So, I found these two articles to be particularly interesting, though I probably wouldn't have posted the second one had I not really wanted to post the first, so I'll leave that one without comment.
Article #1:
The disorder next door: Alarming eating habits
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24295957/
This one, I'm thinking of cross-posting on the maintainer's forum. I found it to be particularly annoying.
"Sixty-five percent of American women who responded to a national survey by SELF are disordered eaters. Eating habits that women think are normal — such as banishing carbs, skipping meals and, in some cases, even dieting itself — may actually be symptoms of the syndrome."
Here's the head-scratcher for me. Given their definition of disordered eating, I can't imagine that 25% of American women (the other 10% have an eating disorder such as anorexia or bulimina, according to the article) would
not fit it.
Here are the categories they discuss in the article:
"'Calorie prisoners' are terrified of gaining weight, tend to see food as good or bad and feel extremely guilty if they indulge in something that’s off-limits. Secret eaters binge on junk food at home, in the car — wherever they won’t be found out. Career dieters may not know what to eat without a plan to follow; despite their efforts, they’re more likely than other types to be overweight or obese. Purgers are obsessed with ridding their body of unwanted calories and bloat by using laxatives, diuretics or occasional vomiting. Food addicts eat to soothe stress, deal with anger, even celebrate a happy event; they think about food nearly all the time. Extreme exercisers work out despite illness, injury or exhaustion and solely for weight loss; they are devastated if they miss a session."
Using food to "even celebrate a happy event?" Yes - that's unusual behavior in our culture! (I hope the screen oozes with sarcasm there - it's tough to put the tone into the written word.)
Granted, I will concede - without the article's assistance - that I have engaged in disordered eating since I was about 12 years old. I never eat anything without feeling either guilty or virtuous, and don't even remember a meal when that was not the case. But in a culture where we are surrounded by both food and obsession with appearance, I don't understand how someone who is not naturally thin (which I think is fairly rare) can eat without either gaining weight or being very careful about choices.
And, just a further annoyance:
"And despite the stereotype that eating issues affect mostly young women, SELF found that those in their 30s and 40s suffer from disordered eating at virtually the same rates." This conclusion, despite the fact that "The online SELF survey garnered responses from 4,000 women ages 25 to 45 to a detailed questionnaire about their eating habits..." How do you reach a broad conclusion about how women in the 30s and 40s compare to women of other ages when 75% of the ages surveyed
are women in the 30s and 40s?
And Article #2:
As economy slumps, so do diet and exercise
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24296399/
We are all "eating disordered," apparently
Ordered Eater Here
