Questions to Ponder:
by elmcmillen | August 12, 2008 at 3:01 PM
• How many cases of disordered eating, (be it anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, etc) have you personally dealt with or been in close contact with? Do you feel you have knowledge and experience regarding these illnesses?
• Have you noticed any particular patterns with the men and women whom you have been in contact with whom have been diagnosed with disordered eating patterns? Especially in regards to the ethnic background of these cases and/or the socioeconomic background?
• Do the patterns that you have perceived seem to relate to the current makeup of your surrounding community/area? Ethnically, socially, economically, etc?
• Through your years of work, have you noticed that certain races are more inclined to seek treatment? What are your thoughts on why this is?
• When people do come and request your services about what to do, and what the treatment processes/procedures are-does it appear that those with disordered eating patterns come on their own accord?
• If not, who is it that pushes them to seek help? Who recognizes their illness first? Do those who worry about the anorectic or bulimic seem to differ based on socioeconomic or racial lines?
• Any final thoughts, information, concerns on the patterns that these illnesses seem to follow in today's society?
Comments
I am a rising Sophomore at
I am a rising Sophomore at the College of William and Mary and I have been working on examining the correlation of race and eating disorders within the United States through a research grant provided by the College and along with a guiding faculty member. I am trying to answer the question of why it is that white women are more likely to suffer (or to be diagnosed with disordered eating patterns) from anorexia and bulimia than black woman. Do the reasons for these eating patterns stem from the media, socioeconomics, differences in racial feminist perspectives, culture, or some other unidentified underlying reason all together. I am hoping to discuss this very personal and very touchy subject with medical professionals and high school clinicians in the Hampton Roads, VA area as well as look at media, memoirs, and previous studies on the issue of why it is that the majority of women whom suffer from eating disorders are white. I will present my findings to the school at large upon returning to campus in the fall. Therefore any resources, guidance, contacts, or just overall support that you could pass along my way would be greatly appreciated.