Predominant Causes of Eating Disorders

Micaela Volbrecht

Eating disorders are a huge issue today, especially for the teenage population in the
United States. Of the young teen population, 63 percent of girls and 39 percent of boys
were afraid of gaining weight or getting fat (Raven.) What people may not know is that there
are multiple explanations for eating disorders. The predominant causes of eating disorders
varies from psychological, interpersonal, social, and biological factors.
Psychologically, low self esteem plays a huge role in the cause of eating disorders.
Evidence for this relationship is so strong that it is even thought by some researchers that
chronic low self-esteem is a necessary prerequisite for disordered eating (Hanlon.) It is
common to see similar self-esteem issues in many people that suffer through eating
disorders. In relation, many research studies have presented the idea that those who suffer
from an eating disorder are more likely to have lower self-esteem than those who do not
have an eating disorder . These studies and others have shown that eating disorders are
associated with lower levels of self-esteem and perception of self-concept
(Fremder.) Hanlon also states that a profile of self-concept components that are
characteristic of low self-esteem are insecurity, negative mood and depression, poor body
image, feelings of inadequacy, social and personal withdrawal, poor adaptation skills, and
unrealistically high aspirations.
Interpersonal factors also contribute a large part in the causation of eating disorders.
Children seek acceptance from their parents. They often need validation that they are doing
good in their parent's eyes. If there is a lack of praise the child may feel disapproved of,
thus contributing to a low self-esteem (Brown.) Having strong relationships is an important
part of development, and can help with esteem as well. Brown also states, lack of
communication with parents, or lack of validation from parents will make a child feel as
though their feelings don't matter, that what they do and feel is meaningless, and that they
are not loved or accepted. Parents having good relationships with their children is extremely
important because eating disorders are more prone in adolescence. The Department of
Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford,
California did a study and stated, our results demonstrates that people with eating disorders
as a group displays characteristic interpersonal difficulties indicated by the overall
consistency of the scores. Patients with good outcome reported significantly less distress
over problems with social avoidance, than patients with poor outcome (Locke.)
Social factors play one of the largest roles for the cause of eating disorders. Social
media sites have been increasingly promoting the images of the ideal body. 960 students
answered survey questions on their attitudes about dieting and their eating behaviors. They
were also asked about the amount of time they spent on Facebook. About 96 percent of the
women used Facebook, and on average, they spent a total of about two hours a week on
the site. The young women whose questionnaire answers indicated disordered eating
attitudes and behaviors were somewhat more likely to spend more time on Facebook, the
researchers found (Jegtvit.) A modern disorder such as the thigh gap recently became
popular in teenage girls with the help of social media sites such as tumblr, and instagram.
Katie Keller, psychology graduate, said she believes there are many repercussions to
attempting to achieve this trend, both psychological and physical. If there is the idea in
society that women must be sex kittens and disciplined or however you want to phrase it,
then it isnt surprising that so many women either currently suffer from, have suffered from,
or will suffer from an eating disorder, depression, or a combination of the two, and perhaps
others such as compulsive disorders.
Recent studies now show that biological factors take part in the causation of eating
disorders. Neurotransmitter links to these eating disorders stem from studies done primarily
on the hypothalamus. Specifically, the ventromedial and lateral hypothalamus have been
shown to govern eating behavior in humans, as well as in many laboratory animals. The
ventromedial hypothalamus has been called the satiety center. When this part of the brain is
stimulated eating behavior stops, correlating to a feeling of being satiated. Conversely the
lateral hypothalamus, when stimulated, correlates to eating behavior. When operating
properly these two areas operate to keep the body at a specific body weight, termed the set
point (Hirst.) The American Psychological Association also agrees that a factor in the cause
of eating disorders is genetic by providing evidence. In a first round of the study, the team
analyzed DNA of individuals from 192 family groupings. At least one of the family members
had to have a diagnosis of anorexia nervosa, while one or more other family members had
to display some kind of disordered eating, though not necessarily anorexia nervosa. The
analysis of the entire sample did not reveal strong potential genetic similarities among the
tested relatives. However, when researchers pared the sample down to 37 families in which
two or more relatives had restricting anorexia nervosa--the "classic" form marked by severe
food restriction without accompanying binge-eating and purging--they found strong
evidence for the possibility of a susceptibility gene or genes on chromosome 1 (DeAngelis.)
It is important to know that there are multiple cause of eating disorders with disorder
becoming more popular. While there are many explanations for eating
disorders, Psychological, interpersonal, social, and biological factors are the predominant
causes of eating disorders. Self-esteem, relationships, social media, and genetics all
influence eating disorders that includes anorexia, bulimia, and binge eating in both males
and females, at any age. With the growing number of eating disorders found in the teenage
population, it is significant to recognize these factors to promote awareness of these
disorders while they are on the rise.
































Citations
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31 Mar. 2014. Web. 16 Apr. 2014.

Raven, Kathleen. "Teen Eating Disorders May Impact Weight Later: Study." | Reuters.
N.p., 31 Dec. 2013. Web. 16 Apr. 2014.

Hanlon, Kathie. "What Is The Relationship Between Low Self-Esteem and Eating
Disorders ?" Vanderbilt. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Apr. 2014.

Fremder, Cassandra B. "Self-Esteem and Eating Disorders." Self-Esteem and Eating
Disorders. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Apr. 2014.

Brown, Howard A. "Eating Disorders -- The Something Fishy Website -- Who We Are."
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Locke, Kenneth D. "Patterns of Interpersonal Problems Associated with Binge Eating
Disorder." N.p., 20 Nov. 1996. Web. 16 Apr. 2014.
<http://www.webpages.uidaho.edu/klocke/publications/ijed98.pdf>.

Jegtvig, Shareen. "Social Media May Feed Anxieties of Women with Eating Disorders."
GMA News Online. GMA Network Inc., 20 Mar. 2015. Web. 16 Apr. 2014.
Hirst, Jeremy. "Biological Causes of Anorexia Nervosa and Bulimia Nervosa."
Biological Causes of Anorexia Nervosa and Bulimia Nervosa. N.p., 1998. Web. 16 Apr. 2014.