Question

Discuss two eating’disorders as major concerns of adolescence.

Answer 1

In adolescence different types of eating disorders are frequently observed. The most common eating disorders observed among adolescents are – anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa.

(i) Anorexia Nervosa: The term anorexia nervosa literally means lack of appetite induced by nervousness. However, the root cause anorexia nervosa is an intense fear of gaining weight or becoming fat, combined with a refusal to maintain even minimally low body weight.

Criteria for anorexia nervosa (DSM-IV-TR):
(1) Refusal to maintain a body weight that is normal for a person’s age and height (that is a reduction of body weight to about 85% of what would normally be expected).

(2) Intense fear of gaining weight or becoming fat even though underweight.

(3) Distorted perception of body shape and size. This is known as body image distortion. It has been observed that this disorder is more common among female adolescents than male. The reason is girls have a greater societal pressure, influence of mass media to look attractive. They try to conform to an ideal body type, which is lean and thin like a fashion model.

(ii) Bulimia Nervosa: The word ‘Bulimia’ comes from the greek word ‘bous’ ( meaning ox) and ‘lumos’ (meaning hunger). It is meant to denote hunger of such proportion that the person can eat an ox.

Criteria for Bulimia nervosa (DSM-IV-TR):
(1) Recurrent episodes of binge-eating, i.e., uncontrolled and rapid intake of food.

(2) Recurrent and inappropriate efforts to compensate for the efforts of binge-eating to prevent weight gain.

(3) Typical strategies include- self-induced vomiting or misuse of laxatives, purging (cleansing the body from within).

(4) Self-evaluation is excessively influenced by weight and body shape. This disorder is associated with a lack of self-control to resist eating excessive amounts of food. This excessive food intake generally takes place during feelings of negative emotions like sadness, anxiety, anger.

Causes of eating disorder :
(1) Peer and media influences: There is an ideal body shape for women set by models in various magazines. Young adolescents are avis customers of such magazines.

(2) Body dissatisfaction: One consequence of socio-cultural pressure to be thin is that some young girls develop a highly intrusive and pervasive perception regarding how ‘fat’ they are.

(3) Dieting: When people wish to be thinner, they go on a diet. But there is a difference between going on a supervised diet that is monitored by a therapist and going on a self- started diet that might be characterized by periods of fasting and over-eating.

(4) Genetics: Certain people may have genes that increase their risk of developing eating disorders. Biological factors, such as changes in brain chemicals, may play a role in eating disorders.

(5) Psychological health: People with eating disorders may have psychological and emotional problems that contribute to the disorder. They may have low self-esteem, perfectionism and troubled relationships.

Eating disorders can be treated through family therapy for adolescents or cognitive behaviour therapy which involves changing the behaviours and maladaptive styles of thinking.