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Education Body image – eating disorders

Body image – eating disorders

Fall semester topics

Body image – eating disorders

“Eating problems fall within a broad range of eating-related feelings, attitudes, and behaviors. Consider the following continuum:

confidence about body shape/size; flexible eating – – preoccupation with body shape/size and eating – – distress about body shape/size and eating – – eating disorders

Body image confidence is characterized by mostly positive feelings about your body shape and size. In this range, your body is seen as a good part of you that can help you enjoy life. For body confident people, all foods are seen as fitting into an overall healthy diet, without feeling that some foods are “good” and some “bad.” Given the messages we all receive daily about what we “should” look like, it can be challenging to maintain your place at this end of the continuum.

Preoccupation with body shape/size and eating involves frequently thinking about food, eating, and your body. In this range of the continuum, you may find yourself thinking about what you ate at your last meal and feeling that you’ll need to “make up for it.” You may be a little inflexible about what you “allow” yourself to eat. There may be moments where you feel guilty or bad for what you’ve eaten. In addition, you may not like the way certain parts of your body look or you may consistently feel that you could lose a few pounds. In general, however, these feelings do not interfere with enjoying life and engaging in situations involving food.
íbr> Eating or Body Image Distress refers to a level where your preoccupation with eating and body size/shape does interfere with daily interactions and activities. You may find yourself thinking a great deal about food or your looks. In this range of the continuum, you may be fairly rigid in your eating patterns, you may work hard to change your body size/shape, and/or you may do some compensating for eating (e.g. vomiting, fasting, extreme exercising). Typically, however, you will not have experienced a significant amount of weight loss.

Eating Disorders most commonly refer to Anorexia Nervosa, Bulimia Nervosa, and Binge Eating Disorder.
– Anorexia Nervosa involves a significant fear of gaining weight or becoming fat and a restriction of food intake to the point of significant weight loss. Women with Anorexia Nervosa stop menstruating. People who struggle with Anorexia Nervosa may or may not engage in compensating behaviors such as extreme exercising.

– Bulimia Nervosa involves binge eating episodes during which the person eats large amounts of food and feels unable to control the eating. The person may also engage in behaviors (e.g., vomiting, use of laxatives, over exercising) to try to offset food eaten. Bulimia Nervosa describes a pattern where cycles of binge eating and compensating occur at least twice a week for three months. People struggling with Bulimia Nervosa often evaluate themselves extremely critically on the basis of their body shape and weight.

– Binge Eating Disorder describes a pattern where binge eating occurs at least 2 days a week for a 6 month period, but without compensating behaviors.” Source info

  • Bulimia recovery tips
  • Love your body, love your life
  • Eating Disorder Hope
  • Families Empowered and Supporting Treatment of Eating Disorders
  • National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders