CARIBBEAN EXAMINATION COUNCIL

CARIBBEAN ADVANCE PROFICIENCY EXAMINATION

CAPE

FOODS, NUTRITION AND HEALTH

PROBLEM STATEMENT: AN EXAMINATION OF THE POSSIBLE WARNING

SIGNS AND ISSUES FACED WITH THE TREATMENT OF ADOLESCENT GIRLS

IN MANDEVILLE WITH EATING DISORDERS.

NAME OF CANDIDATE: KEISHA SMITH

CENTRE NUMBER: 100025

REGISTRASTION NUMBER: 1000252229

YEAR OF EXAMINATION: 2019

 Title Page

possible warning signs and issues faced with the treatment of adolescent girls in Mandeville

with eating disorders.

By

Keisha Smith

Teacher: Mrs waldo

DeCarteret college

2 Woodlawn Road

Mandeville P.O

Manchester
 Table of Contents
Contents Page
Table of contents i-ii
Acknowledgement iii
Introduction 4-5
Literature review 6-8
Methodology 9-10
Presentation of data 11-17
Discussion of findings 18-19
Conclusion 20
Recommendation 21
Bibliography 22
Appendix 23-27

i|Page
Contents Page
Table 1 11
Figure 1 12
Figure 2 13
Table 2 14
Figure 3 15
Figure 4 16
Figure 5 17

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 Acknowledgement

First and foremost, the researcher would like to give thanks to the almighty God for giving

her the strength and courage to complete this research project, she is also grateful for the

support and guidance given to her from her teachers and friends, the researcher is thankful for

their constant guidance and objecting comments which has formed this research, and for this

support, the researcher is truly thankful.

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 Introduction

Background to The Problem

Eating disorders are potentially life-threatening characterised by the inability to

maintaining a minimally normal weight, a devastating fear of weight gain, relentless dietary

habits that prevent weight gain, and a disturbance in the way in which body weight and shape

are perceived. Symptoms of eating disorders are clear as people who have developed these

disorders show signs such as dry skin, hypotension, swollen throat, hyperthermia among

other signs. There are three main type of eating disorders these are:

 Anorexia nervosa

 Bulimia nervosa

 Binge eating disorder

Out of the three anorexia and bulimia are more frequent.

Problem Statement

This research will examine the warning signs and issues faced with the treatment of

adolescent girls in Mandeville with eating disorders. It has been observed that cases of

teenage girls with eating disorders have been frequently arising, this matter has captured the

attention of the researcher, thus the researcher would like to look at the circumstances that

have brought this matter to being.

Significance of The Problem

The problem has given the researcher a chance to study and gain more knowledge about

the topic and make future references from the research.

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Research Questions

1. What are the problems that lead to eating disorders?

2. What are the effects of eating disorders?

3. Why does eating disorder mostly affect girls?

Definition of Terms

Anorexia: an emotional disorder characterised an obsessive desire to lose weight.

Bulimia: an emotional disorder characterised a distorted body image and an obsessive desire

to lose weight, in which bouts of extreme overeating are followed by fasting or self-induced

vomiting or purging.

Binge eating: the consumption of large quantities of food in a short period of time.

Anxiety: a feeling of worry, nervousness, or unease about something with an uncertain.

outcome

Isolation: the state of being separate from other people.

Starve: cause to suffer or die from hunger

Retort: say something in answer to a remark.

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 Literature Review

Eating disorders are serious and often fatal illnesses that cause severe disturbances to a

person’s eating behaviours.

(Nation, 2015) speaking with Dr James which he states the cause of eating disorders are

multi-factorial and may be as a result of genetics, social factors, personality types as well as

psychological factors. These persons are more likely to experience negative emotions such as

depression, anxiety and low self-esteem. Eating disorders are illnesses. An individual doesn’t

choose to have an eating disorder it is overtime developed or triggered especially by stress

and anxiety.

When an eating disorder is about to arise, a person may show symptoms of isolation and

anxiety, starving themselves, exercising more frequently, vomiting among many others. An

eating disorder can be triggered when someone is been teased by their body weight by family

members, school or work colleagues and other people who they socialise with. An eating

disorder can also be triggered because of media influences such as models and actors who

portrayed to be physically “perfect” and these people feel as though something is wrong with

them because they do not look like these media personalities.

(Mirror-mirror. Org, 2014) speaks about dieting/ social pressure, external pressure can

trigger an eating disorder, that is not to say they can cause one unless the individual is

predisposed to having one. The vast majority of people have dieted at some point in their life

without developing an eating disorder. The reason behind wanting to diet in the first place are

questions for society that should be kept separate from questions around eating disorders.

However, in some individuals, the restriction in calories can spark the eating disorder in the

brain.

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 (Brown, 2013) stated that medical complications are frequent result of eating disorder.

Individuals with eating disorders who use drugs to stimulate vomiting, bowel movements, or

urination may be in considerable danger, as the practice increase the risk of heart failure.

If the disorder becomes severe, patients may lose calcium from their bones making them

brittle and prone to breakage. They also may experience irregular heart rhythms and heart

failure. In some patients the brain shrinks causing personality changes.

Eating disorders can have major changes on an individual’s life the way they use to

socialise and operate before they became ill may change because they have been troubled

mentally. People with eating disorders tend to push people away and normally stay by

themselves it takes a while before they fully accept society once again. Some people with this

disorder never comes back to what they once were for the rest of their lifetime they remain.

Isolated from everyone around them.

(Moehn, 2000) acknowledges that eating disorders mostly affect women, however a

growing number of men are diagnosed each year.it is estimated that 5 to 10 percent pf eating

disorder sufferers are male (about 1 million men). Because their overall numbers are small,

men with eating disorders face many more problems than women in getting diagnosed and

receiving treatment.

(Eating disorder Victoria, 2016) states that eating disorders can certainly affect males and

females of all ages and backgrounds the average age of onset for anorexia nervosa, bulimia

nervosa, and disorder eating takes place during adolescence. Although eating disorders are

usually a result of several personal, environmental, phycological, biological and social

factors, it seems that adolescent girls are more at-risk group of people in developing an eating

disorder.

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 Eating disorders affects both genders but adolescent girls are more prone to this illness

because they are more fragile when it comes to physical appearances, they struggle to keep

up with the “in crowd” which leads to eating disorders because to keep up their appearances

they also have to keep up their body weight and if they think they are too overweight they

might turn to starvation as a form of keeping their weight on the minimum.

(smith, 2018) when most people think of eating disorders, they think of teenage girls

hyper-focused on their weight. But eating disorders occur among all ages and genders,

including men. Researchers has estimated that men represent roughly 10% of the individuals

who are treated for eating disorders. However, the percentage of men among people with

eating disorder is estimated to be much higher, because eating disorders in men are often

overlooked or misdiagnosed by clinicians. One campus study found that the one in three

students who had a positive screening for an eating disorder was male. Men may also be less

likely to seek treatment for the eating disorders due to the cultural stigma that the disorder

only affect women.

The symptoms of eating disorders like anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and binge

eating do not differ between men and women, like women, men with eating disorder are also

at risk to developing depression, anxiety and substance use disorder in their lifetime.

Eating disorders are common all over the world and every year more and more people get

diagnosed with this illness it can be avoided majorly if people learn to love themselves.

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 Methodology

The research was carried out using a quantitative research design to collect the data. The

researcher chose the quantitative research design because data is easier gather, analysed and

presented. And relationships between cause and effect is easily noticed. It also allows for a

large amount of data to be collected from a large group of people in a short period of time.

The method of simple random sampling was employed. This technique is where a small

group is chosen for study from a larger group. Simple random sampling allows for each

individual to have a say which eliminates bias information. A questionnaire was utilized to

collect the data presented in this research. The questionnaire was chosen because it is a

cheaper method and the respondents plot their information in privacy, and it better coincides

with the research design. Furthermore, a questionnaire allows for a greater analysis of large

sums of data, that is, large sums of data can be distributed, collected and analysed in a short

period of time. Also, this method allows for the data gathered to be converted into statistic

and numbers making data easily manipulated. Primary and secondary data collection sources

were used throughout this research. Secondary sources from the framework for greater

analysis, while primary sources lead to better analysis as the data received is first hand,

meaning it was collected from people who has first-hand experience of the problem. The

primary source of data was collected in the questionnaire while secondary sources are from

the literature review which consist or articles and other literature work. Close ended questions

were used in the questionnaire which are subjected to specific responses. A total of 10

questionnaires were issued in the vicinity of the Mandeville regional hospital community

members of Kingsland, all questions were closed ended so that the information gathered was

quantitative. The challenge of this research was to get the questionnaires back so that they

could be analysed, this was so because the people were all over the place and it was hard to

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keep track of them but at the end of the day all samples were collected and ready to be

reviewed.

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 Presentation of Data

AGE OF RESPONDENTS

Age number percentage

13-18 4 40%
19-24 3 30%
25-30 3 30%

Total 10 100%
source: field work,
November 2018

Table 1: table showing respondent age groups.

The table above gave evidence that majority of the respondents that took place in this

survey were in the age group of 13-18. This was 40% of the respondents.

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 GENDER OF RESPONDENTS

40%
female
male
60%

source: field work,

November 2018

Figure 1: pie chart showing respondents gender.

The chart above shows that 60% of the respondents were female and the other 40% were

males resulting in the females giving majority of the responds.

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 RESPONDENTS WHO ARE AWARE OF EATING DISORDERS

100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
Yes No

Column1

source: field work,

November 2018

Figure 2: bar graph showing respondents who are aware of eating disorders.

This bar graph is based on question number 3 which shows the result of the respondents

who know of the existence of eating disorders. According to the results all are knowledgeable

of eating disorders.

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 FACTORS THAT TRIGGER AN EATING DISORDER

Respond Number Percentage

psychological factors 4 40%
family issues 2 20%
social issues with school 4 40%
or work

Total 10 100%
source: field work,
November 2018

Table 2: this table shows factors that triggers eating disorders.

This table is based on question 5 which examines the factors that contributes to the unset

of an eating disorder. Majority of the participants responded to psychological factors and

social issues with school or work as one of the major factors which triggers an eating

disorder. This is also seen in the literature review where it was stated that these factors were

one of the causes of an eating disorder.

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 SIGHS THE GIRLS SHOW BEFORE THEY ARE DIAGNOSED

20%
30%
over exercising
not eating as they usually do
showing signs of depression
and staying to themselves at
all time

50%

source: field work,

November 2018

Figure 3: shows the pie chart of responds of the signs the girls showed before they were

diagnosed with an eating disorder.

This graph is based on question 8 of the questionnaire which asses the symptoms and

warning signs of an eating disorder before they were diagnosed with the illness. 50% of the

responds tells that the girls had stopped eating as they usually do and that is one of the major

signs that someone may develop an eating disorder. The second warning signs the

respondents made clear was that the girls were showing signs of depression and staying to

themselves at all time. Over exercising was in the minority of the responds.

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CHALLENGES FACED WHEN CARING FOR PEOPLE WITH AN EATING DISORDER

40%

35%

30%

25%

20%

15%

10%

5%

0%
financial problems social problems psycological unrest

source: field work,

November 2018

Figure 4: this bar graph shows the respond to question 9.

In question 9 the respondents were asked of the challenged faced when caring for people

with this illness, most retorted to option 2 which social problems is. People with this kind of

illness opt not to socialise much because of the guilt they feel during the recovering stage.

Financial issues and psychological unrest have the same amount of responses.

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 Responds to whether or not the respondents are aware of males with eating
disorders

yes
40% no

60%

source: field work,

November 2018

Figure 6: this pie chart shoes the responds to question number 10 of the questionnaire

The question was asked to the respondents if they are aware of any males with an eating

disorder 60% said yes while the remaining 40% said no.

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 Discussion of Findings

The research was conducted, and the warning signs and issues faced with the treatment of

the disorder was found.

As stated in the literature review the symptoms of an eating disorder includes isolation,

starvation and over exercising among others. Teens who show these symptoms should seek

medical attention before the situation worsens because it could lead to death. This is so

because when these people starve themselves and throw up back their food, the body isn’t

getting the nutrients it needs so internal organs starts deteriorating which later leads to death.

As shown in the analysis, 50% of the respondents retorted to the adolescent girls not eating as

they usually do, and this is what leads to them developing and eating disorder this good be

eating more than the usual or less than the usual either way it will lead to someone having an

eating disorder.

The research done on mirror-mirror suggested that eating disorders are also triggered by

dieting and social pressure wanting to look like the media personalities and dieting to do so

while starving yourself can trigger and eating disorder in the brain. This is where the mind

has taken control of their free will and making what they see in the mirror what the mind

wants them to believe which is an unfit or imperfect body and the individual keeps counting

calories and over exercising until they start to hurt themselves or even die because of this.

Social issue is the biggest issue that is faced when treating patients with and eating

disorder as seen in the analysist and literature review. This is so because during the treatment

process victims of this illness feel guilty and embarrassed for what they have done so they

chose to stay by themselves. 40% of the respondents said that social issue is the big issue

faced when treating people with this ailment. Studies have shown that some patients with the

disorder spends a lifetime battling this disorder and they might wind up going back to it to

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sort their problems, so there will never be a permanent fix to the social issues faced with their

treatment.

It was shown in the literature review and the field work that men along with women also

suffer from eating disorders and if proper research was to be carried out more men than

women would probably have the disorder. Men are usually side-lined when it comes to things

that are more likely expected from a woman, it shows weakness, and this is where the stigma

comes in but men like women are human and is likely to suffer the same illness throughout

their lifetime. Men with eating disorder share the same symptoms as women when they are

starting to develop one and so they would undergo the same treatment process as women and

also share the same risk factors.

The article by brown stated that medical conditions are often the results of an eating

disorder as the body is deprived of what it needs when a someone has an eating disorder this

makes the body use its supply of valuable nutrients and after it is gone tissue starts to

deteriorate which may bring the individual to a near death state and so resulting in many

medical conditions such as weak bones due to the loss of calcium which will also bend the

individual bone due to the amount of pressure being placed on it and not enough strength in

the bones to hold up the body pressure.

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 Conclusion

It can be concluded that eating disorders are caused by anxiety and discomfort with one’s

body among other issues and comes to being when one starves them self or hurt them self in

any psychological way.

It is also evident that eating disorders occur mostly among teenage girls because they are

fonder about their physical features than boys.

Thirdly, it is evident that the biggest issue faced with people recovering from this illness is

getting them to socialise.

Eating disorders is a worldwide epidemic and can only be solved if proper counselling

programs are put in place to teach teenagers not to harm themselves because they do not look

like a model and that everybody type was made uniquely.

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 Recommendation

It is recommended that a broader research be conducted, and other sampling methods

should be employed to uncover other variables. Secondly, it is recommended that the teens of

the Mandeville area be educated on eating disorders and what it can do to their bodies, they

should be thought to love themselves and to make healthy life choices, so they do not come to

the situation where they put themselves in danger to develop an eating disorder. Thirdly,

members of the area should be trained to pick up when a child is slipping into an eating

disorder before it fully manifest in them.

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 Bibliography

Nation, N. (2015, January 21). Understanding eating disorders in women. Jamaica Observer.

Retrieved from the Jamaica observer database.

Brown, n, (n.d). Dangers of eating disorders. Sutter health: Palo Alto Medical Foundation,

1- 2. Retrieved from http://www.pamf.org

Moehn, H. (2000). Understanding eating disorder support group. 29 East 21st Street, New

York. The Rosen publishing group.

Eating disorder Victoria. (2016). Retrieved from https//www.eatingdisorders.org.au

Mirror-mirror .org. (2014). Retrieved from http://www.mirror-mirror.org

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APPENDIX

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 Questionnaire

Dear participants,

This survey is conducted as part of a research. This research will examine

warning signs and issues faced with the treatment of adolescent girls in Mandeville with an

eating disorder. This study is carried out as part of an internal assessment (IA) for CAPE

students. You are required to answer all questions; your information will be kept confidential.

Yours sincerely,

The researcher

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Instructions: Put a stick  in the boxes provided with the correct respond.

1. How old are you?

13-18 □
19-24 □
25-30 □

2. what gender are you?

Male □
Female □

3. Are you aware of eating disorders?

Yes □
No □

4. Which eating disorder are you formally acquainted to?

Anorexia nervosa □
Bulimia nervosa □
Binge eating □

5. Which factor do you think trigger eating disorders in adolescents?

Psychological factors □
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Family issues □
Social issues with school or work □

6. Do you think lack of love for one’s self is one of the factors that offset an eating
disorder in these persons?

Yes □
No □

7. How many girls do you know with an eating disorder?

2 □
Less than 2 □
More than 2 □

8. What signs did these girls show that could have suggested they were developing an
eating disorder?

Over exercising □
Not eating as they usually do □
Showing signs of depression and staying to themselves all the time □

9. What problems are faced when treating the girls with this disorder?
Financial problems □
Social problems □
Psychological unrest □
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 10. Do you know of males with eating disorders?

Yes□
No □

Council groups

Help the to appreciate their selves better □

Talk to them about the risk factors of triggering an eating disorder □

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