Eating disorders no longer discriminate

By Tedra Coakley

April 4, 2008

 

 
Photo provided by blackwomenshealth.org 

Many Americans have had high standards when it comes to weight, but now, it seems to be turning into an obsession. 

 

And if that’s not bad enough, the media have discovered and exploited this.  There are references to weight all over television, radio, print, and the Internet.  It may seem that much of the media are just feeding the needs of Americans, but, in retrospect, they are feeding a disease that consumes more and more Americans everyday.

 

“Black people don’t have eating disorders,” said Beatrice Heyward, a 22-year-old African-American from Charleston, S.C.

That’s what many African-Americans believe when it comes to eating disorders.  A middle- or upper-class white female is the stereotypical media image of an individual with an eating disorder. But, recently, reports of eating disorders in women of color have increased and are continuing to rise.  Researchers and therapists have indicated that now, minority women are just as likely as white women to develop an eating disorder.                        
“I think that we’re right behind Caucasians or No.1,” says Whitney Tucker, 21, a nursing major at Hampton University.  Stress and “not embracing our body type,” are two of the causes she mentions.

Defining Eating Disorders

There are three types of eating disorders: anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa and binge-eating disorder, explained the Web site, www.healthline.com.

  • Anorexia is a psychological disease that is characterized by a distortion of body image and an obsessive fear of weight gain.
  • Bulimia is characterized by compulsive eating followed by deliberate purging, the use of laxatives or excessive exercise in order to prevent weight gain.
  • Binge eating, which resembles bulimia, is characterized by eating excessive amounts of food at one time until one is physically uncomfortable.  Binge eating differs from bulimia in that there is an absence of purging.

 

  

 

Photo provided by faqs.org

  A young female examines her weight loss.
 

The Facts

In the PBS documentary “Dying to Be Thin,” on NOVA, which aired on Dec. 12, 2000, Drs. Marian L. Fitzgibbon and Melinda R. Stolley of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Northwestern University Medical School, said that bulimia and binge eating are more common than anorexia.

 

Fitzgibbon and Stolley have also found that standard rates in females with bulimia are 1 to 3 percent and one half percent for those with anorexia. Binge eating ranges from 5 to 8 percent in obese individuals in communities.

In a Sept. 20, 2005 article from the New York Times, Ruth Striegel-Moore, professor and chairwoman of the Psychology Department at Wesleyan University, said, “Minority women are not getting treated.  It’s very clear from my studies that black American women do experience eating disorders, but doctors and therapists still operate under the assumption that they don’t; therefore, they aren’t prepared to deal with them clinically.”

 

Gayle Brooks, an African-American psychologist specializing in eating disorders at the Renfrew Center in Coconut Creek, Fla., said that because medical experts believed that minorities were “immune” to developing an eating disorder, there have not been a lot of studies conducted on them.  In the past, most studies have focused on white females.

 

“More attention should be paid to minorities as well so in the future they can diagnose them right,” said Anahita Tipnis, a 20-year-old Asian Indian from Charleston, S.C.

 

According to the South Carolina Department of Mental Health, out of all mental illnesses, people with eating disorders have the highest mortality rate.  In an article published in Essence magazine on Jan. 1, 1994, it was reported that 53.5 percent of their respondents, who were black females, are at risk for developing an eating disorder.

 

The January 2000 Archives of Family Medicine Journal, Vol. 9, says that black females are more likely to control their weight through fasting and the use of laxatives and/ or diuretics than white females.  According to Striegel-Moore, they are also as likely to report binge eating as whites.

African-Americans and the Media

Traditionally, African-American females have been thought to have some protection against eating disorders because of a greater acceptance of larger body size in the African-American community, says Brooks.

 

Many black women have a greater appreciation for their bodies and having curves is something that is celebrated in the black community, says Shannette Harris, an associate professor of clinical psychology at the University of Rhode Island.  

 

Photo provided by CNN

Appearance is emphasized in this showcase of popular magazines.

 

But as American media exploit America’s obsession with weight and glorify youth and appearance, black women feel the need to fit into that category. 

 

 “Americans and much of the western world are not only obsessed with weight but with appearance in general, which feeds into the focus on the external rather than the internal qualities a person has,” says Carolyn Hersh, a mental health counselor who runs a National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Eating Disorders (ANAD) group in Norfolk, Va.  “I would say that much of the media impact actually has to do with advertisers.   Advertisers fuel unrealistic expectations in order to get us to buy their products.  They show us what we don’t have—the “perfect” and therefore unrealistic body, or relationship, or material things—and then imply that their product will give us those things.  And the assumption is that if we have those things, we will feel better about ourselves.”

Some of those women believe that being thin will help them fit into mainstream America.  As the media diversify, they are incorporating images of thin minorities alongside with their white counterparts.

 

 

 

Photo provided by the-leaders-edge.com

A businesswoman takes a break with her     white counterparts.

  

“I think it’s a terrible epidemic,” says Shona Lewis, 21, a student at Hampton University from Closter, N.J. “Our African-American community is already dying down from AIDS.  It’s sad that they’re getting caught up in eating disorders."

The Causes

We don’t really know specifically what “causes” an eating disorder other than it is some combination of environment, personality, and biology, says Hersh.  Eating disorders are symptoms.  They are the way that some people find to manage their issues around control, perfectionism, people-pleasing, lack of assertiveness, fear of rejection and a myriad of other things.”

 

According to the National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA), eating disorders develop from issues stemming deeper than just food and weight.  For many, eating disorders can develop in individuals who feel that they lack control in some aspect of their lives.  Food becomes the only thing that they can control.

 

 “In my opinion, it takes a whole series of events to come together to produce an anorexic child or bulimic child,” says Susan Joseph, a therapist in Hampton, Va. “One of the main things is parental pressure.  The anorexics I had, had these parents who were intrusive.  They crossed boundaries; they were too involved in the child’s life.” 

 

NEDA offers some of the social, personal and psychological factors can lead to eating disorders.

Social:

  • Cultural interpretations of beauty— most of the mainstream magazines in America, such as Vogue and Cosmopolitan, showcase unrealistic standards and body types in their models.
  • Peer pressure— friends may push those unrealistic standards on you and flaunt their smaller frames.
  • Non-diverse attitudes— people who only have one standard of beauty and look down on those who look different than them.

Personal:

  • Physical and/or sexual abuse— could lead to low self-esteem and self-worth; negative body image.
  • Ridicule from family and friends— comments and jokes about weight can lead to self-consciousness about one’s body and low self-esteem issues.
  • Family issues— divorce, incarceration, or death can cause stress and lack of control, which could lead one to focus on food, something they can control.
  • Relationship issues— verbal abuse could lead to low self-esteem and self-worth.

Psychological:

  • Stress— could lead to forgetting to eat or not wanting to eat.
  • Trouble with self-esteem— could develop a distorted image of what one should look like.
  • Lack of confidence— low confidence could lead to one’s body image becoming skewed.
  • Lack of control— some turn to food, the only thing they believe they can control.

 

Warning Signs

The Web site www.helpguide.org names some of the warning signs and symptoms of eating disorders.

  • Irritability and moodiness
  • Obsessive habits
  • Wearing baggy clothes
  • Changes in hair, skin and nails
  • Social withdrawal
  • Fatigue
  • Loss or irregularity of menstrual cycle
  • Going to the bathroom after meals
  • Hoarding food
  • Rapid weight loss

 

Some of these can seem like normal adolescent behavior, which is why so many cases of eating disorders can go undetected.  Being aware of these and other symptoms can help someone before it’s too late.

 

Health Consequences

There are many consequences of eating disorders.  If not treated, an eating disorder could lead to death, but before your body reaches that point, it can develop other problems, such as:

  • Low blood pressure— due to a lower body temperature, malnutrition and dehydration.
  • Osteoporosis— due to the depletion of calcium and proteins in the bone.
  • Tooth decay— from stomach acids due to frequent vomiting.
  • Hair loss— caused by stress due to frequent vomiting and lying about it.
  • Liver damage— due to the lack of digestion, in which the liver aids in.
  • Dehydration— lack of fluid intake.
  • Inflammation of the esophagus and ulcers— due to frequent vomiting.
  • Irregular heartbeats— due to an electrolyte imbalance.
  • Heart disease— due to an increase in triglyceride levels.

These and other consequences listed on NEDA’s Web site can be avoided by early detection and immediate treatment.

 

Treatment

Many Web sites and health professionals stress that it is important to seek treatment early on. NEDA also provides information on different treatment options.  Psychological counseling is the most effective in achieving long-term results.  Along with that, nutritional counseling is vital in the recovery.  Other forms of treatment can include support groups, family therapy and/or hospitalization, such as the Renfrew Center, which is the first residential eating disorder treatment center in the United States. 

 

The National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Eating Disorders (ANAD)  offers 250 support groups in the United States, two in Canada and one in China.

 

Now that this disease is becoming more prevalent in all races and cultures, doctors and treatment centers need to do more in diagnosing and treating this problem.  Support groups should also be more prevalent.  Those struggling with eating disorders find it easier to deal with when they find people struggling as well.  Although, ANAD offers many throughout the country, some places have more than others.  For example, there are 19 groups in California, three in Virginia and none in South Carolina, which is the writer’s home state. 

 

“South Carolina has a lot of women with eating disorders too,” says Ronald White, a 21-year-old from McClellanville, S.C.  “Just because Hollywood or Los Angeles has a lot of celebrities doesn’t mean they should have more [support groups].  South Carolina should at least implement a few for now.”

 

While support groups aren’t a substitute for treatment, it’s important that these women have a sort of safe haven to go to.  Aside from treatment, the media need to take their focus off of weight and appearance.  As clichéd as it sounds, what’s inside is more important than what’s on the outside.  This may be the first step in preventing the development of a potential eating disorder.

 

It’s important for young girls and women, especially African-Americans, to know that they are not alone.  Thousands of people just like them struggle with this life-threatening disease everyday, but many have overcome this battle and many more will after first being honest with themselves and seeking treatment.

   

Sources

Brodey, Denise. (2005). Blacks Join the Eating-Disorder Mainstream. The New York

            Times.

Dohm, Faith-Anne, et al. (2000). Recurrent Binge Eating in Black American Women.

            Archives of Family Medicine, 9, 83-87.

Fitzgibbon, Marian L. & Melinda R. Stolley. (2000). Minority Women: The Untold

            Story. Retrieved September 16, 2007 from http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/thin/.

 

www.anad.org

 www.edreferral.com

 www.healthline.com

 www.helpguide.org

 www.nationaleatingdisorders.org

 www.psychcentral.com

 www.state.sc.us/dmh/