The Skinny and Fat of Eating Disorders

The Skinny (and Fat) of Eating Disorders Eating disorders are common in many societies and have been prominent throughout our world’s history. According to professor Merry N. Miller, MD, the professor and interim chair of the department of psychiatry at the James H. Quillen College of medicine at East Tennessee State University, “The history of eating disorders can be traced back to the ancient Greeks and Egyptians” (Pumariega 96). People with eating disorders generally lead miserable, unhealthy lives, but are commonly unable to get themselves out of them without professional help and therapy. Eating disorders are very varied in types; some don’t even have specific names and are put into one obtuse category. These eating disorders are most often caused by multiple factors, ranging from socioeconomic status, genetics, and a psychological obsession with food. However, regardless of types, all eating disorders have negative impacts on the individual, in various aspects such as health implications, social skills, and even intelligence. Out of the various types of eating disorders, three of the most prominent ones are anorexia, binge eating disorder, and obesity. Anorexia, according to Dr. Lee Kaplan, director of the Obesity Research Center at Massachusetts General Hospital, is a disease where people abstain from food by “convinc[ing] their body that they don’t need food” (Kluger, Gorman, Park 1). Most patients who are anorexic are extremely emaciated and malnourished. They also have very warped and unrealistic body images as well as an irrational obsession with food. About three percent of women are diagnosed with this eating disorder every year. Another common disorder is BED. According to writer Naomi Barr, binges are “when you feel out of control while eating a large amount of food” (Barr 5). These compulsive gorging behaviors can be minor to very extreme. They tend to originate because of the inane feeling of comfort that one could experience from food. After

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