Teen eating disorders seem to be more, and more common nowadays. As said in Eating Disorders in Teens, Eating Disorders are so common in America that 1 or 2 out of every 100 students will struggle with one. Each year, thousands of teens develop eating disorders. The National Association of Anorexia and Associated Disorders estimates that eight million people in the United States struggle with these disorders. Approximately, seven million women and one million men, and of those eight million, 86% of them report that the illness began before they reached the age of twenty. Teen eating disorders should be taken into better consideration due to the fact that it is a growing problems in today’s society and it can cause major health problems.

Having an eating disorder can lead to many health problems or can even be life threatening. Teens don’t realize that they are playing Russian roulette with their life. As said in Eating Disorders in Teens, having an eating disorder can affect the body by loss of periods, drop in blood pressure or pulse, breathing rate, damage to stomach and kidneys. Or as said in Information on Eating Disorders in Teens, Eating disorders are also linked to other serious health problems like kidney disease and heart disease or can lead to other serious illnesses or even death. Many people aren’t aware of how dangerous these disorders can be, and that it can actually end up consuming your life. We need to make people more aware of what the side effects can/will be.

There have been many speculations of why people resort to having an eating disorder but no one is really certain on what causes them. According to Eating Disorders in Teens, Many people develop an eating disorder between 13 and 17 years old. This is a time of emotional and physical changes, academic pressures, and a greater degree with peer pressure. Because of the pressure to be like celebrity role models many teens develop a negative view of themselves. Therefore the result to eating disorders to help them achieve their goal of becoming just like them. Which is in fact, impossible. Celebrities aren’t perfect, they are airbrushed, photo shopped, and edited to make them look flawless. We need to remind kids/teens of this. They tend to not realize or forget what all is done in making celebrities look the way they do. Which makes every average, normal, everyday girl/guy feel insecure about themselves, and leads them to these disorders as an easy way to lose weight to look like them. These disorders wont ever make you look like them.

Growing up as a child, most of us never had to “watch what we ate” or balance our meals. We would just eat what was given to us or eat whatever we liked. And that’s where our parents went wrong, we didn’t exactly “learn” how to eat healthy. We weren’t taught how to eat right, or balance our meals, which in return has lead us to being too obese, and now as a teenager, we want to lose that weight by resorting to once again, an eating disorder to keep off the weight we had gained as a child, or to keep off that weight we once had a child. As said in Understanding Teen Eating Disorders, ”Mason” 14, was obsessed about his weight. Short and chunky most of his life, Mason had a growth spurt. Now, tall and this he was determined never to be “the fat kid” again. Kids need to learn at early age how to eat so they won’t struggle as a teen and feel the need to resort to an eating disorder.

Teen eating disorders should be taken into better consideration due to the fact that it is a growing problems in today’s society and it can cause major health problems. To help prevent this to happening, we need to make people more aware of the health risks. To overcome an eating disorder you should talk to your doctor, and/or go to a counselor for professional help. If you have a friend or family member struggling with one of these disorders, always remind them that you are there for them and that you will help them down the road to recovery.