{"id":2454,"date":"2013-08-20T03:53:28","date_gmt":"2013-08-20T03:53:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.stephaniedaily.com\/?p=2454"},"modified":"2013-08-20T03:55:59","modified_gmt":"2013-08-20T03:55:59","slug":"dying-to-be-thin-contd","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.stephaniedaily.com\/?p=2454","title":{"rendered":"DYING TO BE THIN – Contd"},"content":{"rendered":"

THE SCARY TRUTH BEHIND ANOREXIA AND BULIMIA NERVOSA<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Today health experts have discovered that young African females in the are starving themselves\u00a0intentionally [anorexia nervosa], other women are bingeing and purging {bulimia nervosa} on the campus of historical African universities, while many in corporate Nigeria are crash dieting and abusing laxatives in a dangerous, sometimes deadly attempt to control their weight. But why are African women killing themselves to be thin? What\u2019s behind the deadly cycle of eating disorders that is quietly engulfing some in the African society?<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

For starters black women are no longer generally celebrated for their curves, some experts argue that for every beautiful and curvaceous Queen Latifah heralded as a standard of beauty on TV, there is at least 100 thin Jennifer Anistons, there is a growing trend of eating disorders in African girls and this is going to continue as the African culture becomes more immersed in the white European cultural values, today, it\u2019s extremely difficult for an African girl to be insulated within the African community, so that she is not affected by the dominant society, everywhere she turns to uplifts the western culture, their so called standard of beauty, it gradually gets into her subconscious and she wants to look like the stars she sees on television.<\/span><\/p>\n

Recent studies have shown that some sisters, commonly considered to be overachievers, are more likely to develop an eating disorder than others because of their constant quest for perfection, other sisters are plunged into eating disorders by constant dieting, according to eating disorder specialist Shikana Temille Porter, PH.D, Director of Psychology Training at St John\u2019s Child and Family Development Center in California \u201cevery eating disorder can be traced back to a diet\u201d Dr Porter argues \u201cthe whole diet mentality, looking to alter your body because you are trying to fit into the thin cultural ideal within the society will cause you to restrict your eating, take diet pills and laxatives and throw up, this causes havoc in your whole body system and even death\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Eating disorder can also be caused by life\u2019s stressors and emotional trauma or tragic events,\u00a0<\/span>on the black living online website, Kimberly 29, says she quickly descended into a bout of anorexia after being date raped, Kimberly writes that she believed having a curvaceous body attracted the rapist, so she was determined to change her physique. \u201cif I didn\u2019t get rid of those curves, some boy or man was going to rape me again\u201d she writes \u201cI started taking over the counter diet pills, eating less and exercising more, my curves finally disappeared but my drive to keep the weight off stayed, I was obsessed with losing weight and not getting raped again, but my body was tired of the abuse, by this time, anorexia had taken over me. Kimberly also slipped into bulimia, she consumed large amount of food and then purge herself by ingesting ipecac syrup {commonly used as an emergency treatment for certain kinds of poisoning or drug overdose} to induce vomiting, as if bingeing and purging are not hazardous enough, adding ipecac syrup is especially deadly \u201c ipecac is hard on the heart and it weakened my heart muscles when I abused it\u201d says Damilola Bada, an Oxford university student \u201cI had a minor heart attack when I was 19\u201d as with most people who starve and purge themselves regularly, Bada\u2019s health problems are numerous \u201cmy teeth enamel is worn away {as a result of the } vomiting, and I have several teeth that are completely decayed\u201d I also have intestinal problems; I must take medication in order to have a bowel movement.\u201d Other health problems associated with eating disorders include malnutrition, dehydration, stomach ruptures, esophagus tears, serious heart issues and death.<\/span><\/p>\n

Psychological effects include, low self esteem, feelings of guilt and shame and depression. Not everybody was lucky like Damilola and Kimberly, some people lost the battle and died from heart attack.<\/span><\/p>\n

THE ROAD TO RECOVERY<\/span>
\nRecovering from an eating disorder entails at least three important steps:<\/span>
\n1) Seeking professional counseling to address the underlying emotional or psychological issues that may lead to the use of food as a coping mechanism;<\/span>
\n2) Seeking medical treatment to address the physical damage and to receive instructions on a healthy lifestyle and eating plan; and<\/span>
\n3) Finding adequate support system to achieve and maintain a healthy and realistic body image.<\/span><\/p>\n

Mothers, educate yourself on the signs of eating disorders, because it is more common in teenagers who are trying to look like their icons on TV, and there is a belief that African women are not prone to this disease, which in fact is a lie, there are a lot of African women out there suffering because they feel like they are not supposed to have this disorder; because it is a white girl aliment. Get involved quickly if you suspect a loved one may be afflicted by an eating disorder, sisters must refrain from judging their self-worth based on their dress size, strive for a healthy body acceptance and body esteem<\/span>
\nAdopt healthy lifestyle practices, such as exercising and making healthy nutritional choices, that are life affirming and life sustaining.<\/span><\/p>\n

WARNING SIGNS OF EATING DISORDERS<\/span>
\nANOREXIA NERVOSA:<\/span>
\n\u2022 Deliberate self starvation with the intent of weight loss<\/span>
\n\u2022 Intense persistent fear of gaining weight<\/span>
\n\u2022 Refusal to eat or highly restrictive eating<\/span>
\n\u2022 Continuous dieting<\/span>
\n\u2022 Excessive facial and body hair because of inadequate protein in diet<\/span>
\n\u2022 Compulsive exercising<\/span>
\n\u2022 Abnormal weight loss<\/span>
\n\u2022 Sensitive to cold temperatures<\/span>
\n\u2022 Absent or irregular menstruation<\/span>
\n\u2022 Hair loss<\/span><\/p>\n

BULIMIA NERVOSA:<\/span>
\n\u2022 Preoccupation with food<\/span>
\n\u2022 Binge eating, usually in secret<\/span>
\n\u2022 Vomiting after bingeing<\/span>
\n\u2022 Abuse of laxatives, diuretics, diet pills<\/span>
\n\u2022 Denial of hunger or use of drugs to induce vomiting<\/span>
\n\u2022 Compulsive exercising<\/span>
\n\u2022 Swollen salivary glands<\/span>
\n\u2022 Broken blood vessels in the eyes<\/span>
\n\u2022 Mood swings<\/span>
\n\u2022 Perfectionism<\/span><\/p>\n

Take care of your bodies<\/p>\n

xoxo<\/p>\n

SL<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

THE SCARY TRUTH BEHIND ANOREXIA AND BULIMIA NERVOSA \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Today health experts have discovered that young African females in the are starving themselves\u00a0intentionally [anorexia nervosa], other women are bingeing and purging {bulimia nervosa} on the campus of historical African universities, while many in corporate Nigeria are crash dieting and abusing laxatives in a dangerous, sometimes deadly attempt to control their weight. But why are African women killing themselves to be thin? What\u2019s behind the deadly cycle of eating disorders that is quietly engulfing some in the African society? For starters black women are no longer generally celebrated for their curves, some experts argue that for every beautiful and curvaceous Queen Latifah heralded as a standard of beauty on TV, there is at least 100 thin Jennifer Anistons, there is a growing trend of eating disorders in African girls and this is going to continue as the African culture becomes more immersed in the white European cultural values, today, it\u2019s extremely difficult for an African girl to be insulated within the African community, so that she is not affected by the dominant society, everywhere she turns to uplifts the western culture, their so called standard of beauty, it gradually gets into […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2454","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog","category-make-me-fabulous"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stephaniedaily.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2454","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stephaniedaily.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stephaniedaily.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stephaniedaily.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stephaniedaily.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2454"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.stephaniedaily.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2454\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2456,"href":"https:\/\/www.stephaniedaily.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2454\/revisions\/2456"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stephaniedaily.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2454"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stephaniedaily.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2454"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stephaniedaily.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2454"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}