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[edit] The demon of Eating Disorders

I am writing this letter to help stop the increasing rate of eating disorders in both males and females. Young women like me are being increasingly diagnosed with eating disorders. The rate keeps on rising because in the 21st century, the most important thing to females and now males is their physical appearance. There are “0.5-3.7% of females suffer from anorexia nervosa, 1.1-4.2% of females suffer from bulimia nervosa, 2-5% of males and females suffer from binge eating disorder”(Ice, par 2). Long ago, as long as a person was healthy he/she was happy to be alive since there was no medical care or pressure. Today is a different story because people (mostly teens) are sacrificing their health to look good. These individuals do not seem to realize that jeopardizing their health can lead to serious damage to their body, psychologically and physically. As a result of their actions, the girls and boys who stave themselves may end up with an eating disorder. I want this madness to stop which why any parent should be concern and try to help prevent the rate of eating disorders to increase.

Eating disorders like, binge eating, anorexia nervosa, and bulimia are among the deadliest illnesses among teens. Anorexia nervosa is when a person loses his/her appetite or stops eating real food because they think that they are not fit like a model on the runway. The symptoms for anorexia can be having irregular menstrual cycles, unable to put on weight because it is below normal. “Bulimia nervosa is doing recurrent inappropriate compensatory behavior in order to prevent weight gain, such as self-induced vomiting or misuse of laxatives, diuretics, enemas, or other medications (purging); fasting; or excessive exercise”(Spearing, sect. 3). Bulimia is closely related with another eating disorder, binge eating when someone chooses to eat more than he/she usually does in short amount of time. The only difference between them is that binge eaters do not purge their food.

Why would a person want to go through starvation just to look good when somebody else is in need of food? Take Africa for example; there are millions of kids starving every single minute, why not be grateful try to help those in need instead of wasting food? Whatever is making these young adults starve to death is ridiculous. Maybe these young ladies do not care if they end up dead; causing their family troubles, or having a heart/kidney disease. “Eating disorders can devastate the body. Physical problems associated with eating disorders include anemia, palpitations, hair and bone loss, tooth decay, esophagitis and the cessation of menstruation. People with binge eating disorder may develop high blood pressure, diabetes and other problems associated with obesity”(American Psychological Association, par. 11). If the girls were had some sense, they would stop being suicidal and think about the consequences.

Before, eating disorders occurred in females but now males too are suffering from eating disorders. A person might believe that guys are strong and they do not worry about their weight issues as long as they have the ideal body of an athlete, but think again. Eating disorders are not as common with males, but men should also be aware. That is how far this demon today. This disease is causing men to be insecure about their physical image and eating disorders are up to no good in the future.

Anorexia can be caused by a genetic trait, personal problem (hate self), depression, and pressure. A parent should be concerned if his/her child has lost weight in a short period of time, taking diet pills, lacking eating, taking pills to urinate more often, obsessed with exercising and will not stop even if tired/sick, and paying close attention to calories in food. “The onset of the eating disorder usually occurs in late teens, and the female to male ratio is at least 10:1”(Hsu, 14). Some people worry too much about what they look like even if he or she cannot tell; you might think that you are overweight when in reality your weight is perfectly fine.

If you know someone who does all of the things that says he/she might be anorexic, please make sure that they go to their primary care taker who can refer to a help center. The earlier that person is referred to a specialist the better, because the longer he/she waits, the more damage can be done to his/her body and it might be too late. At first they might refuse to get help but that’s where you need to push them. Failure to take action can result in death.

The best way to avoid your children from suffering an eating disorder is to boost their self-esteem up and love them regardless of their weight. If they are going through a phase, send them to a therapist to resolve their issues (if any)to be safe, and be there when your kids nedd you the most. Provide them with healthy eating habits and make them feel happy of whom they are becoming as an individual. Talk to your kids at the dinner table, ask them how they are feeling, what goals did they accomplish, anything that would start a conversation. If you notice something, like one of your kids is losing weight often and you are concerned, go to his/her doctor. These illnesses are here in America, you and me just have to get our heads together and fight this demon with all we of our power. It is the only way to stop teenagers from committing suicide.

Bibliography A) Thompson, Colleen. “Teenagers.” Mirror-mirror.org. 1996. NC Press Limited. 26 April 2007 <http://www.mirror-mirror.org/teens.htm>.

B) Spearing, Melissa. “Eating Disorders.” Nimh.nih.gov. 5 Feb. 2007. U.S. National Library of Medicine. 26 April 2007. <http://www.nimh.nih.gov/publicat/eatingdisorders.cfm>.

C) ANRED.“Statistics: How many people have eating disorders?.”Anred.com. 2005. Anorexia Nervosa and Related Eating Disorder, Inc. 26 April 2007<http://www.anred.com/stats.html>

D) American Psychological Association. “Eating Disorders: Psychotherapy's Role in Effective Treatment.” 2004. American Psychological Association. 26 April 2007 http://www.apahelpcenter.org/articles/article.php?id=50

E) Ice, Susan. “Lifetime Prevalence”. 2007.Statistics from The Renfrew Center. 8 May 2007. http://www.eatingdisorderscoalition.org/reports/statistics.html

Print Resources 1) Bordo, Susan. The male body: a new look at men in public and in private. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1999.

2) Duker, Marilyn. Anorexia nervosa and bulimia: how to help. Buckingham; Philadelphia: Open University Press, 2003.

3) Bordo, Susan. Unbearable weight: Feminism, Western Culture, and the body. Berkeley, Calif.: University of California Press, 2003

4) Giordano, Simona. Understanding eating disorders: Conceptual and ethical issues in the treatment of anorexia and bulimia nervosa. New York: Oxford University Press, 2005.

5) Boskind-White, Marlene. Bulimia/anorexia: The binge/purge cycle and self-starvation. New York: W.W. Norton & Co., c2000.