Anorexia

Anorexia In American society women are given the message starting from a very young age that in order to be successful and happy, they must be thin. Eating disorders are on the rise, it is not surprising given the value which society places on being thin. Television and magazine advertising that show the image of glamorous and thin models are everywhere. Thousands of teenage girls are starving themselves daily in an effort to attain what the fashion industry considers to be the “ideal” figure. An average female model weighs 23% less than the recommended weight for a woman. Maintaining a weight 20% below your expected body weight fits the criteria for the emotional eating disorder known as anorexia (Pirke & Ploog, 1984). According to medical weight standards, most models fit into the category of being anorexic (Garfinkle & Garner, 1990). Physicians now believe that anorexia has existed for at least 300 years (Pirke & Ploog, 1984). It was however only about one hundred years ago that Professor Ernest Lasegue of the University of Paris finally identified anorexia as an illness (Pirke & Ploog, 1984). The term "anorexia nervosa" literally means nervous lose of appetite. anorexia, weight, food, nervosa, eating, body, ploog, pirke, disease, loss, anorexic, 1984, very, patient, fat, even, treatment, themselves, person, over, help, feel, emotional, disorders, changes, anorexics, 1998, years, starvation, patients, others, one, often, life, include, image, garner, garfinkle, family, disorder, control, age, about, 1990, women, woman, way, ugly