society's messageAccording to multiple researchers, social attitude is a likely cause of eating disorders. Magazines advertise using beautiful, stick-thin models. Actors and actresses in movies and television shows are often extremely skinny. Famous athletes have little body fat and are seen as healthy. Advertisements guarantee extreme weight loss through unhealthy dieting. Young children play with dolls and action figures that are impossibly thin. These messages all contribute to the false idea that thinness is vital to success and happiness. Family and friends may also reiterate the unhealthy ideas. They will often criticize or bully overweight and obese people. They may also criticize their own body shape and weight or speak constantly of dieting and weight loss. Sports coaches sometimes encourage competitors to lose weight in order to be "more successful" in the sport. These potentially dangerous messages can all contribute to eating disorders and eating disorder-like behaviors.
Personal and Family factorsBulimia nervosa has been linked to physical and sexual child abuse. One out of every two young women with bulimia has been abused, yet the cause of an eating disorder isn’t always as serious as abuse. People with troubled families are also at risk. Studies have shown that parents of anorexics and bulimics are often overprotective, strict, and have high standards. This teaches children that they must always cooperate and strive for perfection, but some people take this too far. Many people with anorexia are perfectionists. They obsess over doing the "right" thing or behaving a certain way all the time. Anorexics sometimes try to punish themselves for eating by excessive exercise or forced vomiting. They have a strong need to make themselves perfect and in their mind "right" because of their perfectionist attitude.
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anti-obesity campaignsScientists, doctors, politicians, and educators agree that obesity and excessive weight are an apparent public health issue that needs to be resolved. Messages in social media advertise that people need to take action to ovoid obesity and lessen their calorie intake. Researchers worry that the constant reminder to not be overweight is driving many teens to develop eating disorders. Extreme dieting can lead to anorexia and the craving of weight loss sometimes results in bulimia. The harmful messages can also cause teens to hate their bodies and think they are overweight. Some teens may binge eat to deal with their self-destructive thoughts. Some clinicians and researchers believe that weight-loss programs are destructive in themselves. A study was done in which obese adults were put on a low-calorie diet. After the dieting portion had concluded, 30 percent of the adults developed binge eating disorders.
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This Yoplait commercial was taken off the air after the National Eating Disorder Association said it promoted eating disorders.