Trigger warning: this article contains content pertaining to eating disorders and disordered eating.
Eating disorders are a rampant problem in young girls that carries into adulthood. Despite over 28 million Americans experiencing an eating disorder at some point during their lives, only a third of people ever receive treatment. And that grand total is only the people that can admit that they have an eating disorder. Why is this issue not talked about like it should be?
Several months ago, I scheduled an appointment with a therapist. I was just there to vent about everything going on in my life. The therapist asked me questions about my life: who I lived with, my relationships, my thoughts, my feelings and my lifestyle.
I told her how I had lost a lot of weight during the pandemic and felt insecure about it, but did not want to eat more because I was afraid of gaining weight. After a little prying, I admitted to obsessively counting calories and having an intense fear of gaining weight. I told her about cutting entire food groups from my diet and my absolute refusal to eat anything with sugar in it.
“Yeah, you have an eating disorder,” is what the therapist told me.
I was quick to deny it—I had never made myself throw up or gone days without eating. And besides, all of my friends in college were the same way. They all did these things and they did not have eating disorders. It is common for girls to be careful about their figures.
Every girl I knew, no matter what weight she was, was insecure about their body in some way. But the therapist was quick to correct me again. Apparently, my friends had unhealthy eating habits as well.
Eating disorders are something that is so normalized in young girls and women that oftentimes we do not even realize that we have them. Why?
Perhaps one of the reasons that young women do not realize that their eating habits are unhealthy and even dangerous is because nobody has told them otherwise. They might be like me and had gone through my entire young adulthood without anyone stopping me and telling me, “What you are doing is not healthy.”
And in a world where other girls had the exact same habits, why would I think there was something amiss? Perhaps it was because I was thin that nobody saw a problem. Our society is unfortunately conditioned to see thin as healthy even when it is not. I was thin, but the measures I had taken to be that way were unhealthy. I did not understand that, however, because the world had told me that being thin was more important than my health or my happiness.
I saw it every day when fad diets were promoted on the television, when models promoted their “tummy tea” on social media and when excessive fitness culture became popular. So many of these campaigns were targeted towards young women and told them a terrible message: you will not be happy or respected until you are thin. There is no mention online on how to become a healthy weight in a healthy way. Oftentimes, women are at a healthy weight in the first place but become convinced that they are not. This leads to unhealthy eating habits, and once they start they are very difficult to stop.
Then comes comparison. Comparison is our worst enemy, especially when body image is involved. It is obvious that not all women are built the same; we come in different heights, weights and shapes. However, you are born is how you are meant to be and you are absolutely beautiful because you are you. But when all we see on social media and on-screen are women of the same thin body type, we forget this important truth.
It becomes a problem when all of the women that we see have the same body type because it makes us feel that it is the only acceptable body type. This is why it is so important to have body diversity. It is also important for women to be transparent when the body they present is unrealistic.
An example of this is Kendall Jenner. Back in February, Jenner posted photos and videos from a SKIMS lingerie photoshoot. She is seen posing in one picture wearing a red thong and matching bra. Jenner’s thin, “unreal” looking figure caused body image issues in fans that became so intense Jenner herself had to release a statement.
However, in a video released to promote the line, Jenner’s body looks noticeably different. In another video, there are glitches in the background, leading fans to believe that Jenner photoshopped herself. It becomes a problem when women aspire to have a body that is actually a fantasy. They will sacrifice their health for something unattainable.
It is reported that most eating disorders develop between the ages of 18-21. These are the college years for most women and also the first time a woman becomes independent. She is now responsible for providing her own meals and making time to eat them.
The shift from living with parents who provide meals and enforce mealtimes to living alone and being responsible for making one’s own meals can be difficult. College students will claim to be “too busy to eat” or intentionally skip dinner before putting on a party dress in the hopes of looking thinner. The fear of the “freshman 15” is drilled into girls’ heads before they even get to campus. Being surrounded by others who share the same eating habits can instill the belief that this not only normal but expected.
These issues are unfortunately common, but they do not have to go unsolved. We can start by accepting when we have a problem and making effort to fix it. Since my own revelation, I have started to improve my eating habits. I have increased my caloric intake and am working hard to gain back the weight I had lost.
When we hear others comparing their bodies to others or see them practicing unhealthy eating habits, we need to start a conversation on how dangerous it can be. We need to educate others on eating disorders and unhealthy habits. An eating disorder comes in many shapes and forms and is serious no matter what it looks like. All bodies are beautiful. All women deserve to feel happy and healthy in their own skin.