Fortunately, we live in an era where more and more people have begun to promote a ‘normal’ and natural body and other body positive messages to encourage teenagers (and people of all ages) to love themselves. However, this is not as simple as you might think, as there are still a lot of people who are struggling to have a healthy relationship with food and their own body image.
In fact, it’s quite difficult to change someone’s perception when they have been affected by social media all this time. As you already know, social media promotes certain body types and beauty standards that are considered ideal. So, out of the desire to be accepted in society and liked by the people around us, we tend to achieve that ideal of beauty by making enormous sacrifices, such as not eating in order to become as skinny as possible.
Unfortunately, in most societies around the world, one of the most common beauty standards is to have a skinny body. This subtle urge is also encouraged by the modeling industries, as the models have thin bodies, whether they are men or women.
Hence, as a consequence of these beauty standards that alter your body image, more and more people (especially teenagers) are gradually developing an eating disorder. According to medical experts, the most common eating disorders nowadays are anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa and binge eating. In the United States, about 20 million women and 10 million men suffer from eating disorders.
Anorexia nervosa is characterized by an abnormally low body weight, the fear of gaining weight and by extreme efforts to stay skinny. Bulimia nervosa is characterized by eating normal (or large) amounts of foods, but purging after (by vomiting or taking laxatives to get rid of the food consumed). Binge eating refers to the consumption of a large amount of food, but in a short period of time – these episodes are recurrent and can be life-threatening. According to statistics, binge eating is the most common eating disorder in the United States.
Nevertheless, even though these beauty standards are instilled by social media and famous people, it doesn’t mean that they have not been affected by these eating disorders as well. In fact, being the center of attention, under the microscope and followed by the paparazzi all the time can be overwhelming. So, paradoxically, our stars are more vulnerable and prone to developing eating disorders in order to stay in shape.
Here are some celebrities who have struggled with an eating disorder. Read on for more info!
