Erica Sampson
Eating Disorders BEH/225 4/19/2015

I would say for the most we all love food. For some of us it shows more than others. I am always thinking about food. I have a desk job, so I am more prone to eat all the time. Until about two weeks ago, I decided to go on a health kick. I wanted to start to eat better and not junk food.
Our bodies also need food, even though we may not need it sometimes. There are two types of factors for motivation for hunger; biological and psychological. Biological Hunger is when your stomach feels stuffed and don’t feel hungry. And when you are hungry and your stomach is empty you want to go want to go and eat something. Researchers believe that hunger comes from not only your stomach, but your brain as well. There are two areas on the hypothalamus that control hunger. First, there is the lateral hypothalamus that, if stimulated, causes you to feel hunger. So every time you feel hungry, you know your lateral hypothalamus is working. Next there is the ventromedial hypothalamus, which when stimulated, makes you feel full. Whenever you eat a big meal and don't even want to think about eating another bite, the ventromedial hypothalamus is doing its job. The hypothalamus tells us to stop eating when that set point is reached and raises our metabolic rate to burn any excess food.
Psychological Hunger is when we still are eating, because or hypothalamus is not sending us any cues. Culture and background also affect our food preferences. So this is why some of us may become obese, because we can’t stop eating. Eating disorders have become a part of the culture in which we live. Eating disorders affect people of all cultures and both genders. The overall prevalence of eating disorders is 5% (Tenore
2000). The drive to be thin and the desire to be thin are reflected on television, in magazines, and in the movies. We as a culture are inundated with diet ads, diet products, and ways to lose weight. I remember when I was younger everyone wanted to have the perfect body of Barbie. So
I think it was making a lot of young girl’s perceive this. So this was causing a lot of eating disorders. Although eating disorders are more prevalent in women, but makes can have this disorder as well. I think a lot of women nay feel like they may be pressured to maintain this image. As women go they may feel the need to be thin for modeling or sports purposes. But the same can go with males. If they want to model or sports, they may have to maintain a certain image. According to a study males account for 10% - 15% of bulimic patients, meaning that
0.2% of all males meet the criteria for a clinical diagnosis. Most of the research agrees that eating disordered males are similar to females in the age of onset of the disorder, dissatisfaction with body, and in weight control methods. I have always believed that the media influences eating disorders. Media and society do influence men and women’s perception of the ideal body image. There is a larger social emphasis on the ideal female body, which would help to explain why more women develop eating disorders. I also believe that having stress or being depressed can also have an effect on our eating habits too. I know when I am depressed I do not want to eat. So I will become thinner. But in the other hand I know some people that are depressed or stressed will eat a lot and gain weight. Intrinsic motivation is when you want to do something. Extrinsic motivation is when somebody else tries to make you do something. Extrinsic motivation can have some serious drawbacks, such as, it is not sustainable. As soon as you withdraw the punishment or reward, the motivation disappears. If the punishment or rewards stay at the same levels, motivation slowly drops off. To get the same motivation next time requires a bigger reward. And also if you are punishing or rewarding people for doing something it removes their own innate desire to do it on their own, because they get used to it and will expect it all the time.