Causes Of Eating Disorders Unveiled.....

Eating Disorder Causes

Many have opinions on the causes of eating disorders. Well, while some are right, some are near right and some are not so right. Some are just too academic. I was a had eating disorders to the max. I went from Binge to Bulimia to Binge and then to Anorexia. I also have siblings and friends who at one time or another battled Bulimia or Binge. We all experienced and shared most of these causes of eating disorders. So, you see why I have to make a great and worthy contribution on causes of eating disorders? Yes, because, I have been there. Enjoy….

Major Causes Of Eating Disorders

•  Family Eating Patterns

Each family has their food or eating pattern. This is often dictated chiefly by Mom and then, Dad. A family could be loose about what and when food is eaten. This leaves the children with an unhealthy attitude to food. Children grow up with different kinds of tendencies. Tendency to eat anything, any time, anyhow. Some hate eating foods. These depend on what family backgrounds they have. May be Dad came from a background that just scraped for food. Now he has his own kids. He can afford just any food. What do you think he’ll preach about foods? Please, give my kids food! Stuff them up! Any time, anywhere, anyhow and whatever!!! Does he mind if the kids are obese? That could be your worry, not his. To him, Binge is a way of eating well, not an eating disorder. Does this child understand when you talk differently? When you talk, Eating for Nourishment and Health?…. Eating to satisfy a physical and developmental need not an emotional need?...Hardly. He or she binges. Do they know they are toying with disaster? Not really. This kid sees binge as his way of satisfying his 'need.'

• Effects Of Peer Pressure
  

He or she goes to high school. They meet some heavier eaters. But these ones have a way. Eat and vomit. Eat anyhow and use some laxatives. Exercise more to keep from blowing up. Bulimia nervosa is here.

Then college.

At high school they endured all the teasing because of overweight. You remember how awful you felt when you first encountered teenage peer pressure?... So, entering college they vow to wear a completely different look. What next? The weight must come down to be accepted. Taking part in some college events is for those of moderate weight. So? The weight must come down. And very fast too. Avoid eating. Eat little or nothing. Run excessive exercise regimen. Avoid many food types. Causes of eating disorders? Not far-fetched. Anorexia is being courted here.

• Social and Emotional Problems

 A broken relationship could cause eating disorders. Different people react differently to hurt feelings or loss. A good friendship that suddenly hits the rocks usually rocks the involved persons. The hurt is taken out on foods. Either eating too much (as in, Eat away your sorrows) and too often. This is binge.                                                                    Or eating little or nothing leading to anorexia over time.

•  Failure- one of the eating disorder causes
  

Failure is one of the causes of eating disorders. The person here feels the world has collapsed around him or her. He or she speaks many dis-empowering words to him or herself. Feeling of worthlessness creeps in. Then depression. Food becomes their first object of attack. They eat compulsively, or binge. On the other hand, they could hate eating. Practicing this over time, could result in a fatal anorexia. This could then be a pattern, in spite of time. The body suffers.

•   Major Life Crises, especially Illness

 Ever met people who became obese months after a surgery? It seems they feel grateful to be alive. And they celebrate with foods daily. Initially, they were on the other side of the scale. Needing encouragement to even eat at all. They get over that. And keep at the eating. Months after, she is still overeating. She slips into the binge arena. Until it becomes an uncontrollable habit. When strong enough, she could get into bulimia. She may prefer this to addressing the real eating disorder issues in her life. Some people have bad psychological issues. These cause eating disorders for them. They ain't able to properly discern what is right for them. What, how and when they eat are just out of order. They could suffer even more for this abnormally.

•   Professional Hazard

Certain professions encourage food abuse. Some don’t get to eat nutritionally balanced food. They feast on the readily available junk. This easily blows up their body mass. In a bid to fight this, some get into one eating disorder or another. What do you say about stay home moms? What do you say about their contemporary career women? Each of the groups makes a separate demand of themselves. A stay home mum could easily get into bingeing. And become overweight. Why? For placing little demand on herself to keep trim and fit. And you know, mom is accepted by the family. Always!!! Just the way she is! Fat and all!!!

A career person tends to keep shapely. Driving this farther than necessary could cause eating disorders. Mostly, they slip into anorexia nervosa. Or get bulimic.

What about models? They pay a great price for what we admire. Health and wellness price, that is. The thinner they get, the more applause they receive. Is it any wonder eating disorders is high among them and their youth fan club? Who does a girl wish to look like? The model on T.V.!!! This brings us to the next cause of eating disorders…

•  Eating Disorders And The Media
  

Technology has made it easy for news to go round the globe. In seconds, that is. The good, the bad and the ugly go round at the same lightening speed. The media pushes Models as the cream of the society. They are the most photographed, admired and successful. They sell that daily to us. So, if you wish to enjoy success, what do you do?     O, just model yourself after them! Their clothes are the ones we should fit into. They are our role models.                                                   If you are like I was… You’ll take these media gurus seriously. You’ll forget that they eat by adverts. And if there’s nothing to advertise they’ll go bankrupt. You get into bouts of starvation. Skipping meals at will. Eating little. Weighing your food. Counting your daily calorie intake. And go into extreme Exercise. You avoiding eating out with friends. Watch it! Anorexia is at your door. You invited a huge enemy called anorexia. Annoyingly, the model doesn’t even know we exist. We are but a number in her fan club ‘out there.’ Who knows all the health challenges she goes through? The media knows and plays cool on this until it gets out of hands.                                                                     

On the other hand, the media displays all the foods we must eat. Guess what these foods are? Junk after junk! Ever seen them advertise fresh fruits and vegetables?!!! Ever seen them advertise wholesome healthy foods? Do you have an over-processed, genetically engineered food product? And cash to pay the media? They will sing your praises… And push your product as if it’s next to oxygen!!! So, the uninformed, goes for these foods. They are finely packaged. Easily available.

Instant. Eat them, binge on them. Forget about nourishment. Health and body suffer at the same time. The society suffers. Because its citizens are unhealthy. Not because of lack of prescription drugs. But for lack of nourishment. You could see the ways the media causes eating disorders. Tossing a good portion of the populace they promised to serve from anorexia, to binge, to bulimia.

• Cultural And Environmental Factors

This is the most ignored among the causes of eating disorders. Where you come from and live affect your attitude to foods. How much you eat, what you eat and how you eat. All are affected.

The culture I live in demands that a newly married girl be sent to a Fattening Room! Yes, Fattening room for 90-180days!!! Here she does nothing but eat, and eat and eat. No work, no chores. Just eating assorted foods. She doesn’t fix the meals. They are properly fixed by experts. Of course you understand what happens after that. She blows up. That’s the idea anyway…. Her appetite hits the roofs. Properly enlarged! Talk of binge. Talk of obesity. With a mom like that who needs the scale?!!! Do you discuss fitness and health here? O nope, please think again!!! You feel ‘chic’ and ‘man’ in your properly nourished and fit body. They feel you are grossly underfed and tell you as much!!! Paradigm conflicts at play! Are you in doubt about causes of eating disorders in my culture?

• Genetics And Biochemistry

Simply put, at birth you received a programming. This includes programming for your interaction with foods. For example, some people are born with high metabolism rate. Some have sluggish metabolism. This latter group stores much of what they eat. They burn little. They tend to be fat. The first group eats what you eat and burns most of it. They fall into the group we admire: Almost always shapely. But both the first and the latter could suffer eating disorders. People with eating disorders come in different sizes and shapes. Problem arises when those with sluggish metabolism keep eating. Their system easily enlarges to take in more. They delve into binge. They may get into bulimia as they try to cope with excess weight. Or even anorexia nervosa as they work even harder to get back to shape.

Those with fast metabolism could take their bodies for granted. They could binge and get into bulimia because of guilt. They endanger their health, by this. They could also get into anorexia.                               Cholecystokinin (CCK) is a hormone. Don’t bother about the tongue-twists. Just get the gist here, please. This hormone is in humans. It makes you feel full.

According to scientific investigators, this hormone causes laboratory animals to feel full and stop eating. But tell you what? This hormone is found to be low in some women with bulimia. No wonder they continue to binge…

•  Choices

At the end of the day, we all have choices. And that’s very important. That is, despite all the above causes of eating disorders, our choices play a most vital role. Fortunately, we can change. We make choices for it to be or not to be. To keep living with the damaging influence of Binge, bulimia, anorexia or other eating disorders is a choice. We could decide to order our eating in a way that enhances our health, fitness and performance optimally. Causes of eating disorders could be many.

They could vary from person to person. But one factor towers above all the causes of eating disorders. And that factor is our choice.               Our decision. As they say, 'it's all a decision away'. There is always a way out… Yes, whatever the causes of eating disorders like binge, bulimia, anorexia, compulsive, pica, name it! There's A Way Out!

Thank you for reading my contribution on causes of eating disorders.

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