Response Paper #3 Annotated Bibliography

Alcaina, Tomas. Guisado, Juan A. Vaz, Francisco J. Food Aversions in Eating Disorders. International Journal of Food Sciences and Nutrition. May98, Vol. 49 Issue 3, p181 6p

            Authors are a part of the International Journal of Food Sciences & Nutrition as part of Taylor & Francis Ltd. Research was conducted to compare a group of anorexic patients, bulimic patients and non-eating disordered individuals in able to discover whether the differences in the diets of the three populations are purely quantitative or whether they present specific characteristics.  Main points consist of the methods of weight control by the three populations, the differences and similarities, the procedure in what foodstuff was obtained or avoided, and the results in which foodstuff were common or not common in each of the three groups and the analysis of the results to compare the lifestyle of the three group’s diets. Intended audience could be those individuals who want to know the dietary choices people make which could lead to eating disorders and what they could do about it. The research methods consisted of a semi-structured interview of the three groups; creating a clinical scale for evaluating the symptomatology of anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa; open questionnaire to obtain data on the eating aversions of each of the groups; individuals were asked to establish by order of preference those foodstuffs they try to avoid, ten possibilities were offered; the foodstuffs were placed in groups according to their nutritional nutrients and then was determined to what extent each of the three basic components (carbohydrates, proteins and fats) were avoided; with the higher the score obtained by a type of food, the higher the degree of aversion it produced in the studied individuals, resulting consequently in greater rejection of the food group – the higher the value obtained, the more specific the avoidance of the particular foodstuff within the group of individuals with eating disorders. Based on the data, patients with anorexia and patients with bulimia differed from the individuals without eating disorders in the level of aversions they felt towards practically all the types of food. They found a surprising parallelism between the two groups of patients. Those with eating disorders avoid food rich in carbohydrates and reject protein-rich food in a much more forceful way than the individuals who do not have eating disorders. When a healthy individuals diets, they generally reduces intake of carbohydrates and fats, but keeps us a basically unaltered consumption of proteins. With the restriction of the calorie intake, the boy reacts by mobilizing both the hepatic and the fat tissue deposits. This results in a diminishing of fat, but without the need to mobilize protein deposits. The text is reliable because it is based off of interviews and a case study of three different groups in their ways of dieting, therefore it is a first-hand account. The text explained well the different dietary choices of each group and analyzed the results in comparison to the other two groups. Also in how it went about the research was very thorough. One limitation that the text has is that it focuses on bulimia and anorexia in comparison to those individuals without eating disorders.

            This text is relevant to my research because it compares the diets of bulimia, anorexia and non-eating disordered individuals and how they are similar and different. They describe how by having a healthy diet a person doesn’t harm their body as those with eating disorders do. It talks about specifically what foodstuff each group does or does not avoid and to what extent do bulimia nervosa patients and anorexia nervosa patients take in their diets. This text explains what it is that makes bulimia and anorexia people’s diets so different and similar to individuals who do not have an eating disorder and when is it that they steer different ways. The dietary choices that go along the eating disorders bulimia and anorexia are severe cases of a healthy diet gone wrong. Bulimia and Anorexia patients avoid cereals and derivate, milk/eggs and derivates, and sweets and cakes. In all three groups high degree of aversion correspond to foodstuff that contain sugar, breads, fats and oils. My reaction to this text was that it was very well put together with the data shown, as it proved our idea right that when dieting wrong it can lead to an eating disorders. Also it was shocking to find that the three groups have similarities in their diets but those with eating disorders take it a step further that ultimately hurts their body. The text pointed out that those who do not have eating disorders they avoid some of the same foods as those in Bulimia and Anorexia diets but tend to maintain the ingestion of proteins. It surprised me as well noted in the text the close parallelism of the diets by all three of the groups.

 

 

Butler, Ruth. Neumar-Sztainer, Dianne. Palti, Hava. Dieting and Binge Eating: Which Dieters Are at Risk? Journal of the American Dietetic Association Vol. 95 Issue 5 (May 1995): 586+.

            D. Neumark-Sztainer has her PhD, MPH, and is a RD, H. Palti has his MPH and is a MD, and R. Butler has her PhD. The study examined the association between dieting and bingeing in a nonclinical population of adolescent girls. One objective to test the hypothesis that dieters with poor self-perception binge more than other dieters and second objective to test the hypothesis that bingeing is more prevalent among dieters who use drastic and unhealthful, rather than more moderate, methods of weight control. The main argument is that many nonobese people who perceive themselves as overweight, in particular adolescent girls and women, diet in an attempt to be even thinner. However, with the generally low success rates in weight loss and maintenance of those diets have led to question the practice of dieting. Dieting, or restrained eating, may be associated with binge eating, but not all dieters binge, thus it’s important to identify the factors that distinguish between dieters who binge eat and those who do not. The intended audience are those who diet and are aware that there may be a correlation to their diet and of those who binge. Also those who question the idea that all diets lead to eating disorders but that it’s a vicious cycle that starts with negative self-perception. The methods of the research consisted of a study population of 341 10^th grade girls, average age of 15 of the middle and lower-middle class sectors of nonreligious Jewish population in Jerusalem, Israel. The study had a response rate for questionnaire completion of 97%. Questions were about whether the girls had binged or bingeing, dieted or dieting, their self-perceptions of their body and self-esteem, and weighed and measured the girls to find BMI.  The results showed that more than half the girls were currently dieting, only 17% (61) used moderate weight loss methods whereas 95 (28%) had used unhealthy methods, and 27 (8%) used dangerous methods. Fifty-six (16%) of the girls had a high-risk psychological profile, meaning their self-esteem was lower, and their scores on body dissatisfaction and drive for thinness were higher than the mean scores of the study population. They also concluded binge eating was prevalent among dieters using unhealthful or dangerous weight control methods and among those with a high-risk psychological profile, but those who used moderate methods or had a lower-risk psychological profile have less of a chance is binge eating. Lastly that a vicious cycle can occur whereby negative self-perceptions generate dieting and bingeing, and bingeing in turn leads to even more negative self-perceptions and further dieting. This text is reliable because at the time of this study, D. Neumark-Sztainer and H. Palti were with the Department of Social Medicine, Hadassah Medical Organization, The Braun Hebrew University-Hadassah School of Public Health and Community Medicine in Jerusalem, Israel. R. Butler was with the School of Education at Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel. And currently, D. Neumark-Sztainer is a part of the Adolescent Health Program, Division of General Pediatrics and Adolescent Health at The University of Minnesota, Minneapolis. The strengths of this text was its use of division within the paper to separate ideas and concepts along with the research portion and its results/conclusion. It was easy to understand except for when it got into how they found the numbers of calculating BMI and how the girls were classified with a percentage of self-perception and self-esteem.

            This text is relevant to my topic because it talks about how those girls who diet tend to have a self-perception and self-esteem issue in which they hide behind their poor diet choice to binge eating. The text exemplifies how those with unhealthy or dangerous weight control methods are putting themselves in danger to develop binge eating particularly. Also it talks about how the finding suggest that dieting may not be appropriate for adolescents with poor self-perception, or, at least, that issues of self-esteem, body image, and realistic weight loss aims be addressed before hand. I believe that it is true that the way a person sees themselves plays a huge role in how people, women in particular, take care of themselves. When a person does not have confidence in what they look like they try to change their appearance and sometimes those actions may not be in the best interest of their own body and puts their body and health in trouble. This text backs up the idea that self-esteem and self-perception contributes to the bad dietary choices people can make because they are unhappy with the way they look. My response to this text was that it was completely right when comparing the reasons why someone chooses to have unhealthy and/or dangerous weight control methods. Also that once someone starts the “vicious cycle” of negative self-perceptions generates dieting and bingeing can then in turn lead to even more negative self-perceptions and further dieting. It shows that dieting starts with the self and that dieting can lead to an eating disorder, binge eating in particular, if dieting is practiced with unhealthy or dangerous weight control methods.