Eating Disorders: A Discussion

Two American girls from two small American towns are living two completely different lives. One is morbidly obese and cannot stop eating. The other is anorexic and must force herself to eat. Both are teenagers, and both are struggling with what they believe a normal person should look like; and, in today's society, who can blame them. Weight has moved into the limelight as more people become aware of the health hazards associated not only with eating too much, but eating too little. With so much information about the topic circulating, it can become very confusing to figure out what is healthy and what is not. Whether rail thin or morbidly obese the issue of weight needs to focus not on what is "normal" but on what is healthy.

Today, Laurie is 16 years old, a junior in High School and a size 3. Two years ago she was a size double zero. Three years prior to that, she was morbidly obese. Laurie is battling anorexia. That type of history is not unusual for one recovering from Anorexia. When she was an impressionable pre-teen Laurie was demonstrably overweight and accordingly, was the brunt of hurtful comments by her peers. One day she just decided to lose weight because she was tired of everybody only seeing her as fat. And lose weight she did. She started by eliminating all fat from her diet and became obsessed with doing sit-ups. Eventually, her parents made her stop the sit-ups because they worried that she was getting too thin. She dropped from a size 14 to a size 5 in four months. Her parents convinced her to see a therapist who concluded she suffered from Obsessive Compulsive Disorder; and, that otherwise Laurie was normal. In the next six months, Laurie dropped from a size 5 to a size 0. A week later she was a size double 0. This time her school intervened and she was sent to a different therapist who concluded Laurie was Anorexic. Still, she would not believe it until a medical doctor was called in and ran tests on her, showing her that there was something very wrong with what she was doing to her body. Laurie suffered from Anorexia Nervosa (Eating). Ohio State University says that Anorexia Nervosa is self induced starvation with at least 15 percent of body weight lost (Ohio State University). According to The Mayo Clinic, "When you have anorexia, you often equate your self-worth with how thin you are" (Mayo Clinic). Laurie was doing exactly that when she began to lose weight. She was not losing the weight because she wished to be healthy. She was losing the weight to fit in because she wanted to be "pretty". This focus on trying to be "pretty" rather than healthy nearly cost Laurie her life. The most disturbing part about this whole story is that this is not an extreme case. This is a typical story of a child who suffers from Anorexia. They lose the weight because they want to be pretty, want a certain boy to like them, or wish to perform better at a certain activity such as dance, gymnastics, or distance running. The pressures of being "pretty" in today's society can cause some girls to go too far, afflicting themselves with Anorexia Nervosa, instead of attempting to be healthy in body and mind.

Anorexia Nervosa is not the only problem that people are facing today when it comes to the great weight debate. A young girl from Rochester, New York, I'll call her Nancy, anonymously submitted her story to a support site. Nancy's weight problems exacerbated when she was 12 years old. Now, at 17 years old Nancy is a high school drop out weighing 440 pounds. The years of suffering through thoughtless and sometimes brutal comments about her weight broke her. She has been diagnosed with depression, anxiety, and agoraphobia. Reading Nancy's story is heartbreaking, as she is constantly talking about how much she hates her body. She feels hopeless, even saying, "I joined a gym, but I don't know what good that's going to do" (American Obesity Association). Nancy is not alone. Currently in the United States of America, 58 million people are overweight, 40 million are obese, and 3 million are morbidly obese (Collins). The most disturbing part about Nancy's story, though, is not that she is hopeless, or overweight, but her motives for wanting to be skinny. She said in her story that she wants to lose weight so that she can, "buy sexy clothing....like short shorts and bikinis" (American Obesity Association). Nowhere in her whole entire story does Nancy say that she would like to lose weight to be healthy. Currently, 78% of America's population is not meeting basic activity standards, with 25% completely sedentary (Collins). Nobody seems to care about this, though. What they care about is being attractive, or "fitting in" or just being "normal". Not enough attention is being paid to what is healthy, even though there has been a 76% increase in Type II diabetes in adults 30-40 years old since 1990 (Collins). There is so much media buzz about what is normal, and what a person should look like that there is no attention being paid to what is healthy. The dangers of this type of thinking are already making themselves known. More attention needs to be focused on what is healthy, not what is normal.

Ask a random person what is a healthy BMI? What is the recommended amount of daily exercise or what does a healthy diet consist of? The answer will most likely be a blank stare. One prominent reason is that our country's focus is not on what is healthy, but on what is normal, or what is "pretty". USA Today recently reported that, "that those few extra pounds actually have a protective effect against some diseases" (Whitfield). In 2007, the American Medical Association determined that physical activity levels, regardless of weight, are more of a determinant regarding morbidity (Leitzmann, 167: 2453 - 2460). A healthy diet is based on several factors, including genetic make-up and amount of physical activity. The Mayo Clinic's suggestion for a healthy diet is 45% - 65% carbohydrates, 10% - 35% be protein, 20% - 35% be fat, less than 300 milligrams of cholesterol, between 21 and 38 grams of fiber, and 1500 to 2400 milligrams of sodium. All of these are based on a 2,000 calorie diet (Mayo Clinic). Maintaining a diet such as this, in conjunction with thirty minutes of daily physical activity can help lead to not only a healthier life, but a happier life. Take, for example, Mary Ray Worley, in her article entitled "Fat and Happy: In Defense of Fat Acceptance". She came to terms with her weight, and began to implement a healthier eating style as well as physical activity. She went on to say that, "I discovered to my delight that the more physically competent I became, the better I felt about my body" (Worley, 362-367). She was not obsessing over being pretty, or normal. She began obsessing over being healthy, and happiness followed suit. Focusing on a healthy diet as well as exercise will make you happier than being "pretty" or normal ever could.

In America today, there is a problem with weight. From the morbidly obese to the Anorexic, people are attempting to cope with it the best they can. Unfortunately, this is adding more to the problem; and, it will continue to do so until people began to realize that it is not being pretty or normal that is important. Anorexia Nervosa is dangerous and psychologically damaging. Likewise, the health risks of being morbidly obese are catastrophic compared to a physically active person whose eating habits compare favorably with the Mayo Clinic's suggested dietary allocation described above. The focus needs to return to being Healthy. Whether rail thin or morbidly obese the issue of weight needs to focus not on what is "normal" but on what is healthy. If one's diet, coupled with any amount of daily exercise, is modeled on eating the right types of recommended food groups in the right percentages then Americans may not be prettier, or fit in better, but they will be healthier and happier.

WORKS CITED

American Obesity Association. "My Story: Story #6". 2 May 2005. 22 November 2008. http://obesity1.tempdomainname.com/subs/story/entirestory.shtml>.

Collins, Anne. "Obesity Statistics". 2000-2007. 26 November 2008. http://www.annecollins.com/obesity/statistics-obesity.htm>.

Eating Disorders, UC Davis. "Laurie: My Story-My Struggle". 22 November 2008. http://www.eating.ucdavis.edu/speaking/told/anorexia/a42laurie.html>.

Leitzmann, M.F. et al. "Physical Activity Recommendations and Decreased Risk of Mortality". 167: 2453 - 2460. Archives of Internal Medicine. 24 December 2007. 22 November 2008. http://archinte.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/abstract/167/22/2453?maxtoshow=&HITS=10&hits=10&RESULTFORMAT=1&andorexacttitle=and&andorexacttitleabs=and&fulltext=physical+activity&andorexactfulltext=and&searchid=1&FIRSTINDEX=0&sortspec=relevance&resourcetype=HWCIT>

Mayo Clinic. "Anorexia Nervosa". 20 December 2007. 22 November 2008. http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/anorexia/DS00606>.

Mayo Clinic. "Healthy Diet: Do You Know What to Eat?". 16 February 2007. 22 November 2008. < http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/healthy-diet/NU00200>.

Ohio State University. "Eating Disorders: Glossary". 22 November 2008. http://ehe.osu.edu/cs/bitf/eatgloss.htm>.

Whitefield, Trice. "The Weight Debate". USA Today. 28 May 2008. 22 November 2008. http://blogs.usatoday.com/oped/2008/05/the-weight-deba.html>.

Worley, Mary Ray. Fat and happy: In Defense of Fat Acceptance. Reading and Writing Across the Curriculum. Ed. Laurence Behrens and Leonard J. Rosen. New York: Pearson Longman 2007. 362 - 367.