Contents:
- Medical Video: My Eating Disorder.
- What is anorexia nervosa?
- What is bulimia nervosa?
- The cynical view of society makes this condition a bad meal
- Is the relationship with anorexia and bulimia?
- What we can do?
Medical Video: My Eating Disorder.
Anorexia and bulimia is two of eating disorders which can happen to everyone. But unfortunately, not many people in Indonesia are quite literate with these two eating disorders. Not only that, research and news about the disruption of eating patterns are also minimal circulating in the community.
However, that does not mean that anorexia and bulimia are zero abnormalities in Indonesia, there is one study involving adolescents in the capital city. As it turned out, 34.8% of teenagers in Jakarta experienced dietary irregularities with a composition of 11.6% experiencing anorexia and 27% experiencing bulimia (Tantiani, 2007).
Although it is still limited to teenagers in Jakarta, as reported by The Jakarta Post, there is a woman who turns out to experience bulimia and does not understand what really happened to her. He claimed that if he felt bad, he would eat sweet foods. After feeling full, he will vomit or use laxatives to empty his stomach contents; everything is done because you don't want to gain weight.
Before reciting the public's view of anorexia and bulimia, it's good to understand a little about these two eating disorders.
What is anorexia nervosa?
Anorexia is a disorder of diet with a characteristic weight loss of about 15% of one's ideal body weight (Nolen-Hoeksema, Fredrickson, Loftus & Wagenaar, 2009). People who have anorexia will continue to eat as usual, however, they reduce their food intake. So, if there is someone who has anorexia, usually they will still have breakfast, lunch and dinner, but there is an extreme reduction in their food rations. It could be that they eat one slice of apple for every breakfast, lunch and dinner. People who have anorexia also tend to do extreme exercise so that their weight can go down (Logue, 1991). Anorexia is usually suffered by adolescents to adults in their 30s, and women tend to experience anorexia compared to men.
What is bulimia nervosa?
Like anorexia, bulimia is a eating disorder with the characteristic that the person will eat a lot of fast food, then spit out all the food he has eaten. People who suffer from bulimia will tend to have a stable weight, this makes bulimia well hidden. However, it is impossible for this abnormal behavior to have no side effects. The use of laxatives, drugs used to empty the bowels, can cause dehydrationbladder infections, etc. Like anorexia, bulimia is commonly experienced by women.
The cynical view of society makes this condition a bad meal
Objective theory states that the environment and culture in which a woman is raised can change the perspective and well-being of the woman (Fredrickso & Roberts, 1997). This theory also states that the environment sees women as objects that are only useful in their interests to satisfy sexual desires for others.
Perhaps, this is too extreme to relate it to the culture that exists in Indonesia, but the implementation of this theory in everyday life is how women see everything that happens to their appearance to please others ("According to him, I'm not beautiful, yes, wear this shirt? ") compared to making him comfortable (" Yea, this shirt is really comfortable, oh yeah, taste."). Self-objectification—The feeling of preoccupation with the appearance of other people's desires, in fact affects women of various ethnic backgrounds (Hebl, King, & Lin, 2004).
Is the relationship with anorexia and bulimia?
There is one study that has been done about relationships self-objectification and eating disorders. This study consisted of students and college students as respondents. The researcher hinted at respondents to change their clothes using a swimsuit or sweater. For both men and women, the use of swimsuits was judged to be in a state of excessive self-awareness so that it could be categorized as self-objectification.
On one of the tests, respondents were asked to eat the cake. Men, both using swimsuits and sweaters, spend all the cakes given to them. However, for women, something strange happened, women in swimsuits did not spend the cake given to them. This happens because women in swimsuits feel too self-consciousand feel ashamed of their bodies. This emerging emotional reaction causes them to restrain eating as a form of "fixing" their body state to be the same as the thin, ideal female culture (Fredrickson, Roberts, Noll, Quinn & Twenge, 1998). This can be the forerunner of anorexia and bulimia that occur in every woman.
The research and data that have been disclosed above may be obtained from research conducted outside Indonesia with many differences from body anatomy, climate, culture, and many other things. However, it does not deny that the views of the people are also able to change the beautiful concept of Indonesian women. White skin, thin body like a model, and many things are implanted from advertisements consumed by the public.
What we can do?
Women are human beings who need to be respected, not only their bodies but their dignity. No one deserves to dictate how women should look. Here is the role of other men or women to continue to tolerate beauty emitted from a woman.
READ ALSO:
- 7 Strange But Real Eating Disorders
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- Signs You Have Binge Eating Disorder Disorders
