In chapter 12 we learn a lot about eating disorders. As I was googling eating disorders, a number of articles popped up that had to do with Jewish girls and eating disorders. According to Adrienne Ressler, an eating disorder specialist,"there has been a 500 percent increase in the number of women treated for eating disorders in the United States who identify themselves as Jewish." I found the numbers shocking and I started to think why this is the case. As we are all aware, there are MANY Jewish holidays. The first day back to school after Rosh Hashana everyone is always complaining how much they ate and how they feel absolutely disgusting. Not only are there so many holidays where we eat feast after feast, but every week (shabbos) we take part in multiple course meals where the food seems to be never ending. Some experts argue that the pressure of early marriages within the Jewish community also contributes to a girl’s fears of weight gain and her obsession over her body image. From this we can see that culture certainly does play a role in eating disorders and other motivational behaviors. It is sad truth that needs to be fought.
As a side note I would like to point out the need for sensitivity to this subject. Girls often make sarcastic comments about anorexia, obesity, etc. You often hear comments such as "that's all you're eating for lunch, you're so anorexic!" Although people are only kidding, I believe people need to be more sensitive to this subject especially because it is so prevalent amongst teenage girls.
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Wow Alexa, It never even crossed my mind that anorexia would be more common among Jewish girls, but this makes a lot of sense. I definitely think that all of the eating on holidays and in general could lead one to feel self conscious and lose a lot of weight. I also think that this is a huge problem and I wish there was a way to stop it from happening! I definitely agree that we might take the subject too lightly and should be more conscious of what we are saying when making comments like that also.
ReplyDelete0I loved your post. it makes loads of sense that the disorder is more common among Jewish girls. I think that just like any other subject people are insensitive about(even though it is very serious)so too are people insensitive when they say comments about anorexia. It is always the case that people will joke and make comments whether its about eating disorders, any other diseases, races or ethnicities.
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