Adolescent
girls are at high risk for developing an eating disorder. There
is a normal weight gain occurring during puberty that provides the
energy needed for the body to go through its natural series of changes.
In addition girls have many other pressures from the media, their
parents, their peers, possible sexual trauma, their own perfectionism,
their own depression, lack of self-esteem, etc. Here is some info
on common eating disorders and what you can do to live a healthier
happier life.
Anorexia
nervosa
Bulimia
Compulsive eating
Fear-of-obesity
Obesity
Controling weight
Where to find help
Anorexia
Nervosa
A psychological eating disorder characterized by compulsive dieting
and self-starvation.
Symptoms:
- Food
avoidance
- A
strong fear of fat
- Over-exercising
- Always
feeling fat no matter how thin you get
- Refusal
to maintain at least a minimum health-required body weight
- Obsession
with food
- Over-use
of laxatives
- Lack
of menstrual periods
- Occasional
eating binges followed by self-induced vomiting.
If not
treated...
- 5 to
15% of anorexia cases result in death
- Severe
malnutrition
- Abnormally
low blood pressure
- Irregular
heartbeat
- Decreased
bone density
Treatment:
- See
your physician! If you have this problem no over-the-counter or
home remedy is sufficient. You need someone else's help. Start
with your physician.
- Family
therapy
- Prescription
drugs: Opioid inhibitors such as Naltrexone can be used to break
the addiction to dieting.
Bulimia
An eating disorder, possibly associated with depression, anxiety
disorders, or substance abuse, characterized by binge eating (gorging
oneself) followed by self-induced vomiting and laxative abuse.
Symptoms:
- Gorging
oneself followed by self-induced vomiting
- Enema
and laxative abuse
- Deceptively
normal weight
- Swollen
salivary glands
- Irritated
mouth tissue
- Severe
tooth decay
If left
untreated...
- Ulcers
- Hernia
- Ruptured
esophagus possibly causing death
- Kidney
failure
- Heart
failure
- Cardiac
arrest due to Laxative and
diuretic drug overdose
Treatment:
- See
your physician. Like Anorexia people suffering from bulimia must
get help from others. Psychotherapy, and some prescription drugs
such as anti-depressants and Prozac.
Compulsive
Eating
Eating large amounts of food to combat emotional distress. Do you
eat, then feel guilty, then eat to fill your guilt, then feel more
guilty, etc.? Do you eat to fill your insecurity?
Symptoms:
- Eating
large quantities of food between meals, often in secret, when
you're not particularly hungry, during emotional periods of time, negative
or positive.
If left
untreated compulsive eating can lead to...
- Social
discrimination due to obesity
- Adult
obesity, which increases one's risk for cardiovascular disease,
diabetes, and some cancers.
Treatment:
- Make
an eating plan including well-balanced meals, possibly with the
help of a nutritionist or a group such as weight watchers. Being
in a group of people who share a common problem can give you emotional
strength to overcome your problem.
- Exercise
- Face
the reason you started eating compulsively. People often start
using food to deal with personal problems. (see controlling your
weight)
- Seek
counseling with a professional, or family therapy. A psychologist
may help you get to the root of the problem.
Fear-of-Obesity
An exaggerated fear of becoming fat, causing a person to suffer
from self-induced malnutrition. Fear-of-obesity can lead to an eating
disorder, and interfere with growth and development.
Symptoms:
- Food
avoidance
- Compulsive
dieting: Every time you quickly drop in weight you release large
amounts of toxin into your blood. This is why it is safer to adopt
a healthy lifestyle, loose the weight gradually and keep it off.
However, those who suffer from fear-of-obesity tend to repeat
the cycle of dieting and regaining the weight over and over again.
- Thinking
you look fat even if you're not overweight.
Treatment:
- Nutritional
and behavioral counseling from a nutritionist, psychologist and/or
physician.
Obesity
Being overweight to a degree, which is beyond what the body is structurally
equiped to handle, due to an excessive accumulation of body fat.
Obesity leads to a long list of physical and emotional problems.
The Costs
- Severe
stress on the back, legs, and internal organs.
- Increased
resistance to insulin leading to diabetes
- Increased
vulnerability to infection
Increased
risk of...
- Depression
- Mental
suffering.
- Asthma
- High
blood pressure
- Gall
bladder disease
- Coronary
artery disease
- Diabetes
- Kidney
disease
- Liver
damage
- Infertility
- Stroke
- Pregnancy
complications
- Cancer
- Death
Why should
a teen be concerned?
- 1 out
of every 4 teens carry enough excess weight to put them at high
risk for heart attack. Stroke, colon cancer, gout and other health
problems later in life, regardless of whether the individual loses
the weight as an adult.
- Teens who are overweight have a 75% chance
of being overweight as an adult.
- 1 third of Americans are at least 20% overweight.
- 25 to 50% of adult Americans are on some
sort of diet at any given time.
- Americans spend more than $30 billion each
year on diet aids and remedies.
- STILL Americans today are more overweight
and stressed out and no more likely to exercise than we were ten
years ago.
|
|
