Food and Nutrition Unit 4 - Understanding Healthy Food Relationships

Unit 4: Understanding Healthy Food Relationships 4.1 Body Image ● Body image: the mental image you create of yourself. The idea of body image is made up of three things: ○ How you feel (positively/negatively) about your body’s size and shape ○ What you believe your body looks like ○ How you physically experience being in your own skin. ● The way you see your body can be affected by your peers and the media, like magazines, social media, and advertisements. ● Many young men and women struggle with body image because the types of body shapes and sizes represented in the media are very limited. ● The most severe form of negative body image is called body dysmorphia, or dysmorphic disorder. 4.1 Body Image (continued) ● Dysmorphic disorder: a mental disorder where you are fixated on your perceived flaws. More often than not, these flaws are in fact very minor, and go unnoticed by others. ○ Signs someone might have dysmorphic disorder: ■ They frequently look for reassurance from others that their flaws are not noticeable. ■ Perfectionist tendencies ■ They avoid social situations because they feel as if people will be staring at their flaws. ■ Constant comparison between themselves and others. ■ Strong belief that these flaws are a defect in their appearance. ● Negative body image might lead to more serious issues in the future. For example, if someone who is a very normal weight sees themself as overweight, they can develop an eating disorder from trying to fix this flaw that was not there in the first place. 4.2 Disordered Eating ● Disordered eating is when one's eating habits reflect those of someone with an eating disorder. Just because you have disordered eating habits, does not always mean you have an eating disorder. Continued habits of disordered eating will eventually lead to you developing an eating disorder. ● An eating disorder is a mental illness where mental disturbances such as depression, anxiety, body dysmorphia, and self hatred caused someone to be constantly preoccupied with food and their weight. Cultural ideals (media) can also affect someone’s mental health to the point where they develop an ED. ● Eating disorders are MENTAL disorders. You cannot tell if someone has an eating disorder simply by looking at them. A common misconception about ED’s is that only slim people suffer from them. ● There are four common types of ED’s: ○ Anorexia Nervosa: ■ Most common kind of ED ■ Affects more women than men. ■ Intense fear of gaining weight. ■ Heavily restricted diet (ranging from 1000 cals per day to less than 200) ■ Obsessive compulsive disorder tendencies ○ Bulimia Nervosa ■ Binge eating episodes followed by purging ■ Purging: vomiting, fasting, excessive exercising, or taking laxatives to get rid of what you ate ■ Consume unusual amounts of food at one time, then purge ■ Fear of gaining weight 4.2 Disordered Eating (continued) ○ Binge eating disorder ■ Eating large amounts of food in secret without control ■ No purging ■ Feelings of shame and guilt associated with the binging ■ Often overweight or obese ■ Increased risk of heart disease and stroke ○ Orthorexia ■ Obsession with healthy food and “clean eating” ■ Extreme focus on ingredients, exact amounts on nutrition labels and extreme calorie counting ■ Food planning ■ Completely eliminating certain food groups/types of food ■ Extreme orthorexia can lead to anorexia or bulimia