What is disordered eating, and how can it be prevented? Normal, healthy eating behavior may be defined as when a person eats when she or he is hungry, and stops eating when full. That is, the person is aware of and responds appropriately to hunger and satiety cues.

Of course, all of us can recall a time when we have eaten past our natural fullness point, or have skipped a meal even when hungry. This does not mean everyone has disordered .eating, although variations of this problem are extremely common. It is only when an individual consistently ignores feelings of hunger or fullness and this pattern of behavior becomes usual for them that the person may be said to have disordered eating. “Disordered eating” covers a broad spectrum of eating behavior including eating disorders, while the term “eating disorder” is defined quite specifically by diagnostic criteria.

Some possible causes of disordered eating include negative body image, low self-esteem, peer pressure, and lack of information about how eating and dieting can affect health. In order to prevent these problems, we must look at what is believed to cause them. Both of the topics mentioned above note that eating disorders fill a need for the individual. For example, eating is a self-soothing activity. It is quite possible that a “cause” of overeating might be that the child has not learned any other way to soothe himself or calm down when he is upset. Similarly, a teen girl might find her need for attention met when she loses weight after being on a diet. Like all dysfunctions, the principle of “overdetermination” applies. There are many causes and predisposing factors, which in combination can influence a person to adopt a disordered eating pattern. Some would say that just being a member (especially female) of western society, is a predisposing factor. Foreyt and Goodrick in their book “Living without Dieting” point out that western culture is a “lookist” culture, overemphasizing appearance and underemphasizing human qualities. Lookism, like racism or sexism, defines people by external characteristics that have nothing to do with a person’s real abilities. Most young people are strongly influenced by media images which associate unrealistic thinness with beauty, sexiness, money, power and happiness. Lookism is not talked about, but is a very real social force.

Recent research shows that body dissatisfaction is the single strongest predictor of eating disorder symptomolgy (Phelps, Johnston and Augustyniak, 1999)*. Helping teen girls (and boys) recognize the positive attributes of their physical appearance may be the most effective prevention strategy we have. This approach increases feelings of self- efficacy, helping them feel “OK”. It also helps reduce the internalization of the unnatural “ideal” body standard, and lets them realize that each person expresses their own inner beauty differently. It is important to understand that young people are bombarded with hundreds of messages about attractiveness every day. All influential adults play a role in letting kids know what is “right” with their looks. Adults who are not comfortable with their own appearance may be most hard pressed to send positive messages to teens.

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Girls and women are more at risk than boys and men, probably due to unreasonable expectations for female body shape and distorted expressions of female beauty portrayed in the media. Debra Waterhouse’s excellent book “Like Mother Like Daughter” traces the legacy of dieting and disordered eating through the generations, while offering strategies to break this destructive cycle.

Boys and men are not exempt from the pressures to modify their bodies. Unfortunately, exploitation of men based on appearance is on the increase, and this is likely to result in greater numbers of males with disordered eating. Magazines covers of men with abdominal muscle definition few can ever achieve are found in every check out stand, next to the women’s magazines featuring impossibly thin but full busted female models. Young people view these pictures as the standard of attractiveness and try hard to measure up.

Sports can have a mixed effect on body image as well. Studies show that girls who participate in sports have higher scores for self esteem and are less likely to be victimized by others. However, it is well known that certain sports which emphasize thinness, like gymnastics, dance and figure skating, put girls at higher risk. For boys, wrestling can contribute to dysfunctional eating behaviors and purging in order to attain/maintain an unnatural weight. Parents and coaches need to give healthy, non-diet messages to teen athletes. Coaches especially have a strong influence on whether an athlete learns to be their best with the body shape and size tney have, or ends up wasting precious mental and physical energy on artificial weight goals. Dieting has a negative impact on sports performance. Good sports nutrition, on the other hand, can enhance performance on and off the playing field.