Revolution had both good and bad affects on Canadians. It has people access to more knowledge to promote equality, stay current in their government and gives citizens a voice in that government. On the other hand, the Information Revolution may promote rebellion, and give people tools to use the information illegally to become scammers.

References

Macionis, John J. and Linda M. Gerber. 2012. Sociology. Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, New Jersey, USA.