Anorexia Nervosa Research Paper

“Body image is how someone thinks and feels about his or her physical self,” (Conway, 2013). Media throughout the years have really increased body dissatisfaction among male and female adults and adolescents. “Approximately 80% of U.S. women do not like how they look and 34% of men are dissatisfied with their body,” (Gallivan, n.d). Not only have adults been affected but so have adolescents, “53% of 13-year-old American girls are unhappy with their bodies. This number grows to 78% by the time the girls reach 17,” (Gallivan, n.d). Something needs to be changed in the media, 13-year-olds should not be worried about how they look, they should be worried about growing up and doing well in school. Dissatisfaction in body image is caused by how the

“Anorexia nervosa is an eating disorder characterized by weight loss (or lack of appropriate weight gain in growing children); difficulties maintaining an appropriate body weight for height, age, and stature; and, in many individuals, distorted body image,” (Anorexia Nervosa, 2018). Anorexia nervosa can affect people of all ages, genders, sexual orientations, races, and ethnicities. To be diagnosed with anorexia there has to be three criteria’s meet. The first criteria that has to be met is, restriction of energy intake relative to requirements leading to a significantly low body weight in the context of age, sex, developmental trajectory, and physical health. The second criteria is intense fear of gaining weight or becoming fat, even though underweight. The final criteria that needs to be met to be diagnosed with anorexia nervosa is disturbance in the way in which one's body weight or shape is experienced, undue influence of body weight or shape on self-evaluation, or denial of the seriousness of the current low body weight. “In anorexia nervosa’s cycle of self-starvation, the body is denied the essential nutrients it needs to function normally. Thus, the body is forced to slow down all of its processes to conserve energy, resulting in serious medical consequences,” (Anorexia Nervosa, 2018). You are not only hurting your body when you become anorexic, but you are hurting your mind because you are not

“Bulimia nervosa is a serious, potentially life-threatening eating disorder characterized by a cycle of bingeing and compensatory behaviors such as self-induced vomiting designed to undo or compensate for the effects of binge eating,” (Bulimia Nervosa, 2018). To be diagnosed with Bulimia Nervosa you also need to meet a set of criteria’s just as Anorexia Nervosa does. The first criteria are, a person who has Bulimia Nervosa has episodes of binge eating in which they eat a large amount of food which is definitely larger than what most people would eat in a single setting, they also feel like they have a lack of control over eating during the episode of binge eating. The person must have recurrent inappropriate compensatory behavior in order to prevent weight gain, such as self-induced vomiting, misuse of laxatives, diuretics, or other medications, fasting, or excessive exercise. Another criterion is the binge eating and inappropriate compensatory behaviors both occur, on average, at least once a week for three months. The final criteria are self-evaluation is unduly influenced by body shape and weight. “The recurrent binge-and-purge cycles of bulimia can affect the entire digestive system and can lead to electrolyte and chemical imbalances in the body that affect the heart and other major organ functions,” (Bulimia Nervosa, 2018). Just like Anorexia Nervosa you are not only hurting your body, but you are also hurting