Eating Disorders In Today's Society

Have you ever looked at a magazine and wished you looked like that guy or girl? "Ages 15-24 have an eating disorder; 28% in grade nine and 40% in grade 10." (Canadian Mental Health Association) It seems this generation is influenced by the media to be thin and beautiful, We want to look like famous supermodels because that’s what the media tells us. When you ask people what they think is beautiful, they said, "tall, thin, and long hair.” Being thin is becoming an obsession with teenage girls, it’s a competition for who can lose the most weight and achieve overall beauty. Therefore, eating disorders are becoming a serious issue in Canada that needs to be noticed and we need to teach people more about this issue.
In today's generation with social media, being perfect is what girls see, and think they have to look exactly like the girls in magazines. With photo shopping and altering images, it makes being true to yourself difficult, because we are all
150,000-600,000 young women and men across Canada have some sort of an eating disorder. (Eating Disorder 2012) Eating disorders are explained by, "A person being obsessed on body shape, weight, and fat" (Eating Disorder 2012). Three most common eating disorders are Anorexia Nervosa, Bulimia Nervosa, and Binge eating. Anorexia nervosa, is when a person refuses to maintain normal body weight for age, weight, and height.(What Are Eating Disorders) Bulimia Nervosa, is when a person uses binge eating, vomiting, exercise and fasting to get rid of calories. (What Are Eating Disorders) Binge eating is when someone frequently consume an unusually large amount of food and feel unable to stop. (What Are Eating Disorders) Eating disorders can go unnoticed for a significant amount of time, and often, if recognized, denial usually follows, leaving the disorder still