Eating Disorders

By Elsa, a college freshman

It is lunchtime, and Erica and Molly finally push their way through the line to get into the lunch room and grab their favorite table.  Erica pulls out her lunch and starts to eat.


Hey Molly, aren't you hungry?


No, not really. I did not bring a lunch today.
You should eat something! 

Here, have some of my sandwich.


That is ok, really. I do not want anything.


Seriously, you are so skinny.  It looks like you will disappear if you skip a few meals.


No I am not, and I will not, I am just not hungry.  Can you leave me alone? I am going to the library.


Hey, what did I do?



What would you do if this were your friend?  As teens get closer to becoming adults, they don't have someone preparing every meal for us, and they have to learn how to choose what and how much to eat. It is more difficult than it sounds, and many teens end up hurting their bodies with destructive eating habits ranging from anorexia and bulimia to binge eating to sugar and fat heavy diets. Adding to the problem is that being a teenager is really stressful. Many teens develop eating disorders because they feel like not eating is the only way to get their parents attentions.  Similarly, binge eating is a common reaction to stress in school. In the short term, eating releases endorphins that ease stress. However, eating too much or too little affects the body enormously. For example, it is estimated that 8 million Americans have an eating disorder, and that of those with anorexia, only 30% will ever fully recover.  Eating disorders can lead to death and infertility, among other things.  On the other end of the scale, there are 40 million obese adults in America.  That is over 10%.  Obesity has been shown to dramatically increase chances of diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. It can be seen that getting the right amount to eat is incredibly important.

Why is it that people eat too little or too much?  It is hard to say, but at least part of it has to do with the kinds of advertisements that people see all the time, whether on the TV or on billboards or even in popular magazines. Many ads are for food products.  More to the point, many ads are for food products that people don't actually need, such as fast food, junk food, or soda. These ads can set up eating not as a necessity for life but as an activity that happens throughout the day regardless of hunger or need.  Other sorts of ads are more subtle in how they influence eating habits.  For example, most models are unnaturally skinny and people tend to associate that with being attractive. With all these media influences on their lifestyle choices, it is no wonder that people have trouble regulating their diets.