Karen’s Free Health and Fitness Tips

Over the last few decades, researchers have made great strides in learning about the causes of and treatments for eating disorders. They continue to study people with eating disorders to get a better idea of all the factors involved. It is in knowing the cause that good treatment begins. The roots of eating disorders such as bulimia and anorexia are diverse. They seem to be societal, individual, environmental, biochemical and genetic.

Society and individual personality blurs together when it comes to issues of self esteem, perfectionism and control. Binge eaters, anorexics and bulimics have all admitted to using food as a means of handling stress.

When someone with lower self esteem and a perfectionist personality type feels they are overweight, they do what they can to “fix” themselves. This can result in anorexia and/or bulimia. It used to be believed that anorexia was a female issue but recently we have learned that 25 to 33% of those affected by anorexia are male. It isn’t gender specific. It probably occurs more in women than men due to a higher judgment placed on looks for women.

There are many reasons why people with an eating disorder are reluctant to actually get treatment for eating disorders. For one thing, actually getting help means admitting that they have a problem. After all, if they are seeking help, that must mean there’s something wrong with them. A lot of them are psychologically fragile or damaged, and this is difficult for many people with eating disorders. In some cases, the victim is thoroughly convinced that there really is no problem, and it’s even harder to convince the victim to get help.

Another reason is fear of embarrassment, pity, or resentment from people they know. Whether you have an eating disorder or someone you know, it is critical not to shy away from treatment for eating disorders. The truth of the matter is, if you don’t seek help, eventually your condition will become life-threatening, if it isn’t already. There is no way for an eating disorder to end well unless you deliberately put a stop to it.

The most common treatment for eating disorders is called the 3-Step Way. It integrates three basic steps that can help people get over their eating disorders without years of treatment.

Eating Disorders are one of the major health issues facing the world today. Millions of people around the world are suffering from these disorders and statistics show that whilst a large percentage (86%) are aged 20 years and above, 10% of reported cases are in children 10 years and younger in age. Recent studies have indicated that the number of individuals suffering with an eating disorder may be as many as 3 times greater than the number suffering from AIDS.

Many experts also believe that even these figures may not show the full extent of the problem as many men are not accurately diagnosed or not in fact diagnosed at all. 

The 3 most common Eating Disorders are, Anorexia Nervosa, Bulimia nervosa and Binge Eating disorders. 

Anorexia Nervosa 

It is bad to see so many celebrities having eating disorders, since so many of them choose not to eat. I have a lot of celebrity friends and they totally agree with me that celebrities are not sending out the right message to young fans and teenagers.

First of all these celebrities start off going out to all hours of the night, drinking every night and partying hard. They have the money so they disrespect everyone around them and party hard all night. But then it catches up with them and down the road they end up with health problems or an eating disorder.

The new skinny image that is being accepted and put on television screens around the world does not help the rising anorexia rates. If anything we should encourage more overweight models because these will simply have a better influence on the youth. Nicole Richie and other big stars such as Keira Knightley have gone through battles with eating disorders, or you can believe their stories about having skinny bones.

This is a typical scenario of a person who develops anorexic behaviour -

“Joanne was eleven when she went on her first diet. Something like a watching a glamour beauty pageant show may have prompted her to think thin.

For the next number of years Joanne would constantly diet, never stopping and during this time she would develop into a beautiful young woman.

Because of her looks and thin body shape, professional and business success is often attained at an early age. The years of dieting finally paying off; she was now being noticed.”

Typical of anorexic behavior, a person sets very high standards, but eventually there is uncertainty that develops as to whether those unattainable standards of performance can be maintained.

Often this uncertainty creates low self esteem and a constant inner dialogue of self criticisms. The fear of losing control and being perceived as a loser is something the anorexic tries to deal with on a daily basis. Consequently being fearful of consuming the smallest amount of food plays on the mind. Eating food is considered a loss of control and a complete failure, perpetuating the sense of being undeserving.

Eating disorders, unfortunately, are all too common in adolescents. Puberty is a time of massive change for kids. Not only are their hormones turning on, but their bodies are also starting to change too. A beginning awareness of their interest in the opposite sex, as well as the stern judgment of their peers, can lead some hapless children into developing an eating disorder to fit in or to adapt themselves to the modern definition of ideal beauty.

You should immediately seek treatment for eating disorders in adolescents, once you’ve found out they have one. The goal is to find a setting that is most convenient and comfortable for the adolescent. You can’t underestimate the value of social networks to teens, and one reason they might resist treatment is if they think that their prolonged absence from school might cause people to hear about their eating disorder.

In large cities, there are often many clinics and intensive care centers that can help with eating disorders. While many of these can be very helpful, they are often residential programs where the adolescent is forced to stay in a hospitalization program, which is a major disruption to their regular lives. In smaller towns, they usually lack the large clinics and the wider variety of expert therapists.

Anorexia is an eating disorder where people starve themselves and treatment of anorexia is difficult, because people with this disease believe there is nothing wrong with them. Anorexia is one type of eating disorder and another is bulimia. Both are applicable to men but much more common for women. Preteens, girls especially, can develop a serious eating disorder. Eating disorders may begin in children as young as 8 years old.

People with eating disorders really do harmful things to their bodies because of their obsession about their weight. The most widely and rapidly spreading eating disorder is compulsive overeating or binge eating disorder. There are three types of eating disorders: anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and ED-NOS (Eating Disorders Not Otherwise Specified). Anorexia is a mental illness, it usually is about a control issue.

If you are on this web site then you probably already know what anorexia is. In one example anorexia is described as a way of gaining attention. It is for sure a condition that leads to problems with eating. The most common form of anorexia is simply satiation following the consumption of food. Central to persons in this condition is an abnormal fear of gaining weight.

In this next article in our continuing series we’re going to discuss the effects of Anorexia Nervosa on a person, as well as going over some facts and figures.

The main assault of this disease is that it focuses on self starvation. Since the body needs food as a basic means for survival, the effects of this disease are numerous to say the least. Because the body is not getting enough nutrition, it is forced to slow down in order to compensate for this. This slowing down can have serious consequences on a person’s body.

There are a number of health consequences from Anorexia Nervosa. The main ones are as follows:

1. People suffering from this disease, after an extended period of time, suffer from an abnormally slow heart rate and very low blood pressure. This causes the heart muscle itself to change. The chance of heart failure rises as heart rate and blood pressure decrease.

2. Because of the lack of calcium in a person’s diet, since they are not getting enough food in general, there is a great risk of reduced bone density, which is known as osteoporosis. This results in very dry and brittle bones which makes them very susceptible to breaking.

The body of a dancer is often something of magnificence. Perfect lines, size, shape, they are truly a subject for art work. This of course is not something easily achieved. Perfecting this move, improving that technique, taking into account the appearance of every body part during ever movement and working to perfect it. A dancer needs to be long, lean, and tone. It is no wonder than that so many dancers experience major body image issues often leading to full blow eating disorders. The body required by dance is not easy to achieve and can cause many to fall back on extreme dieting practices in order meet the demands.

The world of dancer is filled with concerns about body image. In many cases, like ballet, hours are spent in front of mirrors scrutinizing every move. While young girls and boys, as eating disorders are gender blind, perfect their plies, and improve their relieves they are constantly focused on their body. As a dancer, it’s important to be long, lean, and graceful. Hours of practice in front of the mirror helps students monitor their progress. The can assess their bodies during each movement. Are my legs extended correctly? Is my posture okay? This constructive self criticism can become to much for some and lead to an unhealthy obsession with their weight and body image.

Introduction

This article examines the rise of eating disorder websites. Eating disorders are most common in young women (both teenagers and young adults). As this demographic is a also known as a high-level user of the Internet, the proliferation of online eating disorder (ED) communities is of particular concern to ED support groups (ANAD 2006). Eating disorder communities are known a ‘Pro-Ana’, (pro-anorexic) and it is the term used both for their community and to describe an individual. While Pro-Ana is used to describe a person who is ‘pro-anorexic’, Bulimics use the term Pro-Mia (pro-bulimic). In this definition, people who identify as ‘Pro-Anorexic’ or ‘Pro-Bulimic’ embrace their eating disorder and generally consider it a lifestyle choice and not an illness or disorder. Pro-Ana communities are not generally limited to anorexics and generally include bulimics and other eating disorder sufferers within the community.