By Sarah Kirsh
There are currently around 20 million women and 10 million men in the United States that suffer from clinically diagnosed eating disorders. These disorders include Anorexia Nervosa, Bulimia Nervosa, Binge Eating Disorder, and a range of Other Specified Feeding or Eating Disorders (OSFED). There are millions more that suffer from undiagnosed eating disorders or a form of “disordered eating.” Disordered eating is any irregular eating that is mentally unhealthy but may not fit the typical description of other eating disorders. Each of these conditions severely negatively impacts the lives of those diagnosed. These numbers then beg the question: what are the social determinants of eating disorders?
Aside from biological factors, there are several social determinants of eating disorders. Mental Health America includes pressures to be thin from family and friends, cultural standards of physical features and attractiveness, over-controlling parents, and sexual abuse experienced in this list. Another large factor in eating disorders and disordered eating is the long-term “diet culture” in America. This culture places a large emphasis on restricting high caloric or high carbohydrate foods while decreasing caloric intake as much as possible. According to diet culture, this is the only to create the highly desired calorie deficit to lose weight and fat. When combined with the highly social media-obsessed and high beauty standard world, a positive feedback loop is created between the following of new diet culture trends and the constantly changing ideal body. HealthLinkBC as well mentions while there is an emphasis on thinness and the ideal body, such social and cultural practices more often create eating disorders when thinness is linked to success. One common example of this setting is high-intensity or higher level sports which require extreme thinness. This theme as well connects to the determinants set forth by Mental Health America. If parents are over-controlling or place too much pressure on children, they often strive for perfection and success in every sense, including the perfect body.
Around the globe, further studies have been conducted to search for these social factors and determinants. One study by Libreros and Romo evaluated familial, psychological, social, and even political factors that play into eating disorders in Mexico. Libreros and Romo generally agree with the conditions that set up an eating disorder in America. There is an initial feeling of unhappiness and misperception of their body which is commonly distorted by the remarks or pressures of family and friends or social media. The person then changes their diet, often to follow diet culture, and is prone to eventually develop an eating disorder. In terms of politics, the study found that a lack of regulation of the Mexican market may lead to eating disorders based on the mislabeling of “miracle products.” Another study by Costa et al examined the social determinants of eating disorders in Portuguese adolescents. The researchers found further support to link body dissatisfaction and a desire for thinness to eating disorders. More interestingly, the study found that parent’s education and socioeconomic status impact eating disorder symptoms differently between genders. In females, higher parental education and socioeconomic status increased eating disorder symptoms. On the other hand, for males, lower parental education and socioeconomic status increased the prevalence eating disorder symptoms.
Nonetheless, the basic story is this: social media and social or familial life create unnecessary pressures for youth and young adults to obtain a perfect, thin body. These pressures lead to dissatisfaction in one's body and potentially entire life. This leads young men and women into dieting and unhealthy relationships with food which can lead to disordered eating or a clinically diagnosed eating disorder. But how do we stop this cycle without changing society itself? It starts with the way that you interact with friends and family. Try to remove judgment when it comes to eating or meals or size. Remove any pressures or assumptions that the perfect body or thinness automatically leads to happiness or success. This dissociation is key to accepting every eating habit, every emotion, and everybody.
Sources:
Comments