the growing number of teenage girls being stricken with eating disorders today
An eating disorder is defined as a preoccupation with dieting and thinness leading to excessive weight loss. Ten years ago, the number of teenagers who suffered from eating disorders was less than 500,000. Today, there are more than three million teenage girls, in the U.S. alone, being stricken with diseases such as anorexia and bulimia. The alarming fact is that more than 15% of these girls will die. There are a number of different causes behind the developement of eating disorders. The stress put on young girls by the opposite sex and the fact that young girls face constant exposure to the “be thin” message from television, movies, fashion magazines, and the diet industry. Yet, the number one factor that runs through more than 95% of eating disorder victims is the issue of mental illness.Day in and day out, young girls deal with so much pressure from the opposite sex. In a poll taken in 1997, 80% of five thousand men claimed they perceive the perfect woman to be
They do not see the frail, thin person that the rest of us see when they look in the mirror. Sometime, the harmless words of an adolescent boy can lead a girl with low self-esteem to a dangerous eating disorder. Not too long ago, Marilyn Monroe was the absolute icon of beauty. “The pressure to be thin is greater than ever and young girls are being bombarded with images from the media and a culture obsessed with youth, beauty, and thinness. ” Twenty years ago, models weighed 8% less than the average woman; today, models weigh 23% less than the average woman. Their parents have authority over almost everything they do. We also must remember that it is an illness and it will not just go away in time. 1st edition: Rosen Publishing, 1999. Their weight is one of the only things that they can control. The Eating Disorder Sourcebook: A comprehensive guide to the causes, treatments, and prevention of eating disorders. ” (Crosby, 2)Research shows that an issue of mental illness is one outstanding theme that runs through every person with an eating disorder. ” (Crosby, 3)Works Cited1.
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