Historical Facts of Eating Disorders
- In 1873, Sir William Gull first formally characterized using this name, "Anorexia Nervosa"
- People did not recognize the seriousness of the disorder and considered it as having "hysteria"
- In 1979, Gerald Russell first formally characterized "Bulimia Nervosa"
- Ancient Romans would overeat and vomit to eat in excess and to lose weight
- Women with AN ingested vinegar for laxative effects
- Majority of women with AN eventually develop bulimic behaviors, and ultimately, BN
- The Minnesota Semi-Starvation Study showed that subjects in the semi-starve stage had reduced sexual drive and body temperature, social withdrawals, depression, hysteria, etc.
- Binge Eating Disorder was officially added to the DSM-5 as an eating disorder in 2013
Eating Disorder: Influence of Culture
This is an anonymous survey asking people personal questions about their views on body image of themselves and how culture (social media, peers, family) may affect their views. It asks for the individual's demographics in order to show if the data is skewed to any one demographic. Ideally it is preferred to have an even distribution for any demographic; however, our data was limited to our network of peers which included mostly people in college and Asians.
The purpose of our survey was to see how people viewed themselves in regards to their body figure and how they might be affected by social media and the individual's microsystem. Although many people felt somewhat confident about their body figure and categorized themselves as "normal" in body weight, there were still a good amount of people who were not confident and believed they were either "skinny" or "thick/fat." Some even believed they had an eating disorder... BUT do they actually know what it means to have an eating disorder? What socialization agents influence an individual's views on the ideal body figure?
Sociocultural Theory
"There are specific messages that reflect a culture's ideology and are conveyed by socialization agents that influence an individual's behavior."
From an early age, girls are exposed to society's views on the ideal body type and learn that their appearance matters. Magazines, advertisements, commercials, music videos, and many other media outlets portray a specific message to their audience of a sexualized image that objectifies the bodies of women. Mass media is greatly responsible for the spreading message of "coke bottle, barbie body shape is in" to women. These messages reinforce the idea of weight control and can lead to the risk of developing an eating disorder. Cross cultural differences studies showed that eating disorders were less common in countries that have a "non-thin ideal" body type than in countries with a "thin-ideal" body type.
Parents and peers are a main source of information for weight control (dieting) and body image. Many people are affected by social acceptance and peer evaluations. They adjust and conform to the norm of their peers in order to fit in and avoid being ostracized. Studies showed that majority of girls and women engaged in "Fat Talk," in which they would be dissatisfied and criticize their own body. Parents also encourage their children to lose weight, but this may lead to body dissatisfaction and self-shaming.
Women (and men) often fall victim to eating disorders due to cultural norms of an ideal body figure!!
