Teenagers across the nation, like junior Bethany Arrington, have dealt with body image issues through eating disorders, often spurred on by the media

By Darlene Pham
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At first glance, junior Bethany Arrington has it all. A successful cross-country runner, the lead role in several school plays, a spot on the ComedySportz team, her talents are countless. But appearances often deceive, and they did for Arrington, especially in middle school and ninth grade. It was back then when Bethany said she was diagnosed with anorexia nervosa.

“Middle school is rough. Everybody matures at different rates and all you want to do is fit in,” Bethany said. “I was running cross-country in sixth grade and that was the first time I was aware of my body and started to compare it to other girls’.”

Bethany’s situation isn’t unusual. From a study by Medical News Today regarding current health issues and news, this decade shows a larger influence by the media on body image than those from the 1990s.

Bethany said she agrees and said the media, especially, is a major influence to how people perceive their body image.

“When the media started to call Tyra Banks, a Victoria’s Secret model, fat, that made me think, ‘What about me? What does that make me?’” she said.

School nurse Carol Gelatt said the media does indeed play a large role on how people look at themselves. “I think there is an emphasis on our society to be thin. I think our focus needs to be on wellness. Everybody’s body type is different, everybody looks different and that’s what makes us unique and special,” she said.

The media’s portrayal of an ideal image, according to Medical News Today, correlates to eating disorders. According to the National Eating Disorder Association (NEDA), there has been an unprecedented growth of eating disorders in the past few decades. Nearly 11 million people have been diagnosed with an eating disorder.

“It’s so difficult to understand an eating disorder,” Bethany said. “A lot of people think it’s a choice and not a disease. I wanted control, so I did that and started to control what I ate, but it came to a point where it started controlling me.”

A common misconception about eating disorders is that they only affect girls, but according to NEDA, 1 million males have an eating disorder. In fact, from 1999 to 2005, there has been a 37 percent increase in the number of males diagnosed with an eating disorder.

Although he said he does not have an eating disorder, junior Jared Herbert said the media definitely affects boys as well as girls and influences him on his body image.

“For boys, it’s not so much as an emphasis on being skinny. Being skinny would be a bad thing for boys, but it’s more that we want to be bigger and stronger,” he said. Herbert said to him, the ideal guy image would be six feet tall, strong, muscular and tan.

He said, “You see pictures of guys in like Sports Illustrated and they’re all muscular and ripped. It does affect how guys want to look like.”

Bethany’s mother, Laura Arrington, said the media definitely influences everyone, not just girls. “I don’t think it is just women anymore, but it overflows into men. (Men) are focused on how they look and getting girls,” she said. “It’s really to sell more products and appeal to more people. It’s kind of sad that the media is promoting discontentment in yourself.”

As for girls, Bethany said the modeling industry tries to portray the ideal image of what girls should look like. “Beauty to the modeling industry is five feet, 10 inches and 110 pounds, but really, how many people are like that?” she said. “A lot of what we compare to is not real, the makeup, the airbrush. Celebrities have entire groups of people to make sure they look good. No one has that but them. Perfection does not exist. If you strive for perfection and compare yourself to something that isn’t real, it’s a losing battle from the start.”

Not only does the media play a large role in body image, according to Bethany, but the pressure of what other people, especially those of the opposite sex, perceive, can also play into the issue.

“In seventh grade, I was a varsity runner and I had the lead in the school play. It came to the point where I switched friend groups, you know, the ‘popular friend group,’” Bethany said. “I felt like I didn’t get attention by boys because I was still really flat-chested and I just matured later and I learned to feel inadequate. In order to be liked, I felt like I had to look a certain way.”

Herbert said he agrees with Bethany’s impression, but from the male perspective. “I think girls are more attracted to the more muscular and taller guys. You can’t be skinny and short and too pale. I don’t think girls are very attracted to that,” he said.

According to NEDA, eating disorders aren’t always the need to control food and body image; there is often a deeper cause, such as depression or substance abuse.

Mrs. Arrington said she saw those symptoms in her daughter. “I definitely saw mood changes (in Bethany) and her not being herself, not talking like herself. It was the disorder talking. The person changes completely,” she said.

According to Gelatt, eating disorders can be very dangerous. “When you look at anorexia, it is self-starvation, so your body is deprived of the nutrients it needs to function. Therefore, the body compensates and slows down to conserve energy to live,” she said.

Gelatt also said the most severe symptoms include a slower heart rate and lowered blood pressure which can eventually lead to heart failure. Muscle loss and severe dehydration, which could cause kidney failure, is a result. The bones lose density and become brittle and the hormones become imbalanced. Electrolyte levels can become abnormal and can lead to irregular heart rhythms.

According to Gelatt, if someone you know has an eating disorder, the best action to take is to support him or her in their efforts to recover. “You can’t force someone to change their habits or adjust their attitudes, but you can keep encouraging. It’s important for friends and parents to stay involved and to make sure they follow up with their primary care physician so they can get well,” she said.
Mrs. Arrington said this is exactly what they, as a family, tried to do for Bethany.

“The parents have to be, not only on the same page, but on the same paragraph, the same word,” she said. “I think the best thing is our open communication. It’s really important to stay open and try not to judge; it’s hard not to judge. We listen to her and remind her that there are different ways to cope.”

But Bethany said her struggle continues, even now. “It’s a continuous battle,” she said. “I am much more confident now. I still struggle on not comparing myself to others and to not not eat. My friends are really supportive and my parents really understand.”

Bethany said eating disorders can be prevented and her best advice for others is to stop comparing themselves to other people.

“(Anorexia) is real and it’s prevented by loving yourself with who you are,” she said. “It’s so important that we treat each other with respect. If people felt accepted, a lot of this would be prevented.”

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