Eating Disorders - Causes

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• Minimum body mass index (BMI)
• Extreme concern over mistakes
• Age when a girl first starts to menstruate
• Food-related obsessions
• “Obsessionality” (a form of perfectionism)
• Anxiety

The researchers found that minimum BMI, concern over mistakes, age at first menstruation, and food-related obsessions were mostly associated with bulimia. Obsessionality and anxiety were mostly associated with anorexia. These differences indicate that different genes may be responsible for bulimia and anorexia.

Cultural Pressures

The approach to food in Western countries is extremely problematic. Enough food is produced in the U.S. to supply 3,800 calories every day to each man, woman, and child, far more than any single person needs to sustain life. Obesity is a global epidemic, and few people living in this over-fed and sedentary culture eat a meal guiltlessly.

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One interesting anthropologic study reported the following observations:

• During historical periods or in cultures where women are financially dependent and marital ties are stronger, the standard is toward being curvaceous, possibly reflecting a cultural or economic need for greater reproduction.
• During periods or in cultures where female independence has been possible, the standard of female attractiveness tends toward thinness.

Whether or not the current Western cultural pressure is for fewer children, the response of the media to both the cultural drive for thinness and overproduction of food play major roles in triggering obesity and eating disorders.

• On the one hand, advertisers heavily market weight-reduction programs and present anorexic young models as the paradigm of sexual desirability. Clothes are designed and displayed for thin bodies in spite of the fact that few women could wear them successfully.
• One study reported that teenage boys and girls who made strong efforts to look like celebrities of the same sex were more likely to be constant dieters.
• On the other hand, the media floods the public with attractive ads for consuming foods, especially "junk" foods.