Anorexia and Teenage Girls

Anorexia Nervosa, as it is referred to in medical terminology, is an extreme eating disorder that predominantly affects the female gender, and in particular affects girls and women most often during their teenage and early adult years. In one recent study, it was found that up to one percent of all adolescent and college age female students suffer from some degree of anorexia nervosa. In many of those cases, it was noted that the female's body weight was, on average, approximately fifteen percent below what is a normally expected weight for females in their particular age and height ranges. Often times, anorexia manifests itself in different forms, the most common symptoms occurring when girls attempt to lose weight by eating less foods, eating very infrequently or extremely tiny portions, and even fasting to the point of starvation. Victims of anorexia, often young women, constantly wage physical battles within themselves against the mental fear of gaining weight, and are usually profoundly obsessed with the shape and look of their bodies to an unhealthy degree. These girls often have a very low body weight to begin with, and many are also experiencing hormonal disturbances and imbalances because of the affects of their anorexia, which combined simply compounds the overall consequences of anorexia on their bodies. Peer pressure and influence are also found to be major contributing factors to the onset and development of anorexia in many people.…