ANOREXIA INFLUENCES IN BOYS AND GIRLS

Anorexia Influences in Boys and Girls



Anorexia Influences in Boys and Girls

Introduction

Anorexia is a growing disorder in our society. Eating disorders affect thousands of people throughout the world. A select group, young female ballet dancers are molded into thinking that the only way to succeed with their dream is to be thin. Exploring causes of eating disorders leads to the young boy or girls' obsession with weight. Why is there such a high incidence of anorexia nervosa in ballet dancers? The causes of anorexia will give an indication of why ballet dancers are at high risk of getting this disease. It will explore what drives them to be thin and why no simple means will end their obsession.

Discussion

Anorexia is triggered by many different events. The first cause of anorexia in a boy or girl is perception of her weight. Anorexics know they are heavier than the rest of the people around them or they feel that they are heftier and they want to do something about it. They feel that the quickest way to lose weight is to not eat at all. They think that if there is no food going into their bodies that eventually the body will use all of the stored energy, fat, and then they will be thin (Garner DM, Olmsted MP, Polivy J. 1983). This is a fallacy. Ironicaly, when a person stops eating, the body goes into starvation mode (meaning that the body believes that the body is starving and will utilizing less energy to operate) losing very small amounts of weight. It conserves food. When the body receives food, it then stores it away until the next time food is obtained. At first this method may seem to work and the subject loses weight, but as the body adjusts to the lack of food, it learns to use the energy it is given stingily (Cusumano DL, Thompson JK.2001).

Dance teachers also pressure their young students to be like their slender heroines. In classes they are told to hold up their stomachs, making them look thin from a side view. Once during class, Kristi, a girl who was interviewed, was told by her dance teacher not to eat before class because it made her look fat. This put her off eating because she went to over seven classes a week, this left no time to eat (Zipfel S, Lowe B, Reas DL, Deter HC, Herzog W.2000). The girls look up to their dance teacher, whom as their mentor has the control to forecast the girls' outcome of eating patterns. If she makes it an important issue, to the girls, to be thin to be a good dancer then the girls are more likely to become anorexic and lose the weight to satisfy their teachers expectations. If the teacher does not pressure the girls to be thin, they have a better chance of not falling into the cycle of anorexia (Garner DM, Olmsted MP, Polivy ...