ANOREXIA NERVOSA

This research examines the eating disorder anorexia nervosa. The condition is described and defined in the following section. Cultural aspects of the eating disorder are examined, as are cross-cultural differences in the prevalence of anorexia nervosa. Gender differences in the incidence of anorexia nervosa also are explored, with attention given to the social construction of the eating disorder.

Anorexia Nervosa: Description and Definition

Eating disorders are characterized by severe disturbances in eating behavior (American Psychiatric Association, 1994, p. 539). Eating disorders exist along a continuum on which the end points are anorexia nervosa, characterized by self-starvation, and bulimia nervosa, characterized by binge eating and purging of the system (Stacey, 1994, p. 177).

The essential characteristics of anorexia nervosa are that an individual refuses to maintain minimally normal body weight, has an intense fear of gaining weight, and exhibits a significance psychological disturbance in relation to the self-perception of body shape or size (American Psychiatric Association, 1994, p. 539). The general guideline for a determination that a person is underweight in relation to a diagnosis of anorexia nervosa is a weight of less than 85 percent of the weight that is considered to be normal for that person's age and height as calculated from Metropolitan Life Insurance

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om, Australia, and new Zealand. All of these countries are characterized by a Western culture wherein the dominant population groups are Anglo-Saxon. In the United States, estimates of the number of persons suffering from anorexia nervosa range as high as two-million. By contrast, the number of cases in the United Kingdom is estimated at only 70,000 (Fed up, 1994, p. 29). If the proportion of anorexics in the population were the same in the United States as that in the United Kingdom, the number of anorexics in the United States would number less than 300,000. While females account for the great majority of anorexics in all societies where the condition is relatively common, the proportion of male anorexics is rising in the United States, while such a trend has not been observed in other countries (Webb, 1994, p. 50). Females account for approximately 90 percent of anorexic individuals in the United States, while that proportion approximates 95 percent in Canada and the United Kingdom. Anorexia nervosa generally is considered to be culture-bound (Lee, 1994, pp. 251-252). While the condition is relatively common in many Western developed countries, it is equally rate in Eastern cultures. The prevalence of anorexia nervosa
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Approximate Pages = 16 (250 words per page)

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