Carla Henery’s Speech
Here is a speech from Carla Henery. Carla made this speech in the Lions Club of Balgowlah Youth of
the Year Club final in 2012.
Eating Disorders
"Eating disorders linger so long undetected, eroding the body in silence, and then they strike. The
secret is out, you are dying". This is what Marya Hornbacher said in "Wasted: A Memoir of Anorexia
and Bulimia".
Good evening everyone. Today I am going to discuss eating disorders. What they are, why they occur,
their effects and any possible solutions. Eating disorders are characterised by obsessive thoughts
about food and body weight. In Australia alone, approximately 2 million people are currently suffering
from an eating disorder but only 10% receive treatment! Eating disorders include people who limit
their food intake - Anorexia nervosa; eat large quantities of food in a short time period and then purge
- Bulimia nervosa; and, at the other end of the scale, pardon the pun on such a serious topic, people
who eat too much - compulsive overeating.
Eating disorders can begin for a large variety of reasons including genetic inheritance, personal or
psychological factors related to adolescence or family issues. Or, social factors such as media
representation of body image or peer pressure. I have read a large number of case studies on eating
disorders, and a reoccurring theme seems to be overly-controlling parents. These adolescents feel as
though the only thing they can control is their food intake, or whether they have any food at all and so
can end up extremely overeating, or under eating.
The media is also a popular theory as to why there are so many people with eating disorders and
rightly so. Images of the "ideal" man or woman are on the cover of magazines, on TV, billboards,
YouTube, in Movies and even social networking sites such as Tumblr. I’m sure that many of you would
be surprised to find out that most models meet the criteria for anorexia…a plus sized model, is a size
10. The average size of the Australian woman is a 16. And we wonder why there are so many
adolescents with eating disorders! These are the people who have the bodies that young girls in
particular look up to.
A quote that I really love that is related to media representation of body image is:
"We turn skeletons into goddesses and look to them as if they might teach us how not to need."
They are bombarded with these images that skinny is normal and if they don’t meet that criteria, they
are not beautiful and consequently, need to change. This is where an eating disorder can begin.
Attempting weight loss, not seeing results as quickly as desired, decreasing food intake, to the point
they are eating virtually nothing or are purging what they do eat. Peer pressure is also an issue. If you
are dieting when others are also, there can be competition that subconsciously occurs. Who is eating
the least, who has lost the most or who exercises the most frequently? Just going swimming with
people who have "better bodies" than you can be daunting and detrimental to adolescents selfesteem.
Eating disorders affect a large variety of people. Children, teenagers and adults - men and women. In
fact, 1 in 10 people with an eating disorder are male. They frequently co-exist with other illnesses
such as depression, substance abuse and anxiety disorders. The effects of eating disorders (in
particular Anorexia and Bulimia) are both long and short term. Short term, one may experience: social
withdrawal, low self-esteem, dizziness, nausea, headaches, dry skin, fatigue, growth of fine hair on
the body. To me, that doesn’t sound particularly pleasant, and that’s not all of the effects of anorexia
and bulimia. Long term, one may experience: tooth decay and blackening, infertility, osteoporosis,
liver or kidney failure, cancer and even death (to name a few!).
Now it is not unknown that people with eating disorders can get help but it is a long and delicate
process. The person with the eating disorder needs to be both psychologically and physically assisted
for a full recovery. Of course, it would be better if the eating disorder didn’t begin in the first place.
So they can prevent in 3 main ways: first and foremost by not basing your happiness on your weight
or clothing size, secondly by choosing to value yourself on your achievements, values and character,
and thirdly, by being aware of eating disorders and their symptoms. Many people slide into this illness
from what is at first seen as harmless weight loss. Two million Australians and their families suffering
is two million too many. Let’s bring it to an end! Thank you.
Lions Club of Balgowlah http://balgowlah.nsw.lions.org.au/