Eating Disorders - Causes

One interesting anthropologic study reported the following observations:

During historical periods or in cultures where women are financially dependent and marital ties are stronger, the standard is toward being curvaceous, possibly reflecting a cultural or economic need for greater reproduction.
During periods or in cultures where female independence has been possible, the standard of female attractiveness tends toward thinness.

Whether or not the current Western cultural pressure is for fewer children, the response of the media to both the cultural drive for thinness and overproduction of food play major roles in triggering obesity and eating disorders.

On the one hand, advertisers heavily market weight-reduction programs and present anorexic young models as the paradigm of sexual desirability. Clothes are designed and displayed for thin bodies in spite of the fact that few women could wear them successfully.
One study reported that teenage boys and girls who made strong efforts to look like celebrities of the same sex were more likely to be constant dieters.
On the other hand, the media floods the public with attractive ads for consuming foods. And, the emphasis is on "junk" foods.

In a country where obesity is epidemic, young women who achieve thinness believe they have accomplished a major cultural and personal victory. They have overcome the temptations of junk food and, at the same time, created body images idealized by the media. Weight loss brings a feeling of triumph over helplessness. This sense of accomplishment is often reinforced by the envy of heavier companions who perceive the anorexic friend as being emotionally stronger and more sexually attractive.

Excessive Athleticism and the Female Athlete Triad. The cultural attitude toward physical activity is a fitting companion to the general disordered attitude regarding eating. Americans are encouraged to admire physical activity only as an intense competitive effort that few can attain, leaving most people in their armchairs as spectators (and at risk for obesity).

In the small community of athletes, excessive exercise is associated with many cases of anorexia (and, to a lesser degree, bulimia). In young female athletes, anorexia postpones puberty, allowing them to retain a muscular boyish shape without the normal accumulation of fatty tissues in breasts and hips that may blunt their competitive edge. Many coaches and teachers compound the problem by overstressing calorie counting and loss of body fat. Some over-control the athletes' lives and are even abusive to an athlete that goes over the weight limit. (Male athletes are also vulnerable to their coaches' influence. Anorexia is also a problem among this group.)