Viviana

Global Womens Health

August 3, 2016
The Effects Of An Eating Disorder On Womens Health
To lose confidence in ones body is to lose confidence in oneself.
- Simone de Beauvoir
Eating disorders have an effect on the different parts of a woman's life.
Even though there are various types of eating disorder they have similar
effects. An eating disorder can be the result of bullying, abuse, society,
media, or other various reasons. Two types of disorders are Anorexia Nervosa
and Bulimia Nervosa. A person will starve themselves or even have
themselves eat an overwhelming amount of food and force themselves to
vomit. When women have an eating disorder they can suffer from problems in their
mental, social, and physical health.
The most obvious way that women are affected by eating disorders is
in their physical health. Eating disorders can cause many illnesses. In some
cases they have caused death. Health problems include heart failure, high
blood pressure, and many others. Women with anorexia nervosa can also
develop a type of hair called lanugo. Lanugo is a soft, fine, white hair that
grows to help keep the body warm. With an eating disorder an abnormal
amount of body fat is lost. When this happens, it is hard for the body to stay
at a normal temperature and that is the purpose of lanugo. This grows on the
arms and chest of a person. All of this shows how much a woman puts
herself through just to achieve the ideal body. Their body alone goes

through a lot of physical stress and can lead to other types of stress. These
physical effects can turn into long-term health problems such as
osteoporosis. Their health may never be the same if they are not treated right
away. It also depends on the type of health problem that is developed.
Eating disorders may seem of little importance but they help us
understand an aspect of mental health concerns in women. women. A
womans mental health affects their emotions and their own being. When
women stop eating and have inadequate nutrition, their brain does not function
correctly. Since the woman is not eating enough food their brain does not
have enough nutrients to act properly. They can start to have trouble in any
brain activity such as just thinking. The woman can start to develop anxiety
and even depression. Women with an eating disorder may find it hard to even have
a simple conversation with another person. The women start to have negative thoughts
towards themselves. They start to tell themselves that they don't look good enough and
sometimes contemplate suicide. They start to look at their disorders in another way.
They usually will not want anyone to help them and push people away. They just want to
be left alone and think that everything is perfectly normal. This affects the second part of
their health which is their social health and how they interact with society.
It is a possibility that an eating disorder can affect a womans social health as
well. This involves the people they talk to, spend time with, and even the social media
platforms they choose to include themselves in. Women are influenced by social media,
and most of the time it is the opinions of other people. For example, pictures of models
are everywhere in this day and age. Most of the time they are super thin and skinny.

The advertisement may say look at those curves, when in reality the model does not
have any. Not everyone looks like the models and they can make women feel like they
are not beautiful. These women can start to starve themselves just to fit the skinny
ideal. In their eyes, it is completely normal because that is how it is portrayed in the
eyes of advertisements. All body types should be shown off in a positive way. No one
should feel as though they have to conform to society. Their disorder also causes them
to stray away from their own family. They feel as though they have to eat and can
become very angry. They want to remain independent. This is ultimately dangerous
when they have a disorder because they need to seek help as fast as possible and they
do not realize that.
Eating disorders are a very serious and dangerous matter in a womans life.
They can seem like a small problem but end up being one of the most difficult parts of
her life. They cause huge health concerns and makes them overthink their own beauty.
They become very distant from people such as their family and friends. Everything that
goes into an eating disorder makes it very hard for a person. It creates an unnecessary
burden on their life. This makes recovery very hard for each person. Overall, eating
disorders do not have any positive effects on a womans life.

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