Author Topic: Eating Disorders at 75% of All Women?  (Read 7288 times)

injest

  • Guest
Eating Disorders at 75% of All Women?
« on: April 27, 2008, 12:11:11 am »
If 75% have unnormal eating habits....doesnt that mean that normal is not so normal?

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24295957/

Offline delalluvia

  • BetterMost 5000+ Posts Club
  • *******
  • Posts: 8,289
  • "Truth is an iron bride"
Re: Eating Disorders at 75% of All Women?
« Reply #1 on: April 27, 2008, 01:58:51 pm »
I'm thinking it's not a matter of "normal" it's just that the food easily obtainable these days is not satisfying being highly processed and is full of bad carbs, so we tend to eat more of it, and since women as a rule more easily gain weight and are less able to lose the weight once gained, women start trying to figure out what is going on and how to both eat to be healthy, to enjoy and not instantly gain weight.

I'm on a modified Atkins diet.  It teaches you what foods have more fiber and less sugar than others.  You think, hey this is a snap to go shopping for food now, then you start reading the labels off easy to prepare foods and realize the majority of foods on the shelves and the freezer section are full of sugars and highly processed carbs.  There is almost nothing I can eat off the shelves that isn't full of sugar and bad carbs.  I almost literally have to prepare all my foods from fresh produce and meats.

And for someone who doesn't like to cook, this is a pain in the ass.  So yes, I have to think a lot more about food and what I am going to eat than is 'normal' because it is no longer a "no brainer" just to grab something to eat off the shelves or freezer section or in a restaurant.

And some of it I do attribute to social pressure for women to be thin and some of it depends on the women involved.  Some women have addictive personalities and others are very "A-type" so why wouldn't some women also be overly obsessed with dieting and weight gain and exercise?

A friend of mine is "A type" and is very obese, she works out regularly, but doesn't watch what she eats and tortures herself by getting on a scale twice a week.

I am not "A type", I don't work out as much as I should, but I am careful about what I eat and still manage to lose weight, but haven't gotten on a scale in 3 years.

SELF magazine didn't say where the women in their study/poll came from. 

Offline brokeplex

  • BetterMost Supporter!
  • BetterMost 5000+ Posts Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 7,247
  • LCARS
Re: Eating Disorders at 75% of All Women?
« Reply #2 on: April 27, 2008, 02:47:05 pm »
If 75% have unnormal eating habits....doesnt that mean that normal is not so normal?

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24295957/


precisely, if 75% of a population is engaging in "abnormal" behavior, then the definition of "normal" needs rethinking. 
« Last Edit: April 28, 2008, 12:59:49 pm by broketrash »

Offline Front-Ranger

  • BetterMost Moderator
  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 30,288
  • Brokeback got us good.
Re: Eating Disorders at 75% of All Women?
« Reply #3 on: April 28, 2008, 10:02:39 am »
Our lives are very much out of balance. A punishingly thin body is the ideal, but average people are fatter than ever. Who can blame them? We're trapped in our cars, behind a computer, in front of a TV. And you're right about the most accessible food being, basically, poison.

I like to eat whole grains like barley or wheat berries for breakfast but it's so difficult to get and prepare them that it's been weeks since I've had a satisfying breakfast meal. I just skip breakfast or have a breakfast burrito or grits. I suppose that puts me in the Abby Normal category.
"chewing gum and duct tape"

Marge_Innavera

  • Guest
Re: Eating Disorders at 75% of All Women?
« Reply #4 on: April 28, 2008, 11:56:02 am »

precisely, if 75% of a population is engaging in "abnormal" behavior, then the definition of "normal" needs rethinking.  :laugh:


According to MentalHelp.net at http://www.mentalhelp.net/poc/view_doc.php?type=doc&id=11756&cn=46

The National Eating Disorders Association indicates that 5-20% of those who have untreated anorexia nervosa will not survive the disorder. The annual death rate for females between 15 and 24 years old from anorexia is 12 times higher than the annual death rate for all other causes combined. [bolding added]  For those who receive treatment, the mortality rate is far lower, approximately 2-3% of these people will die from this disorder.

Real knee-slappin' material, no?

Offline Brown Eyes

  • BetterMost Supporter!
  • BetterMost Moderator
  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 10,377
Re: Eating Disorders at 75% of All Women?
« Reply #5 on: April 28, 2008, 12:21:45 pm »

The youngest daughter in a family that's been very good friends of my family for years and years has struggled with anorexia to the point where she's been hospitalized long-term for it on one occasion.  At the moment she's doing quite well.  But, when she's in a bad phase of anorexia it's one of the most terrifying things to witness.  At her worst point she got down to skin and bones and had to be pushed in a wheelchair because she could not walk properly anymore (and she was in her early 20s at the time).  I went and visited her at the rehab hospital (which specializes in eating disorders) and it was such an eye-opening and disturbing experience. 
:(
the world was asleep to our latent fuss - bowie

Offline brokeplex

  • BetterMost Supporter!
  • BetterMost 5000+ Posts Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 7,247
  • LCARS
Re: Eating Disorders at 75% of All Women?
« Reply #6 on: April 28, 2008, 12:59:28 pm »
According to MentalHelp.net at http://www.mentalhelp.net/poc/view_doc.php?type=doc&id=11756&cn=46

The National Eating Disorders Association indicates that 5-20% of those who have untreated anorexia nervosa will not survive the disorder. The annual death rate for females between 15 and 24 years old from anorexia is 12 times higher than the annual death rate for all other causes combined. [bolding added]  For those who receive treatment, the mortality rate is far lower, approximately 2-3% of these people will die from this disorder.

Real knee-slappin' material, no?

then based upon what you link, and I thank you for the link, this is much more than a simple eating disorder epidemic, it is a mental health crisis. after looking at your material I saw my "laughing" smiley as inappropriate and have deleted it. Remember that sometimes people just may not be aware of the true dimensions of a particular subject and don't mean to be insensitive to a crisis.

Offline Kelda

  • BetterMost Supporter!
  • Moderator
  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 14,703
  • Zorbing....
    • Keldas Facebook Page!
Re: Eating Disorders at 75% of All Women?
« Reply #7 on: April 28, 2008, 02:17:33 pm »
its quite scary isn't it?
http://www.idbrass.com

Please use the following links when shopping online -It will help us raise money without costing you a penny.

http://www.easyfundraising.org.uk/idb

http://idb.easysearch.org.uk/

injest

  • Guest
Re: Eating Disorders at 75% of All Women?
« Reply #8 on: April 28, 2008, 09:55:32 pm »
According to MentalHelp.net at http://www.mentalhelp.net/poc/view_doc.php?type=doc&id=11756&cn=46

The National Eating Disorders Association indicates that 5-20% of those who have untreated anorexia nervosa will not survive the disorder. The annual death rate for females between 15 and 24 years old from anorexia is 12 times higher than the annual death rate for all other causes combined. [bolding added]  For those who receive treatment, the mortality rate is far lower, approximately 2-3% of these people will die from this disorder.

Real knee-slappin' material, no?

I found the article amusing myself....I think eating disorders are a BIG problem for modern women but we wont' get anywhere by labeling EVERYTHING the same....Lee wanting to eat better does not mean she has the same disease as someone with bulimia.

We need to focus on the real problems instead of trying to exaggerate a problem that has no NEED to be exagerated.

Marge_Innavera

  • Guest
Re: Eating Disorders at 75% of All Women?
« Reply #9 on: April 30, 2008, 01:24:32 pm »
then based upon what you link, and I thank you for the link, this is much more than a simple eating disorder epidemic, it is a mental health crisis. after looking at your material I saw my "laughing" smiley as inappropriate and have deleted it. Remember that sometimes people just may not be aware of the true dimensions of a particular subject and don't mean to be insensitive to a crisis.

Thanks for your courteous answer.  I probably over-reacted, as I've previously been in discussions (not on this forum) where people truly did treat the whole thing as a joke.

And I'm glad you referred to it as a mental health crisis; I'd add to that a statement that it's a mental health crisis created by contemporary society's obsession with thinness.  That, plus the longstanding negative attitudes toward women's bodies that goes back a long way, has brewed up quite a potent cultural soup.  There are varying theories about what in a family culture can trigger eating disorders, but there are two constants in every list I've seen:  1) a family with unrealistic expectations and persistent pressure on a kid to be "perfect" and 2) what John Bradshaw once called the "Saint Mom and Dad" syndrome; i.e., a fantasy that the family itself is perfect.  Bad things happen to everyone else, but not to "us."

I strongly disagree with the recent trend toward calling an eating disorder a "disease."  Most of the measurable changes in the brain and the rest of the body tend to be after the fact, suggesting that they're a consequence of the eating disorder rather than the cause of it.  And the whole "disease" model tends to let both culture and family off the hook.