Eating Disorders (EDs) today can be highly medicalized or, at the opposite extreme, partially camouflaged due to different preconceived ideas about what it means to suffer from them.
The process of medicalization refers to how contemporary medicine dominates discourse and practice in areas that were not previously considered medical. This generally leads to medicine not always offering the best solutions for issues outside its field. The medicalization of society is a complex process and deserves to be analyzed case by case.
In the case of EDs, historiographical materials about behaviors surrounding food reveal that risky eating behaviors or eating disorders were not framed as mental health conditions (as they are classified today), but rather as behaviors related to hygienism in some cases, and in others, as means of expiation.
Such is the case, for example, of Saint Catherine of Siena, about whom speculation exists regarding the clinical picture described in her own texts, which could correspond to an Eating Disorder. What is clear is that EDs have a complex etiology involving psychological, social, economic, and cultural factors.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, we also find today that preconceived ideas about who is more susceptible to these disorders and what they entail constitute barriers to their diagnosis and treatment.
For example, the long-standing prejudice that only young women from upper classes are susceptible to EDs has left aside, for instance, EDs that appear in adulthood or as people enter maturity, which are related to the sensation of losing control over a naturally aging body.
Thus, circumstances such as empty nest syndrome, menopause, or andropause can precipitate the emergence of risky eating behaviors, such as disordered eating or "snacking." Elderly people often experience loss of appetite for reasons unrelated to body image.
The constant exposure to images and the cult of the body also leads many people to engage in risky behaviors, such as crash dieting, periods of binge eating, and extreme physical exercise to look a certain way, belong to a particular social group, or even obtain the job or partner they desire. This becomes even more dangerous when everything is disguised as "wellness culture," where the body is treated as a separate entity that must be tamed, kept in check, shaped, modified, and always controlled in order to be or belong.
The preconceived notion that an Eating Disorder or risky eating behavior is exhibited only by adolescents dissatisfied with their bodies is a hyper-reductionist view of the issue.
Individual or community eating practices undergo highly complex processes involving not only emotions but also aspects that determine our sense of belonging. Being blind to these aspects not only limits our understanding of the issue, but also makes us incapable of detecting any disorder in ourselves or those close to us, especially if "everyone does it" and it is considered "normal" within one's social circle, since risky practices can be perpetuated and reinforced by peer groups.
— This article was originally published in Spanish by Liliana Martínez Lomelí. Translation generated with AI from the original text.
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