Eating disorders in teenage girls and young women

Authors Avatar

Eating disorders in teenage girls and young women

I don’t think that there is enough help in the world for the huge amounts of teenage girls and young women who are trying to overcome Anorexia Nervosa and Bulimia Nervosa. There are many people in the world who are oblivious to the differences between Anorexia and Bulimia. People with Anorexia starve themselves, avoid high calorie foods, and exercise constantly. People with Bulimia eat huge amounts of food, but they throw up soon after eating, or take laxatives or diuretics (water pills) to keep from gaining weight. People with Bulimia don’t usually lose as much weight as those suffering from Anorexia. These illnesses mainly affect adolescent girls and young women but do occasionally affect older married women. Only one patient in 15 is male.

Eating disorders are becoming increasingly common. They are distressing for the sufferer’s family and friends because they cannot understand her self-image regarding the need for food (in Anorexia sufferer’s) and the need to be sick after eating (in the case of a Bulimia sufferer.) The sufferer has convinced herself that she is too fat and that she HAS to lose weight. The sufferer is unlikely to listen to advice from family or friends about the need for help so they should be prepared to seek medical help on the patient’s behalf. Treatment is difficult because people with eating disorders believe that there is nothing wrong with them. Patients in the early stages of anorexia or bulimia (less than 5 months or with just a small amount of weight loss) may be successfully treated without having to be admitted to hospital. But for successful treatment patients must be willing to change and have family and friends to help them. People with more serious anorexia or bulimia need care in hospital, usually in a special unit for people with an eating disorder. Treatment involves more than changing the person’s eating habits. Anorexic and bulimic patients often need counselling for a year or more so they can work on the feelings that are causing their eating problems. These problems may be about their weight, their family problems or their problems with self-esteem. Treatment is essential and although most cases recover, occasional fatalities do occur.

Join now!

Being a teenager myself, I can see why teenagers develop an eating disorder. In fact, I feel that in some ways teenage girls can be pushed into it.

Everywhere you go, you see famous people like J-Lo, Britney Spears, Kylie Minogue, Naomi Campbell and Kate Moss. Teenage girls idolise these people and feel a need to be like them.

Magazines are a big part of the problem. If you look at a typical teenage magazine such as J17, Bliss, Sugar, Cosmo girl, Cosmopolitan, Glamour Magazine or Vogue, they are filled with “what to wear,” which is fine if you ...

This is a preview of the whole essay