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Pamela Anderson is five feet seven inches and weighs 120 pounds. Our society has called her the American “Ideal,” yet she is 11% below her ideal body weight. Marilyn Monroe set the ideal a generation ago weighing 135 and only reaching a height of five feet five inches. This change shows that the media has made a dramatic impact on a serious disease that is sweeping America – Anorexia Nervosa, the relentless pursuit of thinness, is a disorder that affects an estimated 5 million Americans every year. The definition of a victim of anorexia is someone that weighs 85% or less than what is expected for their age and height. It is a disorder that involves restrictive dieting, compulsive exercise, and laxative abuse. “Although classic sufferers are fifteen percent or more below the norm, they do not realize that they have a serious problem, in fact, they often think that they are overweight. The are obsessed with food and it dominates their lives.” (http://www.geocities.com/Colosseum/Arena/1805/diet.html) The disorder may begin with an individual who just wants to lose a couple pounds. Once they realize they have control over their eating habits, losing five or ten pounds just isn’t enough anymore. They have now sparked the disease progression and are on the road to excessive weight loss.. Conservative estimates suggest that one percent of females in the U.S. develop anorexia. Because more than 90 percent of all those who are affected are adolescent and young women, the disorder can be characterized as primarily a women's illness. The name literally means "nervous loss of appetite" but is a misnomer. People with Anorexia are, in fact, suppressing a constant strong desire to eat, for fear of becoming fat. Sufferers fear that their appetites, if given into, will become out of control, that they will not feel satisfied by a normal meal, and will be unable to stop eating. Although typically sufferers are 15% or more below normal body weight, they do not recognise that they have a serious problem, often feel physically quite well, and are convinced that they are in fact overweight. Despite their avoidance of eating at all costs, they are often obsessed with food and its calorie content, and this dominates their lives. Anorexia nervosa is a serious, potentially life-threatening eating disorder characterized by self-starvation and excessive weight loss Introduction
Types: There are a few types of anorexia that control the lives of the one percent of Americans who possess the sickness. One is a Bulimia Nervosa, a diet-binge-purge disorder. The victim will vomit after eating excessive, or even sensible amounts of food to maintain their figure. Another is called binge eating disorder; the sufferer will eat compulsively until they feel guilty and start their fasting period thereafter. Anorexia athletica also involves undertaking in compulsive acts, except this disorder deals with excessive exercising. These individuals are fanatic about working out and usually end up spending all their time in physical training. One fascinating type of anorexia is called orthorexia nervosa, which is know as a pathological fixation on eating “proper” or organic foods. These people feel superior to those who eat unhealthy, sugary or greasy cuisine. All of these types deal with the restriction of food and the refusal to maintain normal body weight Binge
Eating
Causes: Eating disorders are complex diseases that don’t always point to one exact cause. What is known as the "Barbie doll syndrome" is just another name for anorexia; people starving themselves so that their bodies will match their fashion role models. Most people who are anorexic tend to have low self-esteem and are swayed easily. They see the media’s idea of body image: that thinness is attractiveness, and want to maintain that. Most have impaired body images, and want to have control over their impression on others, and they think that keeping the power over their weight can help them get over the underlying issues, such as family problems, work difficulties, or identity concerns. It is important to look at all sides relating to the causes of anorexia: not just the psychological rationale, but the genetic and sociological. Many researchers believe that there is an inherited inclination that links anorexia to neurochemistry. They have found that the hormones serotin and neuropinephrine are considerably decreased in ailing clients of bulimia. Eating disorders also tend to run in families, and genetic aspects may go along with biochemical functions, or parental body image. Environmental circumstances can also reinforce the practice of anorexia. Stressors that lead to anorexia can steal time from work school, and relationships. These people under high stress may be influenced by the advertised message that to be happy and successful, one must be thin. This and peer pressure are the root reasons that anorexia is swayed by sociological motives. Many times anorexia is just a result of having no other way of expressing depression. This is supported by the fact that certain antidepressants can be used to treat people with anorexia nervosa.
Warning signs: The warning signs of anorexia nervosa all revolve around the intense fear of gaining weight. Loss of menstrual periods in women, brittle hair and nails, development of fine hair on body, and the feeling of hypothermia are all physical danger signs. Most all anorexics will deny any sort of change in eating habits, and continue avoidance of any high-calorie foods. They may enjoy fixing meals for others, but refuse to consume the food themselves. Many times they will develop odd habits such as cutting their food into small pieces, sneaking their food, constant weighing, and exact calorie counting. Anorexia Nervosa patients are pre-occupied with food. They may collect and read books and magazine articles relating to food, dieting and body weight. Often they take over cooking for the family. They have a better knowledge of nutrition than the general public. The most important symptom to remember is extreme concern with body weight and shape.
Physical Effects: The physical consequences of these indicators can include breathing discomfort, dizziness, intestinal infection, kidney damage, gastritis ulcers, abnormal metabolism, bowel tumors, and neuromuscular problems, for example, muscle spasms and cardiac arrest. Also the low amount of potassium in Anorexic’s bodies results in weakness and tingling in the hands and feet. Amenorrhea is the absence of at least three menstrual cycles -- this is also affected by the loss of fat stores in the body. Yet, the effects are not limited to women.
Men: Though only five to ten percent of people with anorexia are male, they too are inflicted with society’s pressures to be thin, and model-like. Men are assumed to have their food consumption under control, while women are known for dieting and using weight-loss plans and pills. This myth leaves million of men without support. This anxiety can also tangle with sexuality; men can lose sexual impulses because starvation lowers testosterone levels, which then lowers sexual drive.
Children: Because one out of every four television commercials sends out some sort of message about the value of beauty, children are also becoming prey of the media. In 1970 the average girl started dieting at age 14, but by 1990 the average age was eight. According to http://www.raderprograms.com/media.htm, one half of fourth grade girls are on a diet. 81% of ten-year-old girls are afraid of being fat, and 51% of nine and ten-year-old girls stated they felt better about themselves when they were adhering to a diet. While only one out of ten high school girls are overweight, one out of ten high school juniors and seniors diet. These statistics are sad but true. Most blame the media for these figures, and they aren’t too far off - Diet and diet related products are a 33 billion dollar a year industry. The disease in itself is not contagious, of course; it may be spread through society and the media. Anorexia
in the Elderly
Media: 
Today you cannot read a magazine or a newspaper, turn on the TV, listen to the radio, or shop at the mall without being attacked by the point that fat is bad. “In one survey in Psychology Today, 15 per cent of women said they would sacrifice more than five years of their life to reach their desired body size.”(askjeeves.com) These women’s dilemma is that they think that the community’s model image is achievable and real. Until women are confronted with their own mirror images, they will continue to measure themselves against an inhuman ideal. Media
Blamed
Treatment/Help: Anorexia is very difficult to treat
because the patient denies the problem and is powerless to correctly perceive
her body. “Treatment first must focus on helping her gain enough weight
to make it out of the danger zone. Therapy cannot begin until the anorexia
patient is brought back from starvation because thought processes and attention
are impaired by malnutrition. Once the anorexia patient has begun to gain
weight, cognitive-behavioral techniques are the treatment of choice. The
behavioral component to the therapy entails using reinforcement to reward
the patient’s compliance with the prescribed diet.” (http://www.selfhelpforher.com/health18.htm)
Treatment
Statistics: If today's mannequins were actual human women, based on their theoretical body-fat percentages they would have probably ceased to menstruate. The average U.S. woman is 5'4" and weighs 140 pounds. In contrast, the average U.S. model is 5'11" and weighs 117 pounds. Over the last three decades fashion models, Miss America contestants, and Playboy centerfolds have grown steadily thinner, while the average woman's weight has actually risen. Some of the pictures of the models in magazines do not really exist. The pictures are computer-modified compilations of different body parts. A study found that 25% of Playboy centerfolds met the weight criteria for Anorexia. Twenty years ago the average fashion model weighed 8% less than the average woman. Today she weighs 23% less. Kate Moss is 5'7" and weights 95 pounds.
That is 30% below her ideal body weight.
Gisele Bundchen was Vogue's model of the year, in part the magazine states, because she strays from the rail-thin image. Gisele is 5'11" and weighs only 115, that is 25% below her ideal body weight. Television and Movies Following the introduction of Western television in Fiji, there was a surge in the rate of eating disorders. One out of every four television commercials sends out some sort of message about attractiveness. 80% of women who answered a People magazine survey responded that images of women on television and in the movies make them feel insecure. Julia Roberts and Cameron Diaz and singer Diana Ross all meet the Body Mass Index physical criteria for Anorexia.
Conlusion: So help is out there. Changing society’s view cannot happen overnight, but in order for women to accept themselves, society must first accept them. Therefore, media should not focus on the basis that thin means beautiful. Maybe the first step would be educating actresses such as Elizabeth Hurley, who stated in Allure Magazine, ”I’ve always thought Marilyn Monroe looked fabulous, but I’d kill myself if I was that fat.” Starvation
and Fear
Sources: http://www.wellnessweb.com/masterindex/eating/aboutanorexia.htm http://www.albany.edu/projren/1998_99/student_projects/mackey/reality/papers/
http://askjeeves.com/main/followup.asp?qcat=hlth&ask=anorexia+media
http://websearch.cs.com/cs/results/cssearch-frameset.adp?type=I&first
http://www.span.com.au/anorexia/info.html http://home.swipnet.se/~w-42576/eng/backgrounds/ http://www.nami.org/helpline/anorexia.htm
Sera Sousley
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