Gonzalez 1 Raquel Gonzalez Professor Moberly Writing 1 December 9, 2013

For many years people have tried to find solutions to eating disorders that rise among teens and at times adults as well. Eating disorders can be caused by excessive amount of food or a minimum amount of food. The most common disorders are bulimia, binge eating and anorexia. According to an article called Eating Disorder by Pamela M. Prah, Anorexia, bulimia and compulsive eating affect an estimated 35 million Americans, according to the National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA) (Prah 123). To prevent this from happening to teenagers as they are growing up, schools have created programs that will help them maintain a healthy lifestyle and prevent them from being in an eating disorder problem. With this in mind they have created programs such as physical education classes, more sports and have brought healthier meals to their cafeterias and vending machines have provided healthier choices instead of chips and other junk food. Schools have a lot to do with the decisions students make food wise because the school provides the food and contribute to the decision of healthy food choice or junk food. At some point it can also contribute to falling under an eating disorder due to the food choice. Eating disorders can be from anorexia, bulimia and binge eating even though most people dont consider them as serious as other diseases eating disorders can be deathly. For example, binge eating occurs when the person looses control of their eating habits. Such as eating excessive amounts of food and not being able to control them selves which results in overweight and

Gonzalez 2 obesity. On the other hand, anorexia nervosa can be the total opposite of excessive eating, and can cause extreme harm, People with anorexia nervosa are 18 times more likely to die early compared with people of similar age in the general population (NIOMH # 3). Providing awareness to others can help prevent eating disorders to students and much more. Some ideas that have been introduced from this have been physical education classes, health class, more sports and healthier meals in school. Yet others may argue that there is not enough money to provide for these programs since schools have been cut back in funds. To begin with, schools have improved the way they teach their students to maintain a healthy life style. Beginning with better programs for students that have problems maintaining a healthy body weight. Schools motivate students to maintain a healthier lifestyle and make wiser choices by making physical education classes mandatory in order to graduate and move on to the next grade level. While in high school our school took action by introducing organic food to the students and providing healthier food than other schools around. At first when this program just started students thought the food was nasty just because it was healthy but as they got use to it they realized it was actually something good for them. Eating healthy food helped them have energy through out the day and kept them focused in class after lunch break. As a research in our school the teacher in charge of this idea took a survey on how students feel about the organic food. The research was a survey that students had to fill out regarding how they felt about the food and how they have changed the way they eat now. After the survey the school concluded that having organic food made students have more energy and provided them with the carbs and calories they needed to be healthy. Other students comment how after eating healthy in school they would make wiser choices outside of school when eating. For example, a senior claimed that when having the decision to eat out in the streets or eat home food they would chose home

Gonzalez 3 food because it is cooked with less oil and has less fat. Introducing students to this type of food and programs has helped them make better decisions when having to choose meals or ways of staying healthy. On the other hand, some parents argue that at schools were physical education programs are offered result with their children showing signs of being too physically active. Arguing that programs like these dont necessarily help the student instead they make them feel self conscious about the amount of food they are eating and feel overwhelmed by the pressure given by the school. According to an article published by the National Poll on Childrens Health parents show worrisome in their childrens reactions to these school programs, School programs that provide incentives for children to increase physical activity are associated with an increase in parents reporting their children have too much physical activity (NPCH). Programs developed in schools such as physical education classes can put a students health at risk and an increase in parents being worried. Having an excessive amount of physical activity can result in students skipping meals because they are too focused in exercising. About 30% of parents also report to observe worrisome in eating behaviors as well as in their physical activities, according to the National Poll. The eating routine of a child can be connected to their daily physical activity where they think that eating less and working out more will help them stay in shape and make them loss weight. In reality, having and excessive amount of extercise can lead to anorexia if the person is not eating the correct amount of food to keep up with the work out routine. The age range that is affected the most with these disorders are teenagers and at times adults and the cost to teat eating disorders can be high and not. With this in consideration schools contribute by providing programs that can help avoid it from happening. Even though schools can contribute with programs each year schools are having their funds cut because the lack of

Gonzalez 4 money everywhere. Besides being expensive it can also take a long time to be treated Anorexia treatment typically takes five to seven years. Inpatient care for an eating disorder can cost up to $30,000 a month and more than $100,000 for outpatient therapy and medical monitoring, according to ANAD. (Prah125). With this in mind most parents are not able to provide this treatment for their children if needed because its a lot of money that is not available. The solution to this problem is that schools should be provided with enough funds to help students stay healthy and aware of the consequences of an eating disorder.

Eating disorders evolve when people either have an excessive amount of food or if they have small amounts of food. Widely the ones being affected the most are high schools students or early teenage students. Some of the eating disorders start from bulimia, anorexia or obesity. Society is introduced to a perfect body image by the media where its a skinny body and light color skin. With this in mind schools have helped provide a better way of lifestyle for them so they can avoid falling into an eating disorder. The cost to treatment for these disorders an be extremely expensive, money that some families cant provide for their children in which school comes into play. The solution to these problems can be that schools provide programs and healthier food for their students to help them from an eating disorder but yet funds are being cut. While some may argue that this shouldnt be considered a major problem others argue that funds should be brought back to school.

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Works Cited

School Obesity. Mott Children's Hospital, Programs May Promote Worrisome Eating Behaviors and Physical Activity in Kids. National Poll January, 24 2012. Rep. Vol. 14. Issue 2.

Muhlheim, Lauren, Dr. "Eating Disorders in Middle and High Schools, by Lauren Mulheim." Eating Disorders in Middle and High Schools, by Lauren Mulheim. F.E.A.S.T, Feb. 2012. Web. 18 Nov. 2013. Eating Disorders. National Institute of Mental Health, Publication no. 114901. N.p.: NIMH, 2011. Print. Prah, Pamala M. Eating Disorder. Rep. Vol. 16. N.p.: CQ, 2006. Print. Ser. 6