Media and eating disorders

American Family Physician,  Feb 15, 1999  by Monica A. Preboth,  Shyla Wright

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The media, which glamorizes skinny models and hard-bodied actors, is often blamed for promoting the development of eating disorders. Since all women are exposed to these ideals, why does bulimia nervosa develop in only 1 to 3 percent of women? Results of a study published in Archives of General Psychiatry suggest that biology is to blame.

Thirty-one healthy women were compared with 30 women who had recovered from bulimia, with normal weight, regular menstrual cycles and no bingeing or purging for over a year. Compared with the women in the control group, the women with previous bulimia had higher levels of serotonin metabolite in the brain and experienced more negative moods and obsessions with perfectionism and exactness, while levels of other brain chemicals (dopamine and norepinephrine) were normal.

COPYRIGHT 1999 American Academy of Family Physicians
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