Eating Disorders: Introduction
Eating dDisorders are a rising concern as more than five million Americans have them in this age of pursuit of the perfect body. They are considered mental disorders, but the abnormal eating patterns and relationship to food make them an important section in body size and weight management. Eating disorders have been around for centuries and have appeared in the medical literature over time and were described in the 1800’s by English and French doctors.
Eating disorders are prominently thought of as being found in young teen-age women. However, they are becoming more common in males, children as young as age nine, and middle-aged women. The United States population is becoming more and more obsessed with meeting the “perfect” body ideal. Eating disorders are defined as a group of behaviors related to emotional conflict that has symptoms of altered food intake and can include both the starvation of anorexia to the uncontrollable food intake and weight gain of binge eating. Chronic dieting syndrome is a term that refers to lifestyle controlled by a constant concern about food intake, body shape, or weight that affects a person’s physical and mental wellness. These dieters continually try to restrict food intake, but overall body weight can stay the same or get higher. Be aware that only a small percentage of the millions of people on a “diet” develop true eating disorders, although many people can have several signs or symptoms of them. The potential risk of developing them is present in a lot of young people. In a sample of 16,000 teenagers, fifty-eight percent of the girls and twenty-five percent of the boys were dieting. In young males, besides possible times of weight-loss concern, eating disorders can take the shape of trying to gain weight or increase muscle mass. These dieters often eat excess protein or high fat foods or use questionable supplements like protein powders.