Eating Disorders | Teen Ink

Eating Disorders

October 27, 2010
By Anonymous

Have you ever thought that your body wasn't good enough? Have you ever watched television or looked at pictures in magazines and seen people who you thought were better than you because of their weight? Do you feel guilty or disgusted with yourself when you eat? If you have, you could have an eating disorder. You aren't the only one; over nine million people in America are suffering from the same problem. However, this is a problem that you don't want to have. Eating disorders can be avoided by creating a high-quality mindset for yourself, eating healthy foods, and exercising.

As an American teen, many feel that they have an image to live up to. In the media, we see people that are considered “beautiful.” Can we really put an image with beautiful? Isn't it an opinion? We have been taught that thin is beautiful and fat is ugly (Eating Disorders: Current Issues, 1); many teenagers have become engulfed in the world of looking like celebrities in order to be accepted and loved. This kind of attitude can be taken so far that it becomes an eating disorder: a disease that should not be taken lightly. Even though it does an extreme amount of harm to the body, it also becomes an emotional journey for the victim. The obsession with looking perfect and being as thin as can be life-threatening. If teens would learn that what they are seeing on television and on the internet is not real, and is not necessarily “beautiful,” it would help them to lead a happier and healthier lifestyle.

Anorexia nervosa and bulimia are two of the most well-known and common eating disorders. In many cases, the victims of these deadly monsters are able to heal over time. Nonetheless, these sicknesses can sometimes lead to hospitalization and even death. About 20% of people diagnosed with an eating disorder require hospitalization to overcome their disorder. Starving yourself is not the answer to losing weight. The appropriate fixation would be to eat healthier foods and be more knowledgeable about what you are putting into your body. Of course, certain foods will cause you to gain more weight, but there are other foods that are necessary for your body to function properly. There are many ways get yourself into better shape without starving yourself and hurting your body.

Some people think an eating disorder means “starving yourself.” This being partly true, being overweight or obese can be considered an eating disorder as well. Exercising regularly is extremely important to maintain a healthy weight. Adding this with healthy eating could cause the statistics of eating disorders to drop dramatically. It may not seem very exciting, but exercising could have incredible long-term results for your life.

Thinking, eating, and exercising properly are only some decisions that will help lower the rate of eating disorders in our country. Even though only 4.5% of adults are affected by them, they are still incredibly dangerous. Wouldn't it be better for that number to be zero? Eating disorders are not cool, healthy, or safe. They are deadly. You can develop so many physical and mental problems from having one. If you have an eating disorder, or think you might have one, take control of it right away by being smart and not letting media or anything else affect the way you think about yourself.


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This article has 7 comments.


on Dec. 30 2010 at 9:57 pm
sunnyhunny PLATINUM, Litchfield, New Hampshire
22 articles 3 photos 329 comments

Favorite Quote:
&quot;An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind.&quot;<br /> -Ghandi

personally, as someone having struggled through an eating disorder, I find this article offensive.  Eating disoders are so much more than this, and this article portrays them as a shallow habit which can be easily broken or avoided.  It isn't always as black and white as bulimia or anorexia.  Those are just diagnosises, and people can use behaviors of both, and there is also binge eating and over exercising which you did not address.  I think you should have done a little more research on this topic... I know you didn't mean to be offensive but that's kind of the way it turned out. 

on Dec. 19 2010 at 9:07 am
SpringRayyn PLATINUM, Lakeville, Minnesota
34 articles 2 photos 658 comments

Favorite Quote:
&quot;Don&#039;t punish yourself,&quot; she heard her say again, but there would be punishment and pain, and there would be happiness too. That was writing.&quot;<br /> --Markus Zusak, &quot;The Book Thief&quot;

Panda500: do you really have to use so many letters? I know you're making a point, but really? geez. C:

Duckie430 said...
on Dec. 13 2010 at 2:19 pm
Duckie430, Riverside, Rhode Island
0 articles 0 photos 228 comments

Favorite Quote:
&ldquo;The secret to life is being who you are and being happy with who you are.&rdquo;<br /> &quot;Whatever does not kill you only makes you stronger.&quot;

I agree with the above comments

on Dec. 12 2010 at 9:53 am
sleepinginthegarden BRONZE, Kingston, Massachusetts
2 articles 0 photos 66 comments
i agree with spring rayyn also i stopped reading at the first paragraph because the FIRST PARAGRAPH isnt even true u need to research before u write geez yr basically calling every person in the world an eating disordered person geeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeezzzzz

WOWWOW said...
on Dec. 10 2010 at 8:09 am
WOWWOW,
0 articles 0 photos 1 comment
I still eat alot but I work out so I lost wait.

on Dec. 6 2010 at 7:33 pm
NaCheezIt SILVER, Missouri City, Texas
8 articles 1 photo 14 comments

I agree with SpringRayyn

To truly conquer this topic you have to get deeper into the psychological side of ED's. It's not just about being over or underweight and it isn't just about seeing someone hot on tv.

Also, like you said, eating disorders don't just include Anorexia and Bulimia, they can include binge-eating disorder and a combination of any of these.

An eating disorder is a disease. This paper doesn't begin to cover it at all.

I know this sounds mean and critical, sorry. This is juat what I thought when I saw it.

 

If you want to see the twisted mentality of someone with an ED, google "Thinspo".


on Nov. 11 2010 at 7:51 pm
SpringRayyn PLATINUM, Lakeville, Minnesota
34 articles 2 photos 658 comments

Favorite Quote:
&quot;Don&#039;t punish yourself,&quot; she heard her say again, but there would be punishment and pain, and there would be happiness too. That was writing.&quot;<br /> --Markus Zusak, &quot;The Book Thief&quot;

It looks to me like you didn't research this topic very much when you wrote this article, because eating disorders are SO MUCH more than what you cover in this short peice. Sometimes they can be just a person eating less and excersizing more. If you write that exersizing is good for you, I think you should go more into how much is too much and too little, or at least say that you should exersize too much. Your topic also seems to stray around a lot, you should probably try and stay more focused when you write these type of things. I can tell, though, that you mean well.