Eating Disorders in Adolescence

Imagine a teen girl posting a selfie on social media. She likes the picture because she is smiling in it and the sun is shining on her nicely. Later that day, she reads the comments, which are mostly positive, but one person has posted a negative comment about her being “fat.” How might that affect an adolescent who is already feeling vulnerable?

Similar scenes of “body shaming” play out in the lives of adolescents trying to navigate cultural understandings of beauty, pressure from peers to fit in, and constant images of “perfect bodies” shown on TV and in movies. Social media, because it is so ubiquitous, can be particularly hurtful. These pressures can combine with biological and psychological factors to promote an adolescent’s negative body image, purging and fasting behavior, or even an eating disorder.

For this Assignment, you examine the occurrence of eating disorders and consider approaches to address them in adolescents.

To Prepare:

• Review the Learning Resources on biological development in adolescence and on body image and body shaming. Consider connections between biological development, adolescence, body shaming, and eating disorders.
• Search for pro-anorexia websites and use one for this Assignment.
• Review theoretical models, considering one that may be appropriate to use with adolescents experiencing eating disorders.

Submit a 2- to 4-page paper on eating disorders in adolescence. In your paper:

• Describe the role of peer relationships on the development of feeding and eating disorders in adolescence.
• Describe the role of social media and body shaming on feeding and eating disorders in adolescence.
• Identify one website addressing the phenomenon of pro anorexia and describe the content (provide the webpage URL). Why might adolescents be drawn to this perspective?
• Describe the biological, psychological, and social effects of feeding and eating disorders in adolescence.
• Identify and explain a theoretical model that can be used when working with adolescents experiencing feeding and eating disorders.
• Describe two approaches that you might find useful for addressing feeding and eating disorders among adolescents.

Please use the Learning Resources to support your analysis. Make sure to provide APA citations and a reference list.