General ideas about eating and body image disorders
For a long time we have experienced what eating disorders may mean but their physiological, social and psychic importance became the focus of research only not long ago. The very concept of ideal women changed in a numbers of ways during centuries. Each age had its female ideals and we also have our own images of beauty at present.
The first known ideal woman is the Venus of Willendorf with her voluminous belly, thick thighs and huge breasts. Very likely her body shapes symbolized fertility. Medieval society’s images of female beauty was the following: they were aesthetic, delicate, demure, “bloodless” beauties and very slim. Women of the Renaissance period represented the ancients’ beauty concepts. Buxom charms, plump and round female shapes were brought again into fashion (Eco, 2010).
The ideal female body image changed in the 1900-ies. The standard of beauty for women seems to have altered in such a way that nowadays women start looking like males, their body shapes and forms are often ‘frightening’. The fashion of being thin has driven women to diet and exercise in order to achieve this ideal body shape and form. Most clothing stores mainly offer extra small sizes forgetting about the more full figured women.
Nowadays the number of morbidly obese and skinny people is increasing. In our hectic life eating habits and parallel with them the images of ideal bodies have been changing. Several psychic problems are the consequences of this phenomenon. In the 18th century women’s hysteria was considered a serious disorder while in the 20th centuries anxieties, panic, depression and eating disorders were the most frequent symptoms (Túry, 2001).
At the turn of the 21st century different eating disorders became acceptable and frequent as they are not marked symptoms. It has become fashionable to read about and apply methods and techniques helping to develop a healthier way of life and of course eating habits. Several web-sides, magazines, books and films offer information of how to lead a healthier life and what we should change. Therefore it is surprising that eating disorders have also become the focus of research and studies. Media create our ideals suggesting that women should be reed-thin. Masculine ideal has also undergone dramatic revision due to commercials and media. Men developed huge muscles which are unachievable just by trainings (Forgács, 2010) and unfortunately this has become an example to follow.
In a society where the vast majority of people are fat the cult of weight loss does not affect them. Surprisingly it is young girls who intend to follow this practice. 38% of the obese Hungarians have never attempted to go on a diet (Török and Pászthy, 2008). By contrast, about half of the teenage girls have already tried out loosing weight (Forgács and Németh, 2008). The aim is not to maintain their health but to achieve the criteria of beauty ideals (Forgács, 2010). It is evident that the standards of the industrial society help to develop newer symptoms and forms of eating disorders.
Besides the two classical types of eating disorders anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa have been diagnosed as new diseases. A few more examples of eating disorders are worth mentioning, orthorexia, drunkorexia, pregorexia, and fatorexia, and muscle dismorphia, disorders connected with body building, bodybuilding addiction, apotemnofilia and obesity (Bratman, 1997, de Coverley Veale, 1987, First, 2007, Keel and et al, 2005, Pope and et al, 1993). Obesity is often separately dealt with among the other types of eating disorders.
The occurrence of eating disorders is different within social classes. In the upper and middle classes more people suffer from these disorders than in lower classes. Cultural background and occupation modify their frequency and occurrence. Earlier it was believed that only “WWW”, white and western women had these diseases. It means that these disorders became well known in the western cultures. It has also been shown out that they occur more frequently in the European ethnic groups than in the Negroid ones (Tory, 2005). Recently it has been observed that the number of these diseases has been increasing in the Eastern countries and not only in lower but also in higher social classes (Tory, 2001).
The frequency of eating disorders indicates that it should be studied in more depth. 1-4% of young 18-35 year old girls suffer from these diseases but according the latest statistics the number of much younger girls is also increasing. Males do not think that they should follow the thin body shape ideals. Women consider themselves fat when they have reached the 90% of their ideal weight (Tory, 2001). It has been noticed that more males complain about their eating disorders (Gilbert, 1996). The reason for the difference between these two genders is the fact that the social-cultural influence on males and females varies. According to the image of ideal women they should be slim and frail. Unlike males who are expected to be brawny and strong and they should have broad shoulders (Kearney-Cooke and Steichen-Asch, 1990).
The death rate of patients suffering from eating disorders, mainly anorexia, is about 7-8% (Túry, 2005).