Eating Disorders

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Eating Disorders

• By Tonia Foyt, Becca Sage, Sommer Raines,
  Jessica Perkins, Lara Hicks, Chad Griffith, Megan
  Watson, and Samantha Campbell

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Statistics

• The average model weighs 23 less than the
  average women.
• Maintaining a weight that is 15 below expected
  body weight is considered anorexia.
• 4/5 American women are dissatisfied with their
  appearance.
• ½ of American women are on a diet on any given
  day.
• ¼ men are on a diet on any given day.

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Definitions

• Normal eater- someone who eats when hungry and
  stops when full
• Occasional eater- goes on diets for special
  occasions (spring break or summer break)
• Non-Compensatory Bulimics- (compulsive
  overeaters) binge routinely but do not purge

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Definitions

• Chronic Dieters always dieting, watching what
  they eat, always conscious of how many calories
  and fat grams they consume
• Bulimic Dieters- diet often, however will break
  diet by binging and then compensates by purging
  usually in the form of exercise.

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Definitions

• Situational Purgers- purges during emotional or
  stressful times
• Bulimics- routinely binge and purge
• Anorexics severely restricts food

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Anorexia Nervosa

• Defining features
• An intense and irrational fear of body fat and
  weight gain
• A strong determination to become thinner and
  thinner
• A misperception of body weight and shape to the
  extent that the person may feel or see fat even
  when wasting away is clear to others

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Clinical Definitions of Anorexia Nervosa

• Refusal to maintain weight at or above a
  minimally normal weight for age and weight
• Intense fear of gaining weight of becoming fat
  even though underweight
• Disturbance in the way in which ones body shape
  is experienced, undue influence of body weight or
  shape on ones self evaluation or denial of the
  seriousness of the current low body weight
• In postmenarcheal females, amenorrhea

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Anorexia Physical/Psychological Characteristics

• Pale and/or extremely dry skin
• Thin and dull hair
• Brittle fingernails and toenails
• Hands and feet may have a bluish color
• Lanugo (fine, downy) hair on body
• Menstrual irregularities and ammennorrhea
• Reduced Body Temperature

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Bulimia Nervosa

• This disorder is characterized by self defeating
  and self perpetuating cycles of binge eating and
  purging.
• A binge is to consume a large amount of food in a
  rapid, automatic, and helpless fashion.
• A purge is inducing vomiting and resorting to
  some combination of restrictive dieting,
  excessive exercising, laxatives, and diuretics.
• Bulimics have a distorted body image and an
  intense fear of fat, and the conviction that a
  slender body shape is absolutely crucial for self
  acceptance.

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Bulimia Physical/Psychological Characteristics
and Risks

• Calluses on back of the hand from self induced
  vomiting
• Red irritated mouth
• Eroded tooth enamel and cavities
• Irregular menses or amenorrhea
• Electrolyte imbalance
• General muscle weakness

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Bingeing

• Also known as compulsive overeating, is very
  similar to bulimia nervosa, but without the
  purging.
• Characterized by excessive consumption of food
  when not feeling hungry.
• Described as a loss of control over their eating
  during a binge, followed by feelings of guilt,
  shame, disgust, and depressed moods.

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Clinical Definitions of Bingeing

• Eating in a discrete period of time, an amount of
  food larger than most people would eat during a
  similar period of time and under similar
  circumstances.
• A sense of lack of control over eating during the
  episode

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• Recurrent inappropriate compensatory behavior in
  order to prevent weight gain, such as
  self-induced vomiting, misuse of laxatives,
  diuretics, enemas, fasting or excessive exercise
• Occur on the average at least twice a week for
  three months
• Self-evaluation is unduly influenced by body
  shape and weight

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Whos at risk?

• Women
• As young as 7 or 8 years old
• 1 out of 4 college women
• They feel inadequate and guilty when they are not
  satisfied with their goals and standards.
• They have a misconception of the difference
  between health and thinness.

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Whos at risk?

• Athletes
• Societal pressure
• Performance pressure- ie. contracts and
  scholarships
• Academic pressure
• Time demands

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Whos at risk?

• Men
• Small percentage
• Related to profession
• Model
• Professional Athlete

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Theories

• Many factors lay below the surface that
  contribute to the visible eating disorder.
• Eating disorders are a way to cope with these
  factors.
• There are two theories for why people acquire
  eating disorders.

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Theories

• Family Dynamics
• Family interaction codependency, over
  protectiveness, rigid, conflict avoidance, and
  poor conflict
• Also eating disorders develop as the individual
  tries to control their body to gain an individual
  identity separate from their parents
• Satisfy needs that are not otherwise met, soothe
  the pain of past abusive or neglectful experiences

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Theories

• Stress/Coping Skills/Problem Solving Ability
• Stress appears to increase eating among women
• Bulimics repot high levels of stress
• Suggested that eating disorders are caused by
  maladaptive coping styles
• Appear to have poor problem solving skills and
  conflict resolution skills

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Treatments

• Individual therapy- one on one with a therapist,
  psychologist, psychiatrists, social worker
• Group therapy- meeting with others who have
  eating disorders and facilitated by professional
  therapist
• Family therapy- whole family goes in o therapy to
  discuss their everyday interactions, problems,
  their contribution to the eating disorder, and
  family network

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Treatments

• Nutritional therapy- one on one with a dietician
  or nutritionist to discuss food requirements, and
  how food plays a part in eating disorders.
• Relaxation therapy- helps patient to learn how to
  deal with stress and how to relax without using
  the eating disorder.
• Exercise education and monitoring- helping
  patient find the correct amount of exercise to
  maintain a proper weight and monitor exercise to
  see if the are exercising properly.

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Treatments

• Outpatient- patient does to different therapies
  for regular visits but continues to lice at their
  own home and continues for the most part with
  normal life.
• Day Hospital- patient spends part of the day or
  entire day in a hospital setting, going to
  different sessions with therapists, dieticians,
  however still lives at home
• Inpatient- patient lives at a treatment facility
  for a period of time varying with the treatment
  the go into. Can be in a treatment center or a
  local hospital.