Eating Disorders and the Media - Essay Example

Eating Disorders and the Media ID] [Lecturer] Thesis ment: The media has influenced and convinced young women and girls to starve themselves in order to be beautiful. This misconception leads to terrible outcomes emotionally and physically to women. Many do not realize an eating disorder is life threatening. Studies prove that the influence of the media has increased the number of eating disorders. Introduction: Of late, eating disorders have increased amongst the young ones as well as the mature men and women in our societies, which have made everyone, realize the potential hazards, attached with the same problem. People do not comprehend the fact that eating more and that too at odd times can literally break down the metabolism rate in their bodies and force them to lie on the bed every now and then. Being sick also comes under the heading of one of the aftereffects of eating and eating more. Fortunately enough, there are now some particular ways and means which look to tell children and grown ups about their proper intake of food during different periods of the day with specification of calorie levels, which in more ways than one is a step in the right direction. In the world of present times, human beings are experiencing a change within their lives. They have become busy and time for them passes in a whisker. The modern society has changed and so has the way in which people eat. The fast food culture has taken up their lives. There are a number of good restaurants to choose from - so people can go out and have good meals as and when they wish to. (Peterson, 2005) However all of this requires a clear thinking approach as to whether fast food is indeed good for the human body or not? There are a lot of franchise restaurants for getting fast foods when one does not have the time to eat enough and more than that cook for his own self. Everybody knows that foods are very important for getting energy to activate the human body, but one should know that how food culture influences the family linkages, friendships, emotions as well as the pertinent personalities. The Role of Media in Eating Disorders: The media in the form of television, newspapers and magazines provides role models that teach women to value beauty and thinness over strength of character. While men are influenced by their role models to succeed academically and excel in all areas, we are expected to maintain a beautiful appearance, i.e. a thin, sexy body. Many of these role models are not only weak and thin, essentially, they lose their personalities and become objects and images for the pleasure of others. Used to be, you could turn on the television and spend a pleasant hour watching Friends, but this is not the case any more! The enormous popularity of reality TV shows such as "Extreme Makeover", "The Swan" and MTVs "I Want a Famous Face," as well as an explosion of websites that extol the virtues of cosmetic medicine, has fueled the desire of adolescent girls to alter their bodies permanently, and they are finding more surgeons willing to oblige them. Similarly to remain healthy these teenagers are hooking on to all sorts of foods and ready to cook items – which are indeed very hazardous to their bodies and thus bringing problems for them every now and so often. (Harrison, 1997) The eating disorders have arisen due to the very same factors and to remain healthy and in shape; the teenagers are adapting regimes which ask them to cut down on their food intake. This is asking for trouble since the young ones must balance their diets in a proper manner so that their bodies work in a proper fashion along with the healthy well-being of their minds. Thus the physical self is as important as the mental make-up of an individual. Eating disorders are a complex group of illnesses that are usually witnessed in the adult female population. During the past three decades, the prevalence of eating disorders has increased to quite a dramatic extent whereby at this juncture of time, the overall incidence is nearly 5 percent. On the other hand, eating disorders generally do occur in adults but now they are seen much more than ever before in children and not only adults, that includes the elderly. In the beginning, eating disorders were viewed as something that affected only the socioeconomically advantaged white women but with the passage of time this notion has been changed whereby it has extended beyond these boundaries and set levels. These diseases affect persons of all social classes and both sexes. The increase in the prevalence and incidence of eating disorders is multi-factorial. Increased awareness among patients and physicians is partly responsible for the increase, but the media, the fashion industry and changing societal norms are equally responsible. The rise in the incidence of eating disorders can be best seen in the light of tracing our recent past whereby we could see in the 1940s and even in the early parts of 1950s that the movie star Marilyn Monroe, whose figure was curvaceous and somewhat Rubenesque started to exemplify the ideal womans figure. However, by 1967 a 92 lb British teenager, Twiggy, was the most famous fashion model and her ultra thin figure was thought of as being the ideal figure for women of those times. It has been seen that children are fed with all kinds of foods and cereals from the very start of their childhood whereby the parents are of the notion that the former need as much food as possible for their own betterment, as it would strengthen their bones and make their bodies feel at ease with the norms that a society has imposed for children of certain ages. This is untrue as the more a kid eats, the more fat he or she gets and this eventually leads into a state where this child will potentially be a candidate for remaining fat for the rest of his or her life. Being fat is a problem as it invites a host of ailments and sicknesses, which can include heart attack to several severe forms of cancer and much more. (Menassa, 2004) On the other hand, being slim, in the wake of being smart, as in relation to comparison between friends and family also leads to certain illnesses which are difficult to cure, hence raising the belief that it is better neither to be fat nor slim, rather one should eat in a manner which makes him or healthy, fit and strong. Ultimately, eating disorders would not even dare to come anywhere close to this person. Not only that, eating disorders lead to psychiatric and psychological ailments that are pretty hard to overcome and require a lot of attention on the part of the patient as well as his or her friends and family. It is a pretty long and arduous process; one, which demands awareness at all, levels. Mortality rate has also been on the increase due to the same problem and efforts must be made in this direction so as to defeat this illness (eating disorder). (Furth, 2003) However it is true that at all times and under all situations, there indeed is a definite need and requirement for a source that details and provides all the relevant information concerning the treatment and education related to these disorders, illnesses and ailments. The relevant information and data could hail from cultural, social, familial, and personal elements points of view and this would really assist and help the patient whereby the doctor who is treating him or her would have a fair enough idea to ascertain the problem at hand as well as devise the remedy in a quick and timely manner. Conclusion: Thus in the end it would be wise to state here that the eating disorders could be encountered with a stern approach and the effort must start from the top most levels. Media must be made accountable for the propagation of such images which ignite interest on the part of the youngsters as well as entice them into taking measures which can only be remarked as drastic right from the onset. The media needs to realize that they are indirectly playing with the future – children hold the torch towards success in the coming times and it would only be wise to enact strategies which ask them to lead balanced diets rather than indulging in practices which are illogical and irrational right from the very beginning. (Zimmerman, 1997) There has to be a collective purpose displayed on the part of all and sundry so that the end result is one of attainment and success. It is high time that eating disorders are taken off the roster of ‘to-do’ things and be given a place in the ‘been there, done that’ column. Media once again has to comprehend the role that it has played for a long period of time and how it can continue with the positive images which it can manifest time and again. Works Cited Furth, Eric V. Handbook of Eating Disorders. John Wiley & Sons, 2003 Harrison, Kristen. Does Interpersonal Attraction to Thin Media Personalities Promote Eating Disorders? Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, Vol. 41, 1997 Menassa, Beverly. Preventing Eating Disorders among Pre-Teen Girls: A Step-By-Step Guide. Praeger, 2004 Peterson, Carol. Assessment of Eating Disorders. Guilford Press, 2005 Zimmerman, Jill. An Image to Heal. The Humanist, Vol. 57, January 1997 Word Count: 1,514 Read More