Adolescent Eating Disorders Essay Assignment Paper Anorexia Nervosa
Adolescent Eating Disorders: In March 2012, Israel became the first country to create legislation defining minimum weights for fashion models. It also mandated written disclosures on altered images to make models look thinner. Now, when models appear at a shoot, they have to show a medical report that is no more than three months old and discloses their body mass index (BMI). If a model’s BMI is below 18.5, which is considered malnourished by the World Health Organization (WHO), then he or she will not be able to participate in the shoot. Lawmakers placed standards on the fashion industry because they believed the industry promoted an unrealistic perception of ideal weight and body image, especially in the eyes of young women. Adolescent Eating Disorders Essay Assignment Paper Anorexia Nervosa. Approximately 2% of females in Israel ages 14–18 suffer from an eating disorder and this statistic is similar around the world for developing countries. Supporters of the legislation hope that the law will increase the use of healthier, more realistic models, as well as raise awareness about the digital techniques used to enhance male and female models (New Israeli law, 2012). Many have blamed the fashion, television, and film industries for promoting unrealistic body images and for their impact on children and adolescents. As a health psychology professional, you should keep informed of ongoing trends and legislation related to children and adolescent health. Consider how you might address the issue of eating disorders in an age-appropriate presentation for adolescents.Adolescent Eating Disorders Essay Assignment Paper Anorexia Nervosa
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Submit your Assignment by Day 7. For this Assignment, imagine that the local high school hires you as a consultant to give a presentation on eating disorders (anorexia, bulimia, and a binge-eating disorder). Think about pertinent age-appropriate information that you may want to use in your presentation. Do not use the example of Israel’s legislation provided above.Adolescent Eating Disorders Essay Assignment Paper Anorexia Nervosa
This assignment may be used as the foundation for your comprehensive program due in Week 10. Please review the Week 10 Assignment for details. Please use your creativity while developing your assignment. You may use the templates provided for your assignment or you may create your own. Please keep all of your notes in the notes section.
The Adolescent Eating Disorders Assignment (8–10 PowerPoint slides)
Create an age-appropriate PowerPoint Presentation for Grades 9–12.
Include a title slide.
Explain the three eating disorders in terms the students will understand.
Differentiate between anorexia nervosa, bulimia, and a binge-eating disorder.Adolescent Eating Disorders Essay Assignment Paper Anorexia Nervosa
Explain the risk factors for each eating disorder, including media influence and peer pressure.
Provide the students with a scenario for each eating disorder.
Submit a separate APA Reference document.
Eating Disorders and Adolescents
While eating disorders can certainly affect males and females of all ages and backgrounds, the average age of onset for Anorexia Nervosa, Bulimia Nervosa, and disordered eating takes place during adolescence. Although eating disorders are usually a result of a number of personal, environmental, psychological, biological and social factors, it seems that adolescents are the most at-risk group of people in developing an eating disorder, and this is due to a number of factors.Adolescent Eating Disorders Essay Assignment Paper Anorexia Nervosa
The period of adolescence is one of intense change which can bring with it a great deal of stress, confusion and anxiety for many. The physical transformation that takes place during this time is enormous and often intertwined with feelings of self-consciousness, low self esteem and comparison with peers. In addition there are hormonal and brain changes taking place which affect a person physically, mentally, emotionally and psychologically. There is also the issue of social and environmental change, with the period of early adolescence often being a time when a person will change schools, friendship groups and perhaps develop an interest in the opposite or same sex. All in all, adolescence is a time where many big changes take place in a seemingly short period of time whereby a person may feel tremendous pressure to find their place in the world despite a great deal of confusion, and a sense of feeling ill-equipped or welcome to the plethora of changes around them.Adolescent Eating Disorders Essay Assignment Paper Anorexia Nervosa
In light of the stress and confusion that accompanies the period of adolescence, it is little surprise that an individual may struggle to deal with the whirlwind of change, uncertainty and often low self esteem. Eating disorders are very often a coping mechanism for people to attempt to gain control of their situation when they feel helpless in the face of other aspects of their life. When this quest for control goes too far, the risk of developing an eating disorder dramatically increased.
In addition, body image concerns and peer pressure are heightened during the period of adolescence, and are potential risk factors in the development of an eating disorder.Adolescent Eating Disorders Essay Assignment Paper Anorexia Nervosa
Early warning signs of eating disorders
Adolescents can become fussy about particular foods or lose weight for lots of reasons, but it is important to get any concerns checked by a health professional
Some signs that a young person might have an eating disorder are:
rapid weight loss
an intense fear of gaining weight
denial of being hungry
deceptive behaviour around food — for instance, throwing out or hiding school lunches
avoiding food and eating in social situations
compulsive exercising and a need to be active all the time
eating in secret
cutting out particular food groups, such as meat or dairy products
developing food rituals — such as always using the same bowl, cutting food up into tiny pieces or eating very slowly
behavioural changes — such as social withdrawal, irritability or depression
sleep disturbance.
Dieting increases the risk of developing eating disorders
Dieting is common among adolescents. Eating disorders such as anorexia or bulimia nervosa can be triggered by weight loss dieting.
A person who crash diets (severely restricts calories for a period of time), substantially increases their risk of developing an eating disorder. Adolescents should not be encouraged to ‘diet’.Adolescent Eating Disorders Essay Assignment Paper Anorexia Nervosa
Parents and teachers can help prevent eating disorders
Children are great imitators, so parents, teachers and other adults can play an important role to help prevent eating disorders and promote positive body image in young children.
Foster a healthy relationship with food
You can encourage older children and adolescents to develop a healthy relationship with food if you:
Try not to label foods as ‘good’ or ‘bad’ – this sets up cravings and feelings of guilt when the ‘bad’ foods are eaten.
Avoid using food as bribes or punishment.
Accept that children are likely to have different eating habits from adults – for instance, adolescents may require more food more frequently during the day or may go through periods of liking or disliking particular foods.
Do not crash diet and don’t try to put your child on a diet.
Allow your child to eat when they are hungry and stop when they are full. Don’t force your child to eat everything on their plate.Adolescent Eating Disorders Essay Assignment Paper Anorexia Nervosa
Encourage older children and adolescents to feel good about their bodies
There are lots of ways to help your children feel good about their bodies, including:
Show an acceptance of different body shapes and sizes, including your own.
Make a positive effort to portray your own body as functional and well-designed.
Demonstrate healthy eating and sensible exercise.
Don’t criticise or tease your children about their appearance.
Encourage your children to ‘listen’ to their bodies and to become familiar with different physical feelings and experiences.
Encourage sport and regular exercise to help maintain your child’s healthy weight and foster their body confidence.
Encourage self-esteem
A strong sense of identity and self-worth is important to help older children and adolescents cope with life pressures. You can:
Help them to develop effective coping strategies.
Encourage them to express their needs and wants, to make decisions (and cope with the consequences) and to pursue things they are good at.
Allow them to say ‘no’. Encourage them to be assertive if they feel they have been mistreated.
Help them develop a critical awareness of the images and messages they receive from television and magazines.Adolescent Eating Disorders Essay Assignment Paper Anorexia Nervosa
Professional help
If your older child or adolescent is preoccupied and unhappy with their body, or seems to be developing behaviours like restricting their eating or binge eating, then professional advice may be helpful. See your doctor for information and referral.
Eating disorders in adolescents: Principles of diagnosis and treatment
Eating disorders are complex illnesses that affect adolescents with increasing frequency. They rank as the third most common chronic illness in adolescent females (1), with an incidence of up to 5% , a rate that has increased dramatically over the past three decades. Two major subgroups of the disorders are recognized: a restrictive form, in which food intake is severely limited (anorexia nervosa), and a bulimic form, in which binge eating episodes are followed by attempts to minimize the effects of overeating via vomiting, catharsis, exercise or fasting (bulimia nervosa). Both anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa can be associated with serious biological, psychological and sociological morbidity, and significant mortality. Adolescent Eating Disorders Essay Assignment Paper Anorexia Nervosa
Although eating disorders occur most frequently in adolescents, reports in the scientific literature often combine findings from adolescents with those from adults or report exclusively on adult samples. Unique features of adolescents and the developmental process of adolescence are often critical considerations in determining the diagnosis, treatment or outcome of eating disorders. Consequently, adolescents need to be considered separately and differentiated from adult patients with eating disorders. This position statement addresses the key issues distilled from the scientific literature and represents a consensus of numerous specialists in adolescent medicine regarding the diagnosis and management of adolescents with eating disorders. Adolescent Eating Disorders Essay Assignment Paper Anorexia Nervosa
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DIAGNOSIS
Diagnostic criteria for eating disorders such as described in DSM-IV (4) may not be entirely applicable to adolescents. The wide variability in the rate, timing and magnitude of both height and weight gain during normal puberty; the absence of menstrual periods in early puberty along with the unpredictability of menses soon after menarche; and the lack of psychological awareness regarding abstract concepts (such as self-concept, motivation to lose weight or affective states) owing to normative cognitive development limit the application of those formal diagnostic criteria to adolescents. Adolescent Eating Disorders Essay Assignment Paper Anorexia Nervosa. In addition, clinical features such as pubertal delay, growth retardation or the impairment of bone mineral acquisition may occur at subclinical levels of eating disorders (5,6). The use of strict criteria may preclude the recognition of eating disorders in their early stages and subclinical form (a prerequisite for primary or secondary prevention), and may exclude some adolescents with significantly abnormal eating attitudes and behaviours, such as those who vomit or take laxatives regularly but do not binge (7–9). Finally, abnormal eating habits may result in significant impairment in health (10), even in the absence of fulfilment of formal criteria for an eating disorder. For all of these reasons, it is essential to diagnose eating disorders in adolescents in the context of the multiple and varied aspects of normal pubertal growth, adolescent development and the eventual attainment of a healthy adulthood rather than by merely applying formalized criteria. Adolescent Eating Disorders Essay Assignment Paper Anorexia Nervosa
Position: In clinical practice, the diagnosis of an eating disorder should be considered in an adolescent patient who engages in potentially unhealthy weight control practices and/or demonstrates obsessive thinking about food, weight, shape or exercise and not only in one who meets established diagnostic criteria. In such adolescents, an eating disorder should be considered if the teenager fails to attain or maintain a healthy weight, height, body composition or stage of sexual maturation for sex and age.
MEDICAL COMPLICATIONS
No organ system is spared the effects of eating disorders (11–15). Although the physical signs and symptoms occurring in a patient are primarily related to the weight control behaviours practised, the health care professional must consider their frequency, intensity and duration, as well as the biological vulnerability conferred by the sexual maturity of the patient. The majority of physical complications in adolescents with an eating disorder appear to improve with nutritional rehabilitation and recovery from the eating disorder, but some may be potentially irreversible. The long term consequences are still to be elucidated. Adolescent Eating Disorders Essay Assignment Paper Anorexia Nervosa
Medical complications in adolescents that are potentially irreversible include growth retardation if the disorder occurs before closure of the epiphyses (15–18); pubertal delay or arrest (6,16,17); and impaired acquisition of peak bone mass during the second decade of life (6,20,21), increasing the risk of osteoporosis in adulthood. These features emphasize the importance of medical management and ongoing monitoring by physicians who understand normal adolescent growth and development. Adolescent Eating Disorders Essay Assignment Paper Anorexia Nervosa
Just as we endorse early recognition of eating disorders through the use of broad developmentally appropriate criteria, we also endorse early intervention to prevent, limit or ameliorate medical complications, some of which are life-threatening. Adolescents who restrict food intake, vomit, purge or binge in any combination, with or without severe weight loss, require treatment even if they do not meet strict criteria for an eating disorder. Adolescent Eating Disorders Essay Assignment Paper Anorexia Nervosa
Position: Because of the potentially irreversible effects of an eating disorder on physical and emotional growth and development in adolescents, because of the risk of death and because of evidence suggesting improved outcome with early treatment, the threshold for intervention in adolescents should be lower than in adults. Ongoing medical monitoring should continue until the adolescent has demonstrated a return to both medical and psychological health.
NUTRITIONAL DISTURBANCES
Nutritional disturbances are a hallmark of eating disorders and are related to the severity and duration of dysfunctional dietary habits. Although abnormalities of minerals, vitamins and trace elements can occur, they generally are not clinically recognized (22). Deprivation of energy (calories) and protein on the other hand are especially important to identify because these elements are crucial to growth (23). Moreover, there is evidence that adolescents with eating disorders may be losing critical tissue components, such as muscle mass, body fat and bone mineral (5,21,24), during a phase of growth when dramatic increases in these elements should be occurring. Complete and ongoing assessment of nutritional status is the basis of management of nutritional disturbances in adolescents with eating disorders. Adolescent Eating Disorders Essay Assignment Paper Anorexia Nervosa
Position: The evaluation and ongoing management of nutritional disturbances in adolescents with eating disorders should take into account the specific nutritional requirements of patients in the context of pubertal development and activity level.
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PSYCHOSOCIAL DISTURBANCES
Eating disorders that develop during adolescence interfere with adjustment to pubertal development (25) and the accomplishment of the developmental tasks necessary to become a healthy functioning adult. Social isolation and family conflicts arise at a time when families and peers ought to provide a milieu to support development (1,26). Issues related to self-concept, self-esteem, autonomy, separation from the family, the capacity for intimacy, affective disorders (eg, depression and anxiety) and substance abuse should be addressed in a developmentally appropriate manner (27). Adolescent Eating Disorders Essay Assignment Paper Anorexia Nervosa
All patients should be evaluated for co-morbid psychiatric illness, including disorders of anxiety, depression, dissociation and behaviour. Because adolescents usually live at home or interact with their families on a daily basis, the role of the family should be explored during both evaluation and treatment.
Position: All adolescents with an eating disorder should be evaluated for co-morbid psychiatric illness. Mental health intervention for adolescents with eating disorders should address not only the psychopathology characteristics of eating disorders, but also the accomplishment of the developmental tasks of adolescence and the specific psychosocial issues central to this age group. For most adolescents, family therapy should be considered as an important part of treatment. Adolescent Eating Disorders Essay Assignment Paper Anorexia Nervosa
TREATMENT GUIDELINES
Because of the complex biopsychosocial aspects of eating disorders in adolescents, the assessment and ongoing management of these conditions appear to be optimal with an interdisciplinary team consisting of professionals from medical, nursing, nutritional and mental health disciplines (27). Physical and occupational therapy may be useful adjuncts to treatment. Health care providers should have specific experience in treating eating disorders as well as expertise in working with adolescents and their families. They should be knowledgeable about normal adolescent physical and emotional development. Adolescent Eating Disorders Essay Assignment Paper Anorexia Nervosa
Both in-patient and out-patient treatments need to be available to adolescents with eating disorders (27,28). Factors that would justify in-patient treatment include significant malnutrition, physiological or physical evidence of medical compromise (such as vital sign instability, dehydration or electrolyte disturbances) even in the absence of significant weight loss, arrested growth and development, failure of out-patient treatment, acute food refusal, uncontrollable binging, vomiting or purging, family dysfunction that prevents effective treatment, and acute medical or psychiatric emergencies (28). The goals of treatment are the same in a medical or psychiatric in-patient unit, a day program or out-patient setting: to help the adolescent achieve and maintain both physical and psychological health. Adolescent Eating Disorders Essay Assignment Paper Anorexia Nervosa
The expertise and dedication of the members of a treatment team who work specifically with adolescents and their families are more important than the particular setting. In fact, traditional settings such as a general psychiatric ward may be less appropriate than an adolescent medical unit, if one of the latter is available (18,28–30). Some evidence suggests that the outcome for patients treated in adolescent medicine units (both out-patient and in-patient) may be better than that of those treated in traditional psychiatric settings with adult patients (28–30). Adolescent Eating Disorders Essay Assignment Paper Anorexia Nervosa. Smooth transition from in-patient to out-patient care can be facilitated by an interdisciplinary team that provides continuity of care in a comprehensive, coordinated, developmentally oriented manner. Health care specialists with an interest in adolescents are familiar with working not only with the patient, but also with the family, school, coaches and other agencies or individuals who are important influences on healthy adolescent development. Given the evidence that eating disorders can be associated with relapse, recurrence, crossover and the later development of other psychiatric disorders, treatment should be of sufficient frequency, intensity and duration to provide effective intervention. Adolescent Eating Disorders Essay Assignment Paper Anorexia Nervosa
Position: Adolescents with eating disorders require evaluation and treatment focused on biological, psychological and social features of these complex, chronic health conditions. Assessment and ongoing management should be interdisciplinary and is best accomplished by a team consisting of medical, nursing, nutritional and mental health disciplines. Treatment should be provided by health care providers who have expertise in managing adolescent patients with eating disorders and are knowledgeable about normal adolescent physical and psychological development. Hospitalization of an adolescent with an eating disorder is necessary in the presence of malnutrition, clinical evidence of medical or psychiatric decompensation or failure of out-patient treatment. Ongoing treatment should be delivered with appropriate frequency, intensity and duration. Adolescent Eating Disorders Essay Assignment Paper Anorexia Nervosa
BARRIERS TO CARE
Interdisciplinary treatment of eating disorders can be time-consuming, relatively prolonged and extremely costly. Lack of access to appropriate interdisciplinary teams or insufficient treatment can result in chronicity, social or psychiatric morbidity, and even death. Some provincial plans limit access to private care resources such as nutrition visits or mental health visits. Absent or low reimbursement rates for psychosocial services results in fewer qualified persons being willing to care for teenagers and young adults with eating disorders. Adolescent Eating Disorders Essay Assignment Paper Anorexia Nervosa
Some older adolescents are no longer eligible for treatment or coverage because of provincial medical insurance rules. Thus, withdrawal from treatment can occur at an age when leaving home, unemployment or temporary employment is the norm. Some institutions have age limit policies that negatively affect treatment and limit access to care during the transition from paediatric to adult care.
Legislation should provide reimbursement for intervention by multiple disciplines for adolescents with eating disorders. Coverage should ensure that for adolescents, treatment should be dictated by the severity and range of the clinical situation. The promotion of size acceptance and healthy lifestyles, introduction of prevention programs for high risk adolescents, and strategies for early diagnosis and intervention should be encouraged.
Position: Health care reforms should include provisions that address the needs of adolescents with eating disorders and ensure that they not be denied access to care because of absent or inadequate health care coverage. Adolescent Eating Disorders Essay Assignment Paper Anorexia Nervosa
