| Americans are preoccupied with their body | | | | bulimia, two conditions that were almost unheard |
| weight. More than $30 billion a year is spent on | | | | of 20 years ago. For many other people the |
| gimmicks, gadgets, and strategies to trim, tuck, | | | | effects are more subtle. Whereas they may not |
| and tone waistlines. Of adults, 50 million are dieting, | | | | be anorexic or bulimic, they develop aversive |
| and most of them are repeaters, averaging 2.3 | | | | attitudes toward food, eating, and mealtime. |
| diets per year. At any given time more than half | | | | Rather than serving as a source of pleasure and |
| of all women and more than one fourth of men | | | | enjoyment, the eating experience serves as a |
| are trying to lose weight. Even children are getting | | | | constant test of willpower that rarely yields |
| the message that dieting is in. Nearly 50% of | | | | positive results. For too many people, attitudes |
| 9-year-old girls and up to 80% of 10-year-old girls | | | | about appearance, body weight, and food |
| have a fear of fatness or have already indulged in | | | | combined with the ubiquitous messages and body |
| binge eating. | | | | images promulgated by the media form a vicious |
| The evidence for this obsession can be found in | | | | cycle of guilt, denial, and unhappiness. The |
| advertisements and the news itself. Numerous | | | | challenge for many people is to break this cycle |
| television celebrities have experienced instant | | | | by constructing a realistic view of their body, |
| popularity by engaging in some sort of special diet | | | | establishing a positive attitude toward food, and |
| or weight loss program. Both the print and video | | | | formulating realistic strategies to address the |
| media show countless numbers of advertisements | | | | weight problem. |
| that associate super svelte body images with the | | | | Becoming a Responsible Health-Care Consumer |
| use of almost every imaginable product. | | | | Traditionally, Americans have had a rather passive |
| Consumers demand low calorie versions of every | | | | attitude toward health care. Whether it was taking |
| consumable food, and much of this demand is | | | | medicine, purchasing health-care products, |
| motivated more by the desire to achieve an | | | | undergoing surgery, or having a diagnostic test |
| unobtainable physique rather than for health | | | | administered, the general attitude was simply to |
| reasons. Carried to the extreme, consumers can | | | | follow orders. Fortunately, this attitude is changing. |
| be observed counting the number of calories | | | | People are viewing themselves as active |
| even in a dose of laxatives. The phrase "calorie | | | | participants in their health care. They are asking |
| anxiety" applies to many Americans. Even health | | | | questions, placing demands on health-care |
| magazines and professional journals reinforce this | | | | providers (people and/or facilities that provide |
| preoccupation by featuring headlines of diet | | | | health-care services), getting second opinions, and |
| articles or studies on magazine covers. If some | | | | sometimes even refusing treatments. People now |
| new finding is released from the scientific | | | | realize that they must assume more responsibility |
| community, it will surely be featured as the | | | | for safeguarding their health. With this |
| headline on national and local news shows and will | | | | responsibility, however, comes the challenge of |
| quickly be followed by featured stories. For some | | | | knowing what people can and should do for |
| people the obsession with weight is so intense | | | | themselves. The purpose of this chapter is to lay |
| that it causes serious body image problems, | | | | the groundwork for becoming an informed, active |
| distorts their self-esteem, and eventually leads to | | | | participant in the health-care marketplace. |
| eating disorders, such as anorexia nervosa and | | | | |