Argumentative Essay Example on Orthorexia

For optimum health, everyone is obliged to take healthy foods while limiting the intake of unhealthy ones. However, some individuals become too concerned about eating right and develop an obsession where they fear unhealthy foods. Such fear progressively leads the individual to a condition named: orthorexia, another eating disorder (Deese par 1).

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Order now

Orthorexia has become an increasingly concerning condition that together with other eating conditions such as anorexia, binge eating and bulimia constitute to the 30 million patients in the united states who are under a program of controlled eating habits. An overly concerned focus on fitness and health can also become deadly, hence the need to control our discussions when talking of eating right and the ideal body sizes to avoid inflicting fear in the orthorexia patients.

Such patients should however shun mainstream conversations about how perfect bodies look like. Such discussions should only be left to professionals such as athletes and models who have ideal body size requirements. Every person should be contented about their body and only eat the right food uninterested with what others are talking on. Such attempts are likely to alleviate the condition, which is also affecting teenagers and adolescents.

Eating disorders in women

Among the western population, eating disorders such as bulimia and anorexia have been described to majorly affect young females. The trend on such eating habits is no longer a problem in developed countries but has also been shown to affect the developing countries, notably India. To understand the eating disorders, one must associate them with psychological deficits such as emotions, attitudes and thoughts that are linked with psychological impairments. Eating disorders have also been associated to some families indicating a genetic predisposition. One notable association of the eating disorders is high appraisal for slimness which is a common element in the western women although is slowly been integrated among other cultures.

Many writers have attempted classification for eating disorders as been associated by psychopathology such as mood subtypes and psychotic disorders such as obsessive-compulsive disorders. It has however been shown that eating disorders are independent and should not be associated with the various psychotic conditions. "The eating disorders are by themselves a classification belonging behavioral syndromes associated with physical and psychological factors".

Women have mainly been associated with eating disorders due to various factors such as environmental, biological and physiological. Management of the disorders involve maintaining normal healthy bodies, stopping the eating behaviors that are absurd, and abandoning the overvalued perceptions about unhealthy looks and adopting positive perceptions about body size and weight as well as psychiatric conditions.

When losing weight lead to other disorders

Media and eating disorders

In the last century, good eating habits have increasingly deteriorated. Obesity has rapidly increased becoming a health concern that require aggressive treatment. The number of people suffering from obesity is increasing everyday with the young population been victims too. A variety of other eating disorders such as bulimia nervosa, anorexia nervosa, and orthorexia nervosa.

Media influence about food can however change the perceptions of the public on eating habits and disorders. The messages portrayed by the media have a strong meaning, which may encourage one to eat or discourage from eating. Other messages tend to target gender affiliations such as the level masculinity and feminism while others make food seem as will it will disappear.

Encouragement on slimness

Since the rate of obesity has rapidly increased rendering so many people overweight, people are been shown the advantages of slimness in the media. Research indicates that 3% of Americans have an excess of 50 kilograms in their body weight. Such as brought devastating effects starting with flight managers who have had to bear with increased fuel due to the additional weight carried from the obese people. Other losses are been caused in the hospital management of the condition as well as fatalities related to the condition. The government is also greatly concerned with the condition since it is put under the obligation to care for the health of its citizens.

Media has therefore been an important avenue for weight management awareness. Documentaries have been created showcasing people who were initially obese but have transformed to good shape.

Encouraging on additional feeding

Since the media adverts concentrate on what we do not have, newer foods are the ones that are mainly advertised. The new product assures of an additional nutrient,, taste or how the food will increase important things such as strength, happiness, success, health and others. Such elements are meant to increase the sales of a product and thereby increasing the eating habits. Messages encouraging people to eat more may easily encourage people to eat more thereby becoming obese.

Be afraid of food.

Such type of messages may be targeted at reducing the rates of obesity but may also lead to other eating disorders. There have been messages that discourage people from eating high levels of animal products due to fat concentrations.

Works Cited

Deese, Hollie. "Going to Extremes." The Tennessean, Mar 13, 2016. ProQuest, http://ezproxy.cpcc.edu/login?url=https://search.proquest.com/docview/1772585657?accountid=10008.