Eating Disorders

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Introduction Eating disorders are psychological problems marked by an obsession with food and weight. There are four general categories of eating disorders these are; Anorexia nervosa, Binge eating and Bulimia nervosa. However this disorder affects individuals of various age groups; it has become more popular among teenagers these days. For the purpose of this research plan the writer will focus on age group of ages 15 to 19 because teenagers most vulnerable to eating disorders fall into this age group. Moreover, in doing so it will also be possible to determine the significance of this research and apply it to today’s lifestyle. Anorexia is a medical condition in which youngsters, mainly during the onset of puberty, begin to starve themselves thinking they are overweight, even though they are not. They remain under this illusion and as a result of being cautious they become extremely thin, bordering on ill health or sometimes death. Eating disorder in teenagers has become an area of concern as it is a disease which is affecting the youth of today’s society. The purpose of this research is to identify the main cause of eating disorder in teenagers and help the young generation as they play a vital role for tomorrow’s future. Literature review Causes of anorexia The causes of anorexia are complex and no single factor has been identified. The actual cause of these disorder appear to result from many factors, including those that are genetic, media leading disorders, parental behaviours, psychological factors and negative family influence. Anorexia Nervosa Parentlink (2008) describes anorexia as a disease where the individual person starves himself/herself even though he/she is hungry and is seen to be very thin. Furt... ... middle of paper ... ...d happy life themselves. If taken care of for instance proper care from the family, teenagers are less likely to suffer from the eating disorders. This then means parents can control teenagers eating habits with maximum supervision. Since family lifestyle tends to affect teenagers eating habits. In recent studies by Fornari and Dancyger (2003) notes that family whereby parents are overly controlling, a teenager tends to put on a lot of emphasis on looks, diet them or criticizes their body appearance can cause anorexia. In this case it’s the family’s duty to provide support and care to the general development of the teenagers for a better future. Yoon et al. (2005) argued that families, friends, and dating partners play a role in the development of anorexia and other eating disorders by the generation and transmission of different messages about the thin-ideal.

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