An Editorial on the Effects of Eating Disorders

Self-consciousness can be a terrible thing. As a teenager, I can think back to several times when I have looked at myself in the mirror and was too hard on myself for what I saw. Around the world, thousands of young men and women face the same feelings of shame and dissatisfaction, some to more extremes than others. One of the most terrible outcomes of self consciousness gone wrong is the development of an eating disorder… or several. Disorders of this type particularly worry and alarm me. It’s a topic on which I could rant passionately for hours, and for many reasons. Perhaps the most frustrating is the confusion in our society about being “healthy”. To put it simply, many people just don’t know who to follow when it comes to taking care of their bodies. It happens at every end of the spectrum: poverty, lack of role models, insecurities, negative influences, disinterest, false information, fads, bad habits…

The list goes on and on. So what is the solution? Truth be told, there isn’t one. There are too many factors that lead to eating disorders, both emotional and physical, to take into account. There will never be a permanent end to eating disorders. There are, however, ways to give people the power to overcome their insecurities and thus save an incredible number of lives. I plan to elaborate on that idea in my editorial. In the last couple years I’ve experienced the struggle of supporting people who starve themselves because they hate their physical appearance. It’s horrifying, heartbreaking, and nes demoralizing. There will never be a permanent solution to eating orders, but saving even one person makes all the difference. If someone reads my editorial and discovers something within themselves that needs to hear what I have to say, then that one person is worth the effort. I think an opinion editorial should unsettle people. It should make them squirm and rack their brains for their position on a topic, maybe start a conversation with someone about that topic. Eating disorders have that effect on me. I have a lot to say, but I want people to share their ideas as well. I hope to communicate my thoughts in a way that motivates the reader of my editorial to do just that.