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Eating Disorder Problems And Prevention

There is a research shows that eating disorders can have a serious impact on various life domains of those inflicted and may lead to physical, mental and social impairment (S.M. de la Rie, G. Noordenbos & E.F. van Furth, 2005). There are three primary eating disorders: Anorexia Nervosa, Bulimia Nervosa, and Binge Eating Disorder. Each disorder is characterized by a distinctive pattern of disordered and harmful eating behavior.

It is seemly admitted that people suffering from eating disorders are influenced by social culture. In modern westernized countries, models, the media and dieting fads currently lead women and girls to think that the people portrayed in television, movies, and magazines are of normal weight and body shape, and being thin can make them popular, successful and happy. So, they gradually tend to be perfectionists who suffer from low self-esteem and are extremely critical of themselves and their bodies as overweight. As professors L. Nevonen and A. G. Broberg said, “Young females of today are, however, caught in a paradox. If they let normal development have its course, they will be unsatisfied, because they will not reach the ideal of thinness which is present in our society. If they on the other hand struggle to attain the ideal of thinness through dieting, eating disorders, with starvation symptoms or bingeing and purging, may very well be the result”.
However, I still hold my opinion that families play a much more important role than social culture in creating and maintaining eating disorders. It is said that parents are the best teachers for their children and creating a good family environment is benefit for cultivating them a good habit from their childhood. Recent researches find a strong relationship between family environment and the causes of eating disorders. Professors Hodges, Cochrane, and Brewerton, from Medical University of South Carolina, state in their research that the levels of conflictual interactions and expressions of...