Anorexia Nervosa is an eating disorder in which a person refuses to maintain a healthy weight for his or her age and height. It is a self-imposed starvation resulting from a distorted body image. According to The Journal of American Medical Association, individuals with the disease typically lose 25% or more of his or her original body weight. There is also evidence that anorexia nervosa runs in families and can be inherited.
The exact cause of anorexia nervosa is unknown. It is believed to be a result of psychological, biological, and social stress. It may also be related to sexual development during adolescence. Some experts believe that anorexia nervosa is a response to social attitudes that equate beauty with being thin.
Even though the vast majority of doctors and health care professionals in the United States and around the world are well aware of the dangers of anorexia nervosa and its outcomes, few know how to stop the disease. Many in the health care community conclude that besides social pressures contributing to the ongoing problem, there are several other reasons the disease has increased 36% every five years since the 1950's.
Besides the obvious social pressures brought on by the media, there are many other factors that have significantly contributed to the rise of anorexia nervosa cases. Because we live in a media-motivated society we constantly focus on the illustration of body image as it is placed in front of us. The majority of adolescents look at size 2 as normal, when in fact the average adolescent is a size 10. (There is a study, which shows that young girls are more frightened of being fat than they are of nuclear holocaust or their parents dying!)
Many of the problems have a direct link to lack-of-funds. For example, with less than 1% of the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) budget directed to eating disorders research, and with fewer than 1 in 7 grants submitted to NIMH actually funded, many significant research projects lack the support to be conducted. In addition, despite the prevalence of eating disorders, there are currently no specialized postgraduate training programs for professionals to learn to treat people with eating disorders.
According to the Journal of America Medical Association, there are several factors that have been contributing to the continued rise of anorexia nervosa. They include low self-esteem, biochemical factors, psychiatric disorders, social and cultural pressures, family pressures, and genetic predispositions.
According to researcher and journalist Judith Graham, some of the increase in cases of anorexia nervosa is a direct result of Web sites giving girls tips on starvation-level diets and featuring pictures of stick-thin celebrities as inspiration. A pro-anorexia movement is flourishing on the Internet and inspiring deep concern among medical professionals who worry that it glamorizes a deadly illness.
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