Fad Dieting On Mental Health Research Paper

Words: 741
Pages: 3
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Ryan Weeks
Professor Rus
November 3, 2016
The Effects of Fad Dieting on the Mental Health of Young Kids
Under my search for factors that lead to poor self-image and depression, I found a very disturbing article about how young people, especially children, misuse food in their daily lives. This serious issue leads to these young boys and girls often creating serious health issues for themselves, both mental and physical, for the rest of their lives. Described in this reading are misconceptions of how people become too caught up in their appearance and the fads of society to the point where they put their physical and mental health at risk in order to meet the physical health and attractiveness standards put in front of our faces …show more content…
Many of us are guilty of this and, more often than, not if the word ‘diet’ is brought up in conversation, we will ask,
“which one are you on” or “how much have you lost”.

In this reading, it is stated that there is evidence that forty percent of little girls in the
United States, by age six, have voiced that they want to be thinner. Many others have admitted to dieting by the age of nine. I find it extremely sad that the society we live in had basically brain washed people into thinking they have to look a certain way and have a certain body type, and if not then there is something wrong with them. Another example is a little boy named Issac. He was age 13 at the time of the article. He wanted to be thinner because someone pointed out he had chubby cheeks. Additionally, he wanted to look like a celebrity that he idolized. So, he read a magazine article about the actor, who lost 15 pounds by strictly eating green vegetables. The boy began to experience fatigue and frequent headaches and did not know if he could stick with the diet. Sadly, Issac is on his third ‘diet’ since age 10. Simply because of the comments of other kids Isaac thinks there is something wrong with …show more content…
The sad part is this isn’t something only found in adults, but as well as many young kids that are unhappy with their bodies due to the message programmed into our brains from the time we first start watching and understanding what is on the television. Going to the other extreme are others who simply gorge themselves and overeat with no control. For example, on the opposite side of the scale which would be instead of someone thinking they are too heavy they might think they are too skinny. Therefore leading to them over eating and gorging themselves with unhealthy foods in order to try and gain weight. Either extreme becomes an emotional and mental issue that many times requires an intervention with a medical professional and or counseling to reverse the effects of the poor body-image/ thoughts of
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