The+new+eating+disorders

-The new eating disorders** by: Ragni Haukaas
 * Orthorexia and Megarexia

In the society of today, most of us care a lot about our body and health. Most likely, this is a result of the growth in information about such issues, mainly through media and nutrition experts. Many people will say this is a positive progress, because it makes it easier for us to keep a healthy diet, take care of our health and actually avoid a number of diseases. But there is also a backside to all this. First of all, most sources of information have their own picture of what is healthy and what is not, resulting in us getting all kinds of different information. No wonder we get confused! Still, the most serious issue may be all the body fixation that will evolve if we care too much about what we eat and how much we work out. In worst cases, this can lead to various eating disorders.



The most common eating disorders are called Anorexia and Bulimia. They are also the most fatal, and can cause serious inner injuries, which again can result in death. But even though these disorders are the ones that most people associate with the word eating disorders, they are not the only ones. In later years, there has been a lot of focus on two new eating disorders, namely Orthorexia and Megarexia. Parallel with the growth in body fixation, these disorders are becoming bigger and bigger problems. -

Orthorexia, which was described for the first time in 1997 by the English Dr. Steven Bratman, is often referred to as the fourth eating disorder. The condition is different from both Anorexia and Bulimia, because an orthorectic does not desire a thin body, he/she just wants to keep a healthy diet. The disorder is most common among young girls from families with a lot of recourses. Research shows that the reason that these girls are exposed may be the pressure of being “a good girl”. The girls may consider eating healthy food as a part of living up to these expectations. Of course there is nothing wrong with minding your diet and make sure to eat healthy food. But when you become unable to enjoy your food and start counting every calorie, it may be the first signs of Orthorexia.

It is not easy to tell the difference from when a person is just being healthy, and when she is starting to develop Orthorexia. There has not been enough research on this condition to call it a diagnosis, but some main characteristics on a person in the danger-zone of getting Orthorexia are: • She is obsessed with healthy food • She plans every meal many days in advance • She cares more about the nutrient content of the food than the pleasure of eating • She avoids to go out eating with friends • She makes her own ideas of what is healthy and unhealthy and keeps diets based on this



Orthorexia does mainly cause mental issues. A girl who suffers from Orthorexia will for instance often isolate herself socially. The fact that she is unable to eat at restaurants with other people, will most likely make them consider her as anti-social. Her obsession with food will also often keep her from living a normal life. Instead of living up to the saying: "a healthy soul in a healthy body", she has "a disordered soul in a healthy body". In serious cases of Orthorexia, it can also lead to malnutrition and a too low BMI (body mass index). This can make her body look almost anorectic, even though that was not what she wanted! -

Megarexia mostly strike teenage boys with bad self-confidence, and the goal for a megarectic is to increase his muscle mass as much as possible. Even though it is called the eating disorder among boys, it is kind of wrong to refer to it as an eating disorder. Because the main focus of a megarectic is on training and how the body looks on the outside, the experts call it a disorder of the body-image.

This disorder starts with a boy who wants to expand his work out to achieve bigger and more noticeable muscles. The reason is often that he is not comfortable with his body. He may also be displeased with other things about him self and thinks that working out can be a solution to his problems. But of course there can also be simpler reasons, such as getting stronger or trying to live up to an ideal body mass. As long as this boy is training on a healthy level without overdoing it, there is nothing wrong with working out a bit more. It is when he gets addicted to it an unable to control the training that he is starting to develop Megarexia.



Like an anorectic, a person who suffers from Megarexia will never get pleased with his own body. No matter how big and muscular he is, he can look in the mirror and see himself as small and slender. Some megarectics even avoid using slim clothes so that no one can see their “skinny” bodies. Training will take up a lot of a megrectic’s time, and just like in an Ortorectic scenario, this will most likely damage his social life. But Megarexia can also cause physical damage. Not only because excessive training can overcharge the body, but also because the fact that a lot of people who suffer from Megarexia take other remedies than training in use to achieve what they see as “the perfect body”. It may start with innocent stuff, like protein shakes, but in many cases the temptation of using more powerful devices, like anabolic steroids, get to overwhelming. For a megarectic, this is really hard to resist.



If a person has gone as far as using steroids, the body is really exposed to damage, the side effects are countless. It can cause physical injuries, like heart problems, sterility and such. But the male hormones that are injected to the body can also cause psychological imbalance, which can in the worst cases lead to mental breakdown and, in fact, suicide. -

What may be the trickiest part with both Megarexia and Orthorexia is the fact that they are so hard to discover. It is not easy to locate the limit between being a healthy person and being ill. Also, even though other people may suspect that a boy or a girl has Orthorexia or Megarexia, it is not an easy task to make them realize that they have a problem. But if they do, it is always possible to get help so they can start working towards a normal and healthy lifestyle.

But what is being healthy and what is being ill? Of course it is important to eat healthy food and make sure you keep your body fit. Without this we would get lazy and un-concentrated. But if we let working out and eating right control our lives, it has clearly gone way too far. Some people say that not to care about body and health is even more dangerous than develop an eating disorder, while others consider the eating disorders as the most serious issue. I think the hardest thing to do is the right thing to do when it comes to this, namely to find a balance between being healthy and fit, and being able to relax and eat what you want.

Sources:

Bratman, Steven. (2003) //Original Essay on Orthorexia// URL: http://www.orthorexia.com/index.php?page=essay

Eiring, Øystein.(08.05.2008) //Er det å være overdrevent opptatt av sunn mat en sykdom?// URL: http://www.helsebiblioteket.no/Psykisk%2bhelse/15160.cms

Næss, Trine Melheim. //Megareksi: Kroppsbildeforstyrrelse blant gutter// URL: http://www.ung.no/spisef/1580_Megareksi:_Kroppsbildeforstyrrelse_blant_gutter.html

//Unge jenter blir syke av helsetrend// URL: http://www.ung.no/mat/1311_Unge_jenter_blir_sjuke_av_helsetrend.html