According to new research the promotion of healthy eating to fight obesity can drive some teenagers into eating disorders.
Also many adult women and men admit that the extremes of trying to eat healthy lead them into abnormal eating behaviors and later to a fully developed eating disorder.
So the question is how healthy for you is a “healthy eating plan” and diet?
From one point of view, it is good to make a healthy choice when you eat and it does help to fight obesity. But on the other hand there are people who get so obsessed with their eating habits that it becomes abnormal and absolutely out of control.
Most eating disorder sufferers say that their disorder started from a simple diet and trying to eat healthy. They also say that they became very emotional about their diet, weight and food.
For example here is a testimonial from a 24 year old woman who has been suffering from bulimia for the last 10 years: “It was very painful for me to hear people called me fatty and I began dieting. When I lost some weight people started complimenting me for the way I looked and it felt so rewarding that I only wanted to continue dieting and loosing more and more weight … I really associated loosing weight with a reward and big personal achievements, so I thought the more I do it the better I will become. And I pushed myself into an extremely restrictive regiment of diet and exercise.
Every week I reduced my calorie intake and increased the exercise time. Sometimes I was very hungry and felt jealous towards people who could eat whatever they wanted. I started dreaming about food – of what I would eat if I could.
Once I cheated and ate much more food then I planned to do. I felt disgusted with myself. Then I went to the toilet and made myself sick. This gave me an instant relief to my strained feelings.
On the next day I repeated it again, and again it made me feel better. I thought I discovered a new way to eat whatever I want and at the same time stay slim. I thought it was my own invention but it wasn’t and that was how my bulimia was born…”
This is a typical story of the beginnings of anorexia-bulimia. So the question is would these people have developed an eating disorder without initially going on a “healthy” diet and an extreme exercise regiment? Probably not!
In conclusion it is fair to say that eating healthy still should be a major part of overall health education in schools and in public education.
But teaching about balance regarding peoples eating habits is probably much more important than just healthy eating at all costs. Teaching balance is crucial for any health program if it wants to stop the spread of eating disorders.
By: Irina Webster
Posts Tagged ‘Eating Disorders’
Eating Health – Does Extremely Healthy Eating Lead to Eating Disorders?
May 20th, 2010Adolescent Girls and Mental Health Treatment Centers
November 3rd, 2009
It may be a sign of the times that an increasing number of adolescent girls require admission into various types of mental health treatment centers, yet this fact is undeniable. Fortunately mental health treatment centers for adolescent girls offer several programs. Some treatment centers specialize in one specific mental health issue. Others offer counseling for several disorders. The centers are highly confidential, compassionate and sensitive to the needs of these young women. Therapists are college or university educated and are typically certified.
Typical issues that adolescent girls struggle with include eating disorders, family dysfunction, drug addictions, behavioral problems and anger management, among others. These issues are disturbing yet surprisingly common.
There are many reasons why adolescent girls suffer from such serious disorders. Girls with eating disorders may be affected by media portrayals of women with unlikely figures that are thin yet bosomy. Adolescent girls fail to realize that such pictures are usually airbrushed to attain bodily perfection and they may not be aware that many of their role models themselves suffer from serious eating disorders.
Girls with anger management issues likely hail from abusive or neglectful households. The same holds true for girls with behavioral problems, drug addictions and low self-esteem. Families experiencing divorce, unemployment, poverty and racism also produce unhappy and dysfunctional adolescent girls.
Fortunately mental health treatment centers for adolescent girls are becoming increasingly common and are usually very effective. Their programs directly and openly address these issues, both in group therapy and in individual counseling, particularly for girls with severe problems. Often the girls’ families are invited for a number of therapy sessions, since they too suffer from various dysfunctions that need to be acknowledged and treated.
Many mental health treatment centers for adolescent girls are residential. The girls reside within the centers during the week but are often released to their families on weekends. Some mental health treatment centers also offer outpatient programs as an alternative for adolescent girls who are reluctant to live inside treatment centers.
All mental health treatment centers have a set of rules the girls must abide by. Most centers only permit a minimum age of 12 or 13 years old. The girls cannot have any legal problems that will restrict their participation in the program. The girls must abide by the center’s rules and they cannot have a history of excessive violence. Most centers rely upon schools, doctor reports and family in order to compile a girl’s psychological assessment before admission into the program is granted. These assessments may include information regarding educational, medical, psychiatric, physical conditions, trauma, sexual behaviors and neurological history.
Although it can be difficult for a family to make the decision to enter an adolescent girl into a mental health treatment center ultimately it is a wise route for a trouble child. The acknowledgment that a child is troubled and requires help is a a crucial first step towards her recovery. Many girls and their families experience immediate, positive benefits due to the programs offered in these centers. The programs tend to be highly beneficial to both the child and her family, helping to resolve or at least begin to work through the complex stages of adolescent development and family dysfunction.
By: Ian Pennington