Eating Disorders: A Global Phenomenon
Caroline Robinson
Crispy fried chicken. Moist, gooey cake. Lobster ravioli smothered in cream sauce. These delectable foods might sound perfect to most people, but all over the world there are young girls who would turn down this food in a heartbeat because they have been persuaded to eat practically nothing in order to attain conventional beauty. Most people think eating disorders are simply a western phenomenon, but I intend to show how they have begun to overtake the world. Eating disorders are rapidly spreading from the United States into other countries through culture and the media. Several scholars have their own views as to why eating disorders are becoming more globalized. While some focus on cultural and religious practices, others blame the media and new developments in technology that allow speedy, world-wide communication.
Despite the role technology has in the spread of eating disorders all over the world, eating disorders are not just a modern phenomenon. The history of eating disorders can be traced back to the ancient Greeks and Egyptians (Miller & Pumariega 96). There is a culturally common concept, from ancient to modern times, which causes young people aspire to be like their idols. Ancient Egyptians sought to please their gods, and people today look to please rock stars and models. This is why skeleton-like celebrities in the spotlight of the media are such a contributing factor to the rise of eating disorders, today. Miller and Pumariega (2001) discussed how most research suggests that eating disorders continue to be predominantly found among white individuals in Western-oriented countries. However, evidence is now emerging that eating disorders occur in a wide range of ethnic, cultural, and historical precedents (Miller & Pumariega 96).
One example is the rise in the rates of eating disorders in European countries over the past few decades (Miller & Pumariega 99). In Hong Kong and India, anorexia is not induced by a desire to be thin, but rather for religious purposes or eccentric nutritional ideas (Miller & Pumariega 101). This idea of starving oneself for a higher power is actually much more common in both ancient and modern times than most people are aware of. Griffin and Berry (2003) described religious and moralistic motifs that caused eating and dieting issues among several cultures around the world. From “holy anorexia” of the Renaissance-era Catholic Church to modern Christian diet books about avoiding temptation, eating disorders are strongly influenced by religion (Griffin 46). The refusal of food as a form of religious asceticism has existed from Biblical days to the present (Griffin 49). Spiritually motivated asceticism in ancient Eastern religions led to self-starvation that closely resembles modern anorexia nervosa. The concept of original sin and the unworthiness of the human race in the eyes of God increased the appeal of self-renunciation in medieval times (Griffin 45). Self-starvation was a common form of self-renunciation in these times, as well, especially among women. In one instance, there was a Saint called Catherine of Sienna who led a life of extraordinary asceticism. She took a vow of virginity at a young age and began fasting. Catherine regarded her inability to eat as a punishment from God, and she saw her suffering as a trade-off to be forgiven for her sins (Griffin 46).
Just like in the situation of Saint Catherine, various cultures around the world have a unique influence on the people that practice them, which leads to similar cases of inefficient dieting. For example, some early Christian religions in “gnostic cults” practiced intense fasting to speak out against materialism in the name of the Lord (Miller 94). Modern Christian diet books revolve around the themes of body control and avoiding temptation. There is even a theory of Bible-based weight loss. These diet books encourage people to focus on God instead of food in order to keep the weight off, because excessive eating is selfish, and selfishness is a sin (Griffin 48). One particular book called the Weigh Down Diet compares the release from the “slavery of diets” to the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt. This book is associated with a global workshop that has locations in 70 countries. Their mission statement is to “help people understand how God can change their hearts so that they can be delivered from the slavery of yielding to the world and its temptations (Griffin 49).”
This modern religious theory is contradicted by some experts who believe anorexia was rampant in the beginning of the 20th century due to the materialism of that age (Miller 95), as opposed to religious reasons. The images that the media promote reflect global society’s changing moral ideology. We have moved from the church as a creator of a largely rural, agrarian culture to advertising and mass media as the creator of a largely urban consumer culture (Griffin 54). There are historical, religious, and cultural links between holy anorexics and contemporary anorexics (Griffin 54). Eating disorders have recently become a subject of discussion in several countries for these purposes.
Today, doctors attribute the rise of eating disorders in Asia to the media as the use of diet pills and supplements increases drastically. Infomercials for weight-losing products are successfully convincing girls that they need diet pills to aid them in their quest to be thin (Efron p. 1). The media is also playing a huge part in convincing young girls that they must be thin to be beautiful. This concept has spread from the West, all the way to high-fashion countries like Japan, and other Asian countries like China, Singapore, and the Philippines. Doctors in these countries fear that advertising, movies, and television are spreading the message that girls should spend any amount of money and do whatever it takes to attain the “ideal” body type. Dr. Si Hyung Lee describes his most memorable case, of a girl who died from respiratory failure. She was the daughter of two doctors, but, even with all of their medical expertise, they failed to notice that their daughter had anorexia simply because it was unheard of in Korea. This, says Dr. Lee, is proof that eating disorders are going global (Efron 3). It is also a good reason to make the world more aware of the dangers involved.
This situation with Dr. Lee’s patient is a good example of the affect the media have on both models and typical girls in their decisions to use dieting pills, expensive remedies, or resort to self-starvation. In the past decade, the percentage of women in Asia with eating disorders has risen to rival that of the United States. “Thin is in and fat is out,” says Doctor Ken Ung of the National University Hospital in Singapore. One of his recent cases involved a girl who died at 21-years-old and 70 pounds. He described her story sadly: she was an educated University student, with a world of possibilities open to her (Efron 3), and yet another example of the importance in educating countries around the world on ways to handle eating disorders. Situations like the one that Dr. Ung described are causing experts in Asia to debate whether these problems are influenced by Western customs that infect Asia through the globalized fashion, music, and entertainment media, or if they are a generic ailment of affluence, modernization, and the conflicting demands now placed on young women. Regardless, dieting has become a fashion. In Asia, it is necessary to be thin in order to fit into trendy clothes. They only make the most fashionable clothes in one size, the American equivalent of a size 4. Park Sung Hye, a fashion editor for a popular style magazine, says that companies do this so that only skinny people will wear their clothes, and the clothes will always look good (Efron 4).
However, others argue from the perspective that eating disorders are socially constructed realities (Griffin 44). The people and media that a person is exposed to directly influence their opinions, rather than their decisions. Advertising plays a crucial role in the culture of consumption, and it plays a role in subtly changing consumer needs and channeling this desire into products. Today’s fashion, entertainment, and publishing industries have bombarded women with role models that set impossible standards for physical attractiveness. Fashion models weigh about 23% less than the average woman. The social norms for attractiveness are presented in women’s magazines as an ideal slender shape (Griffin 49). While women's magazines do run articles about the dangers of dieting, in the same issue they run stories about how to lose weight," said Kozo Shimosaka, a Japanese psychiatrist who studies eating disorders (Efron 1). Any advertisements for weight loss are contradicted by ads for fattening foods that are sold by rail-thin models (Griffin 50). The media is filled with mixed, culturally charged messages about what women should do or not do.
Most anorexics have turned the disease into an art form, knowing exactly how to make it appear that they are eating more than they actually are in an attempt to disguise their problem. Many people assume that a women’s decision to become anorexic revolves completely around her making a logical decision, but Richardson argues that it is a psychiatric disorder, and thinks that society should stop treating eating disorders like a “fad” (Richardson p.2). Steinhausen (2002) performed a study of anorexia and bulimia that took place in Germany and England, and he found that many people have psychiatric disorders in addition to their eating disorders (Steinhausen p.1284). Among the German and English participants, it was found that psychiatric disorders are likely the cause of the eating disorders. Young people become obsessive compulsive about what they eat, or they have unusual anxieties and phobias (Steinhausen p.1287).
In recent decades, respiratory failure, kidney problems, and heart attacks in young models have become common. Had they eaten healthier, these models wouldn’t have experienced these ailments for at least 30 years. The media gives young people the idea that it is necessary to be pretty and thin in order to be successful. However, in the case of Ana Carolina Reston, a 21-year-old Brazilian model, being thin came at a high price. Reston died following complications from kidney problems due to anorexia and bulimia. Other models, like Eliana Ramos, have died of heart attacks, an ailment that usually only affects older people (Richardson p.1). An Israeli model died recently and left behind a corpse that was about the weight of a seven-year old child (Richardson p.1). These events are serving as eye-openers to both governmental and health care professionals.
The recent deaths of models have sparked new ideas. Legislations are beginning to be proposed in several countries to regulate standards for the size of models in order to avoid early deaths in young ladies (Richardson p.1). This topic was proposed in order to study the effect of culture and media on the development of eating disorders around the world. Action is being taken in countries such as Spain, Australia, and America. The Council on Fashion Designers of America is fighting this legislation, which would control the height and weight of models and enact weight restrictions for companies to hire them. A bill proposed by Jose Rivera and commonly referred to as the “Skinny Model” bill, states that a model’s body mass index should be regulated by law. The president of the Council was quoted as saying that the government would be involved in regulating the size of models “over my dead body.” Rivera, however, argues that the point of his legislation is that “we don’t want any more dead bodies” (Richardson p.1).
Some experts argue that analyzing eating disorders in the context of globalization helps explain their increased prevalence in society and is also a key factor in overcoming the problems encountered in prevention and treatment (Edquist). The fact that eating disorders are a global phenomenon suggests the problem is bigger than anyone thought. Research from a global perspective seems like the best way to conquer this health hazard.
References
Edquist, K. (2004, March). Globalizing pathologies? Eating disorders and the global deterritorialization of authority. Retrieved March 31, 2008, from the All Academic Research website: http://www.allacademic.com/meta/p87726_index.html.
Efron, S. (1997, October 18). Women's eating disorders go global. The Los Angeles Times.
Griffin, J. & Berry, E.M. (2003). A modern day holy anorexia? Religious language in advertising and anorexia nervosa in the west. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 57, 43-51.
Miller, M.N., & Pumariega, A.J. (2001). Culture and eating disorders: A historical and cross-cultural review. Psychiatry 64. 2, 93-110.
Richardson, Rachel (2007, November 23). Food, fat, and feminism. Retrieved January 25, 2008, from The-F-Word website: http://the-f-word.org/blog/index.php/2007/11/23/another- fashion-model-dies-of-anorexia-the-world-yawns.
Steinhausen, H.C. (2002).The outcome of anorexia nervosa in the 20th century. Am J Psychiatry.159, 1284-1293.
