Author Archives: akk45

It’s a Small World After All

Something that came to my attention when I came across Marcella Raimondo’s Indiegogo pitch on Multicultural issues with eating disorders is that we as a society tend to conceptualize eating disorders as only affecting affluent Caucasian females. It is true that eating disorders disproportionately affect females over males 2 to 1. However, eating disorders such as anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and binge eating disorder (among others) don’t discriminate against race, sexual orientation, cultural background, or socioeconomic standing. In fact, according to the Eating Disorders Coalition, of all the factors that determine who develops an eating disorder, 50- 80% of those factors are genetic. As for societal influence, when women and men of all races try to adhere to a specific culturally ideal body shape, the likelihood of developing an eating disorder will increase, although this ideal body shape may vary for different racial groups. Studies have shown that “because of increasing global acceptance of dominant white socio-cultural values regarding body weight and image, increasingly more …cultural groups are developing greater dissatisfaction with their weight (Grogan, S., 1999).”

This misconception and stereotyping of the cross-cultural prevalence of eating disorders often lends to disorders not being screened or treated in certain multicultural populations. “Multicultural populations were also significantly less likely than Caucasians to have been asked by a doctor about eating disorder symptoms (Becker,A; et.al. 2003).”This is a serious flaw in our health care system that we are overlooking certain ethnic groups as potential carriers of these disorders. We as a society need to shed a light on these minority groups and make sure that they are receiving equal access to educational and treatment programs as everyone else. In the future, this could mean incorporating discussion of eating disorders into health class curriculum in schools and requiring doctors to consider eating disorders for patients of all backgrounds.

Oh, How Times Have Changed…

Oh, How Times Have Changed...

I came across this picture of a vintage weight GAIN ad in a Tumblr post and it immediately reminded me of my public issue of eating disorders. This ad was released in the ’40s by a company called Wate-On, whose slogan was “True Beauty Includes a Full Figure”. Today, consumers would most likely be shocked to come across an ad such as this. We would probably assume that the editor made a mistake and accidentally switched the skinny figure as the “before” photo.

However, today we have gone from drinking 6.5 oz sodas to 42 oz sodas and the average American now weighs 26 pounds more than they did when this ad was released (The Washington Post). This issue has shaped our society into a culture of weight-loss pills, liposuctions, and runway models that weigh less than the average 12 year old and there is no longer any market for weight gain. But perhaps in emitting this idea that curves are attractive has caused media attitudes to push too far in the other direction.

One of the leading causes of eating disorders in our country is the media’s portrayal of what is considered attractive. We have models like Candice Swanepoel, Miranda Kerr, and Kate Moss to serve as constant reminders to impressionable girls that they need to lose weight. According to the National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders, about 70 percent of girls (grades 5-12) said magazine images influence their ideals of a perfect body.

Maybe if we as a society strove to appear like the model on the right in the Wate-On ad rather than the super thin model there wouldn’t be such a stigma in America that EVERYONE needs to lose weight. Advertisers today will only show consumers glamorous, naturally tiny models to breed and feed off low self-esteem and get them to pay for something they will never have. Maybe if today’s magazines showed bodies like Marylin Monroe’s rather than the size-nothing models there wouldn’t be so many girls starving themselves to death in America. I think it’s time to break the mold… and make it something we can fit into.

Starting Out

To start out, I wanted to outline my goals for my public issue so I can stay on track with my project.

1. Raise public awareness.

One of the biggest issues with eating disorders is that most people don’t understand them (although they may think they do) and this hinders peoples advancement towards treatment and recovery. We as a society have a duty to educate ourselves on prominent mental health issues such as eating disorders so we can handle them in the most effective way possible.

2. Prompt people to get help.

This sort of goes in accordance with my first goal as it deals with educating people about symptoms of eating disorders and methods of treatment. In my interviews I asked two former sufferers of anorexia and bulimia what the hardest part was about overcoming an eating disorder. They both had the same answer: realizing you have a problem. This has been said time and time again by alcoholics and drug addicts alike and it rings true for eating disorders as well. Presenting people with the right information to prompt the realization that they may have a life-threatening disorder, is a major part of getting people recovered and saving lives.

3. Gaining greater recognition from the government.

Another obstacle in the fight against eating disorders is insufficient recognition and funding from government. Anorexia nervosa has the highest mortality rate of any mental illness. It is crucial that our government recognizes the gravity of this disease and start to provide adequate funding.Bills such as the FREED (Federal Response to Eliminate Eating Disorders) Act would:

  • Expand research into prevention and treatment of eating disorders
  • Improve the training and education of health care providers and educators on eating disorders
  • Improve national monitoring and data collection on the prevalence of eating disorders
  • Take steps to prevent eating disorders by developing evidence-based prevention programs
  • Provide additional avenues for effective and affordable treatment of eating disorders

(http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/04/30/al-franken-sponsors-eatin_n_559042.html)

 

Moving the Masses

In taking this course on “Writing for the Public”, my goal is to learn how to communicate effectively with a large audience, through researching and writing about public issues. I also hope to use various technological mediums as platforms, since the Internet serves as the customary source of information for the general public today. Being an 18 year old with an iPhone, my greatest contributions to the online community are relatively mundane tweets and Facebook statuses. However, I hope that in this course I will be able to learn how to compose more polished, professional pieces and in turn become a more skilled writer. I hope to challenge myself in improving my writing style to become more articulate, persuasive, and relevant to public interest. Although my major is undecided at this point, I believe that being a skilled writer is a crucial skill in any profession.  -Anna