Social causes of anorexia and eating disorders

Difficult one.

Or is it?

Western societies have always been more preoccupied with body image than in third world countries.

Women living in third world countries appear much more content, comfortable and accepted with fuller body shapes.

Studies have shown that this changes when these women attempt to acclimatise to western society.

One study by Furnham & Alibhai (1983) observed Kenyan immigrants who resided in Britain for only four years. These women began to adopt the British viewpoint desiring a smaller physique unlike their African peers.

Another study by Pumariege (1986) found that Hispanic women acculturating into a Western society also began to adopt the more stringent eating attitudes of the prevailing culture within the same time frame as the previous study (Stice, Schupak-Neuberg, Shaw & Stein, 1994; Wiseman, 1992).

Studies such as these show that we cannot say that social causes of anorexia do not exist. And with increasing pressure from the fashion industry and the media, these influences must be taken seriously.

However, I do believe that it is important that we look beyond the social causes of anorexia. The fact is that they exist, but so do many other ills.

Rather than focus to much upon these, it is important to find ways to counteract them. The young in western societies are exposed to these pressures, but they are also exposed to vice and crime. That doesn't mean that they will end up as gamblers or criminals.

A major factor involved in eating disorders is that those suffering from them are highly dependent on the approval of others. They are completely unable to give themselves the approval they so desperately crave.

When I was anorexic it was as though I needed others to confirm that it was ok for me to exist. I had no concept of my 'self' as a being in my own right. When we are dependent on others to such an extent, we grab at whatever we think will make us feel ok. We lose sight of ourselves as whole beings with a past and a future.I

ncreasingly it is down to families and educators to guide our children away from shallow social influences and to build their self esteem. Children and teenagers who are busy pursuing their goals and enjoying their lives do not want to harm themselves.A good sense of who they are and where they are going enables them to have a sense of perspective, to see the hype for what it is. Click here to read more about how developing self esteem in teens can help counteract social causes of anorexia