Claire is a 12 year old (nearly 13 now) 7th grader from Central Illinois. She wrote this amazing piece on eating disorders. It’s such a powerful and insightful paper and it’s written by a tweenager. Next week we’ll post another paper written by her twin on bullying that is equally insightful.

Cause and Effect Essay on Eating Disorders

Having an eating disorder is not something to joke about. It is a serious problem caused by many things that go on around the world everyday. Just in the United States of America, 20 million women and 10 million men suffer from an eating disorder at some point in their life. Eating disorders do not typically show up out of the blue; they are caused by many things. Eating disorders such as Anorexia Nervosa or Bulimia Nervosa can be influenced by even the smallest thing. Things such as a negative or insulting comment at school, low self esteem, poor body image, dysfunctional family setting, troubled relationships, inability to express emotions, depression, anxiety, bullying, genes, wanting to be exceedingly great at a sport, or even the media can be the cause of someone to develop an eating disorder. There are five categories that the causes can fall into: psychological, social, biological, environmental, and interpersonal.

Psychological eating disorders are eating disorders caused by negative thoughts. A teenager could see a picture of a model on Instagram and in a split second feel like they need to look just like that, but then they realize they do not look like that. This could cause low self esteem. Psychological eating disorders can be triggered by almost anything. One negative comment could break someone. The leading cause of an eating disorder is bullying. The words that the bullies say can really hurt someone and the person that is being bullied could start to believe the horrible words that the bully is saying.

Another type of eating disorder is social. Social eating disorders are eating disorders caused by things that are going on in the world everyday. This can include the small things like seeing a very athletic and thin student at school and then thinking that everyone has to look like that. Never compare yourself to anyone or anything. Everyone is made a certain way and everyone is unique. “Cultural norms value people on the basis of physical appearance and not inner qualities and strengths; stress related to racial, ethnic, size/weight-related or other forms of discrimination or prejudice,” (Factors That May Contribute To Eating Disorders, 2016). In society today, in general, people care more about what someone looks like instead of focusing on inner beauty and someone’s personality or character. Social eating disorders are also largely influenced by the media. Cyberbullying can cause people to think poorly about themselves but even seeing pictures of models can cause negative thoughts. Teens do not notice that the people in magazines or online are photoshopped and wear special makeup to look a certain way.

Genetics can also play a large role in the chance of having an eating disorder. This is a part of biological eating disorders. If a parent has had an eating disorder such as Type-2 diabetes, then the likelihood of the children having an eating disorder is high. If a parent had an eating disorder, there is a 56% chance that the offspring will too. If a baby was not supplied with the proper nutrients that he needed to function properly, then later in life there is a chance that he will grow up to have an eating disorder.  

Environmental eating disorders are caused by living and working environments. Environmental eating disorders can be caused by someone’s work or home life. If someone is being abused, they might develop small habits that lead to eating disorders. Another cause of an environmental eating disorder could be a dysfunctional family setting. This could include anything from abuse to parents fighting constantly. Neglection is also another leading cause of environmental eating disorders. Work settings also have a large impact on eating disorders. The job of playing professional softball will include a lot of physical activity and typically athletes need to be healthy, muscular, and thin. If a player does not feel they are in that size range, they might start to starve themself. Another job that could cause employees to develop an eating disorder is a modeling job. Models for most famous companies are thin, tall, and photoshopped. Never starve yourself for a job. It is not worth it. Models are photoshopped to look a certain way.

The last category is interpersonal eating disorders. Interpersonal could be anything going on in someone’s personal life.  “Troubled personal relationships; difficulty expressing emotions and feelings; history of being teased or ridiculed based on size or weight; history of physical or sexual abuse” (Factors That May Contribute To Eating Disorders, 2016) are some causes of interpersonal eating disorders. If someone can not express emotions, they will feel trapped and then possibly develop depression or anxiety, which are causes and symptoms of any eating disorder. Bullying is another major cause of any eating disorder but especially interpersonal. Bullies have a tendency to get inside people’s head and this can trigger an interpersonal eating disorder.

The five main categories of eating disorders are psychological, social, biological, environmental, and interpersonal. Within those five categories, there are more specific causes. These may include low self esteem, poor body image, depression, anxiety, bullying, abuse, lack of ability to express emotion, troubled relationships, genetics, and even the media. If you notice these things in anyone, talk to a trusted adult. Never compare yourself to anyone or anything because you were made just the way you are and that is perfect.