Colleges and universities around the country are reporting an increased prevalence of
eating problems among young female students. Difficulties include obsession with food,
starvation dieting, severe weight loss, obesity, and compulsive binge eating, often
followed by self-induced vomiting (Hesse-Biber, 1989, p. 71). What are the reasons for
eating disorders among college-aged women? It is the purpose of this paper to discuss this
question and give an overview of several possible answers, determined following an
examination of current psychological literature in this area of concern. The reasons for
difficulties around the issues of food and eating are myriad and complex. They touch on
every aspect of being female, and no single answer sufficiently explains the phenomenon of
college students who overeat or undereat as a response to stress. In her book, Anatomy of
a Food Addiction, author Anne Katherine calls eating the "great escape" and pinpoints the......
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Approximate Word Count: 2544
Approximate Pages: 10 (260 words per double-spaced page) |