On the other hand, a number of studies suggest that families who encourage independence enable their adolescents to develop a clear identity. Individuation and positive self-concept during adolescence can best be achieved by continuous attachment to parents who provide consistent encouragement of autonomy while emphasizing connectedness (Demidenko et al
The second suggests that high levels of eating disorder symptoms are associated with general self-perception of unfriendliness, unkindness, and lack of emotionality. In another study (Garcia, et
The negative effect of anorexia nervosa on patients' long-term physical health is well documented. This condition most commonly affects women during the period of development of peak bone mass and the effects on the skeletal system can be severe and debilitating (Sim et al
Astonishingly, anorexia nervosa is being touted as a "lifestyle choice" by distorted young women. Websites created by girls aged 20 and younger offer tips and advice for how to become a "better anorexic," (Atkins)
Anorexia differs from typical dieting by being obsessive in nature. For example, anorexics might cut out recipes and cook things they refuse to eat, or play with their food (Callahan)
These may begin with simple, common attempts to diet or lose weight. This is one reason why parents may fail to recognize the early signs of an eating disorder: eating disorders often begin at innocent attempts to lose weight (Costin
In 2004-05, 14% of all hospitalisations for mental and behavioural disorders in women aged 12-24 were due to eating disorders and in 2003, according to the Australian government, anorexia nervosa and bulimia accounted for 4, 639 years of healthy life lost due to illness or injury (Eating disorders, 2011, Women's Health). From 2004-2007 there was a reported four-fold increase in admissions for eating disorders in the past three years in hospitals (Clark 2010)
This is something they have worked hard to get and they see is it as an achievement. It makes them special and in control, and is a solution to their problem" (Ford 2003)
The study subjects were "randomly selected from the National Medicare database, with over-sampling from rural and remote areas, [and] responded to a questionnaire seeking dieting and health information…High frequency of dieting (rather than dieting per se) and earlier dieting onset were associated with poorer physical and mental health (including depression), more disordered eating (bingeing and purging), extreme weight and shape dissatisfaction and more frequent general health problems" and one in five women with a BMI below 18.5 (underweight) admitted to going on a diet (Kenardy, Brown & Vogt 2001)
An example of this can be seen in the HBO documentary Real Women Have Curves, which would highlight how various eating disorders are affecting this group. (Alexander, 2010, pg
What has been happening is a large number of Hispanic women have been binge eating, as a way to cope with various sociological and economic issues (such as stress, poverty or racism). (Lind, 2007) At the same time, those women that are upwardly mobile and live a middle class lifestyle or beyond, tend to have more issues from Anorexia and Bulimia, with them embracing some of the ideals of American society (thin)
Polivy and Herman (2004) suggest that media images that depict thin and beautiful women may actually be pleasurable for a women to look at. While most women exposed to the images do not develop eating disorders, one cannot deny the documentation that shows the widespread dissatisfaction with body shape and weight among women and the fact that it is "reinforced and transmitted by a number of social influences" (Tiggemann, Polivy & Hargreaves, 2009) makes the relationship between women and media images very powerful
Gay men also exercised more than heterosexual men to improve attractiveness. These pressures in their specific culture may make gay men more vulnerable to eating disorders" (Fichter & Krenn, 2003, p
They write, "The researchers' hypothesis is that both men and women who have feminine traits will exhibit unhealthy body image and eating habits vs. men and women who have masculine traits will have lower levels of both unhealthy eating and body image" (Meyer, Blissett, and Oldfield, 2001, p
Almost all the people who suffer from an eating disorder have these underlying problems, and gay men are no different. A writer notes, "Besides anorexia and bulimia, eating disorders or body image problems can take the form of intense preoccupation with weight and appearance, purging or obsessive dieting, and changes in social functioning" (Nguyen, 2006, p
Anorexia nervosa has low weight as an essential criterion. Bulimia nervosa has binge eating as a necessary criterion" (Palmer, 2003, p
A group of authors note, "In the poorer long-term prognosis (adult) group there is less certainty about the treatments that work. More care (either in terms of intensity or duration) may be most appropriate" (Treasure, Schmidt, & Furth, 2003, p
Although other factors appear important." (Agras, Hammer, and McNicholas, 1997) Additionally, it is stated that studies that investigated the family environment through use of questionnaire methods "have generally found that eating disordered individuals report their families to be less cohesive, less supportive and more conflicted than those of control groups
The work of Benninghoven, Tetsch, Kunzendorf, and Jantschek (2007) entitled: "Body Image in Patients with Eating Disorders and Their mothers and the role of family functioning" reports a study using a computer program that enabled modeling perceived and desired body images of mothers and daughters with eating disorders." (Benninghoven, Tetsch, Kunzendorf, and Jantschek, 2007) It is reported that patients and their mothers both estimated their own body images and that the mothers in the study "estimated the images they have of their daughters with eating disorders
Parental personality traits were linearly correlated with their daughter's personality and psychopathology, but the correlation differed among EDs." (Fassino, Amianto, and Abbate-Daga, 2009) Fassino, Amianto and Abbate-Daga (2009) conclude by stating that the parents of individuals with eating disorders "displayed personality characteristics that differed from controls and, among ED subgroups, these differences were related to their daughter's personality and psychopathology