Peri Wilson, a junior at SMU, had an eating disorder for eight years, developing an anorexic and bulimic condition at age 12. Wilson recalls a time when she thought bones were beautiful, and had a difficult time dealing with her developing body.

The pressure for her to be thin only grew as she got older. It wasn’t until the eating disorder followed her into her 20s, and resulted in three leaking heart valves, that she realized she had a problem. Wilson has since gotten help and has her eating disorder under control but struggles with it everyday.

“Even now, especially in a city like Dallas and at a school like SMU I feel the pressure to be thinner all the time,” says Wilson.

Gabrielle Seekley, a 44-year-old psychotherapist, developed her eating disorder as a child as a result of her family’s criticism and demands. She was heavy as a child and had “three mothers,” one mother and two older sisters – all extremely thin. Being heavy in her family was considered a failure.

Seekley’s eating disorder also started when she was 12. At first, she would go days without eating and then would purge her food using ipecac, a plant that induces vomiting. Eventually, her pharmacist stopped giving her the plant, but Seekley couldn’t stop. Eating disorders weren’t understood well at the time, but friends and family knew she had a problem. Instead of getting help, though, Seekley justified her behavior, even after coming home from college and having her mother catch her purging.

“It really changed for me when I was in my 30s and 40s…when I went into heavy-duty therapy following a divorce. Loving yourself is the best way to deal with an eating disorder,” she said.

The increasing obesity rate in the United States, and the seemingly pervasive rise in eating disorders, are two trends that appear to be related. Although obesity typically affects the poor and eating disorders typically affect the more affluent, both diseases have long-term health risks – including death. Both are a result of the individual’s response to societal pressures.

“Society forces people…especially women and now to a lesser extent men, to conform to unrealistic standards,” says Dr. Tony Cortese, a sociology professor at SMU and author of “The Provocateur.”

The Federal Trade Commission estimates the weight-loss product market is a billion-dollar-a-year industry. Last year, nearly 15 percent of U.S. households bought some form of weight-loss product. About 70 percent of Americans who diet to lose weight follow their own diet plan and never seek a doctor’s help.

A survey done by the University of Connecticut found that one-third of dieters have tried supplements with unproven benefits that promise to burn fat, increase energy and boost metabolism without exercise or restrictive diets. Of those surveyed, 40 percent were obese.

“People that try every type of impossible diet are going to have food constantly on their mind, and that can lead them to eat even more…you always want what you cannot have,” said Wilson.

Obesity is the result of food consumed and an inactive lifestyle. Agriculture is now a big business based on volume, and the emphasis on producing and selling mass quantities of food puts the consumer at the losing end.

The increase in portion size, the chemicals and hormones that are injected into our meats and sprayed on our fruits, grains and vegetables do not help in the battle with the bulge. Paired with the demand for cheap food, which is either fast food or pre-packaged meals that are loaded with fats and sodium, the U.S. food culture encourages weight gain according to Food Industry Group’s findings.

The advancement of technology results in greater knowledge, understanding and a more comfortable lifestyle, but gets in the way of physical activity. Many children and adults are adopting sedentary lifestyles. As a result, 64.5 percent of the U.S. population – 119 million Americans – is either overweight or obese.

The U.S. holds the crown for the fattest nation in the world with adult obesity at 37 percent and childhood obesity at 17.1 percent, says the Institute of Medicine. There are no signs of the U.S. abdicating the throne any time soon.

Children who are overweight and obese are not losing the weight; instead their obesity persists into adulthood.

“We drive everywhere. We are always watching TV or playing video games or on the computer… those [kids] who are playing video games or watching TV or on the computer are often heavier than their more physically active peers,” said Dr. Karen Settle, a psychiatrist at the SMU Health Center.

Obesity carries risks, including societal stigmas. Obese people are also at risk for developing diabetes, coronary heart disease, ulcers, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and cancer.

Many overweight and obese people attempt to combat the risks and stigma by dieting. But since the majority of those who are overweight or obese are poor, they cannot afford to buy non-processed foods, or afford the time and money spent at a gym. Many turn to weight-loss products that, although unproven, promise weight loss with no effort and many not only fail at dieting, but sometimes gain more weight than before they began the diet.

Under certain conditions, obesity can coincide with an eating disorder.”A lot of the time bulimics use laxatives as a way to purge, but by the time the laxatives start working the calories have already been absorbed, so they get fat,” says Dr. Nancy Merrill of the SMU Health Center.

Eating disorders are another extreme response to food and society. An eating disorder is a multi-determined mental condition.

Symptoms include an uncontrollable fear of getting fat and distorted body image. Eating disorders are culture-bound, meaning they only occur in industrialized cultures that value thinness, and have a sufficient supply of food, that the risk of being overweight is a realistic possibility.

The most widely known disorders are anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa, but there are many others.

Eating disorders aren’t gender-specific, either.

“Females aren’t the only ones that can develop an eating disorder. We’re seeing a lot more males coming in with reverse anorexia or muscle dysmorphia, which occurs in body builders and weight lifters who fear that they are never big enough,” said Dr. Merrill.

Eating disorders affect approximately 20 percent of college women according to a recent medical journal publication. Studies have shown that those with anorexia nervosa are usually perfectionists, sensitive, and have self-critical features.

Bulimics are usually impulsive, have a hard time regulating emotions and have family issues. Bulimia has a strong genetic connection. Ironically, those with bulimia do not appear to have an eating disorder. Most bulimics appear to have a normal weight and may sometimes even appear a little overweight.

The tell-tale physical signs of eating disorders are fairly visible, said Merrill. Anorexics develop lanugo hair, which is a heavy facial hair (down), brittle hair and nails, and flat breasts because the hypothalamus can no longer send hormones.

Therefore, many anorexics cannot become pregnant. Their hands and feet become bluish due to their inability to regulate temperature, their skin yellows and they can even have psychotic breaks due to not having enough nutrients.

Bulimics display dental enamel erosion, calluses on their hands, petechiae, which is busted blood vessels in the eyes, and salivary glands swell, creating a “chipmunk” face because of the repeated stress of vomiting.

The mortality rate of eating disorders is approximately 10 percent. People don’t die from starvation, but rather its effects, such as an electrolyte imbalance or a heart condition.

“I have a friend who suffers from such a terrible case of anorexia that her doctor just told her that having children may not be an option. If the thought of infertility isn’t enough to drill it into
someone’s head that bones are not perfect, I don’t know what is…death?” said Wilson.

“I think we live in a world where we blame other people. It’s not about abuse. It’s about getting to a point in your life when you take responsibility. At the end of the day, you’re the one with the fork in your hand. You choose how to deal with your feelings – do you want to feed them or deal with them?” said Mrs. Seekley.