Eating Disorders

Eating disorders are becoming a huge community health problem in the United States. It appears almost everyone I know either had an eating disorder or knows someone with an eating disorder. Eating disorders are becoming more and more common among children and college students. In fact, “81% of 10-year-old children are afraid of being fat” (ANAD). This number is extremely alarming, especially for such young children. My brother is 9 years old, and he mentions people calling others “fat”. This mentality is damaging for young kids because it remains for the rest of their life. “91% of women admitted to controlling their weight through dieting” in a survey (ANAD). From my own experience in college, it is difficult to hear people talk about other people’s weight. Girls, in particular, are constantly reminded to be skinny, in order to be considered “pretty”. Whether it is from seeing other girls be complimented on their looks or from guys saying, “he is dating a big girl, I don’t know why”, it is evident that girls should be skinny. Because of this, I hear more and more comments everyday about restricting food or losing weight. Sometimes, it is the topic of conservation amongst a group of girls. This toxic mentality goes back to the media as well. For so long, the girls on covers of magazines looked a certain way: tall, skinny, pretty. Little did young girls know, these girls on the covers were photoshopped into a body that is not realistic. We are finally seeing some changes in the media with different body shapes being promoted. However, I am not sure if it is too late. There needs to be more of a change in society to completely undo the way that women think. Changes such as adjusting what an “ideal” woman looks like, limiting body shaming comments, and even more representation will slowly decrease the amount of eating disorders. When the number of eating disorders decrease, the health of the community will improve.

Eating disorder statistics: General & Diversity stats: Anad. National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders. (2022, June 8). Retrieved November 21, 2022, from https://anad.org/eating-disorders-statistics/