IELTS Essay # 71 - Nowadays many people are diagnosed with anorexia. What do you think the causes of this are? What can be done to improve the situation?

Essay # 71

Nowadays many people are diagnosed with anorexia. What do you think the causes of this are? What can be done to improve the situation?

Superficial beauty standards and the pressure of maintaining them is making people become anorexic. It is obviously detrimental to people’s health and encourages an abnormal perception of beauty in the society. This essay shall explain the causes of anorexia and suggest ways to counter this growing issue.

Anorexia is an eating disorder which can also be termed as a psychological condition. People suffering from anorexia consume very restrictive quantities of food, which leads to starvation. This generally develops during puberty when teens become obsessed about food and weight. There are psychological, environmental, and social factors that may contribute to the development of anorexia. People with anorexia come to believe that their lives would be better if only they were thinner; this they do in hope of over-achieving their goals and sometimes in lieu of becoming the widely accepted definition of prettiness. Eventually, they can become dangerously thin and malnourished and may have to be hospitalized.

The reason why being skinny is associated with looking good is because fashion columns and media tabloids constantly portray stick-thin models in their catalogues. Fitness is being misconstrued as being thin. All the latest fashion trends are developed keeping a thin person’s image in mind – this can also be seen in many movies where many actresses strive to have a size-zero figure. Social media sites also add a number of forums for self-comparisons against a thin ideal.

It is important to highlight that parents do not cause eating disorders in their children since they are biologically driven illnesses. However, parents can try to help children develop resilience and self-acceptance by teaching children to be proud of who they are. Running campaigns and portraying models of all sizes, in contrast with the superficial fashion telecasts can help teenagers differentiate between what looks good on screen and what needs to be observed in real life.

I’d like to conclude by saying that anorexia can be prevented only when the society teaches its children to have a healthy view of themselves and not get influenced by what is commonly believed. Everyone wants to look good, and there’s nothing wrong in that. But destroying your body from the inside to look good on the outside is totally unacceptable.

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