The Student Room Group
Reply 1
Fat kids are are the result of fat parents.

BOOM
There's some evidence based on the fact that a warped mother-daughter relationship prompts eating disorders.
runner7791
im writing my extended essay in psychology on the relationship between eating disorders and the family. I would like to base my essay around a theory, any ideas?


There are a LOT of ways you could go with you ;

You could say that eating disorders are a way of having control & in a family where there are authoritarian parents controlling every other aspect of the person's life eating disorders are more prevalent.

You could say that genetics play into it because adipose cells (fat cells) are genetic and therefore lineage with fat ancestors may be a leading factor to eating disorders.

Or! Use genetics in another way & say that a thin family with a fat individual may push the fatter person toward eating disorders as a way of fitting in.

Family is a social institution so that in itself is a way it could lead to eating disorders


ETC ETC ETC
hope this helped!
Reply 4
ive found a lot of journal articles on specific aspects but i was wondering if there was an overall theory, like the eating disorder equivalent of bowlby's attachment theory.
Reply 5
Both my brother and I have suffered from eating disorders and still have a tough relationship with food. I have no theories for you though I'm a fraid. His problems were caused by being overweight and mine as a way of coping with a toxic homelife. Shared environment though and all that...Interestings.
Holland et. al (1984) - found there is some genetic basis for anorexia amongst families, mz twins had 55% concordance, whilst dz twins had only 7%
however nature/nurture debate

Kendler et al. (1991) - risk factors for bulimia included: being born before 1960, poor parental care, dieting and fluctuating weight, slim ideal body image, low self esteem, feeling a lack of control over one's life. In mz twins concordance was 23%, and in dz twins it was 8.7%

The American Psychiatric Association (1994) reports there is an increased risk of eating disorders amongst first-degree biological relatives of those diagnosed - higher prevalence than general population.

Minuchin et al. (1978) suggested that the development of anorexia serves the function of preventing disagreements within the family, e.g. preventing marriage break up by diverting attention onto themselves.

Family relationships are thought to be a central feature in eating disorders and a lot of therapy is based around it - family therapy and is currently most significant form of intervention for eating disorders.

Also, if you want my tuppence worth I think that families do play a large part in the initiation of eating disorders, especially as they occur so frequently in teenagers thus still living at home the environment brought up in is a key feature. For example, living in a family environment where there isn't much control anorexia may prevail as it attempts to bring about some control and structure in to their lives.
Furthermore, if you have a parent, usually a mother, that is constantly on a diet etc. it is logical to assume that through some form of conditioning the child learns that same behaviour as been brought up with their main care-giver having those values of losing weight, loooking good etc.

Is this for uni? If so, I suggest you get in contact with BEAT as they can give your details and pass you on to people who are willing to share their experiences for research purposes, i.e. for studies, dissertations etc I believe.

Good luck and I hope that helps :]
xx
Reply 7
Tilie
Both my brother and I have suffered from eating disorders and still have a tough relationship with food. I have no theories for you though I'm a fraid. His problems were caused by being overweight and mine as a way of coping with a toxic homelife. Shared environment though and all that...Interestings.



Apparantly even if you share the same environment your parents will always treat you differently...the differences may be vast, or very subtle, but factors like your birth order, surrounding circumstances, your natural temperment compared to your parents' (for example a more boisterous child may be seen as naughty to one parent and playful to another), gender, etc..

My sisters and I have all shared the same environment but our upbringings were very different, and it shows in our personalities.
Reply 8
sugarcube
Apparantly even if you share the same environment your parents will always treat you differently...the differences may be vast, or very subtle, but factors like your birth order, surrounding circumstances, your natural temperment compared to your parents' (for example a more boisterous child may be seen as naughty to one parent and playful to another), gender, etc..

My sisters and I have all shared the same environment but our upbringings were very different, and it shows in our personalities.


Yes, by shared environment I was referring more to the fact that we may have influenced one another, certainly (and alarmingly) we encouraged each other to divulge in disordered eating behaviours. However, the main cause I suspect is very different because he spent
half his life with my grandmother and the older years here with us and while he experienced some difficult dosmestic periods, he was and is far less affected by it in comparision to me and I am 100% sure his disorder is purely vanity related and mine entirely influenced by physical and emotionally trauma.
Anorexia in twins would be a good one, with lots of research.
Reply 10
it is for a uni extended essay, only in first year tho so it doesnt need to be amazing.

ive decided to focus on attachment styles, basically if your insecurely attached your more likely to develop an eating disorder.

although one article found that the most insecurely attached participants had the least severe eating disorder so the family environment must have a limited effect.

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