Food as Our Enemy?

There had been many cases of eating disorder among teenagers or young adult. Most cases include bulimia and anorexia nervosa. They can affect anyone. Once thought to be a problem of the wealthy, eating disorders are now considered to be common in all racial, social, and economic levels. Even the number of men being diagnosed is increasing, causing Newsweek magazine to call eating disorders “equal-opportunity plunderers."

What is especially alarming, though, is that the average age of those being treated for eating disorders appears to be getting lower. There are cases of girls younger than 10, some cases involving those as young as 6 years of age having this problem of eating properly.

Eating disorders affect millions—primarily girls and young women. They don’t think about food or use food the way the majority of people do. Instead of eating when they’re hungry, eating for nutrition and good health, eating for pleasure, or eating to share good times with others, they get into bizarre relationships with food and do things that aren’t considered ‘normal’—such as developing odd rituals before they allow themselves to eat, or needing to immediately rid their bodies of the food they’ve eaten.

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