An eating disorder is characterized by the tenacity or disruption of consuming related products which result in the altered absorption or intake of food which considerably harms the health or psychosomatic functioning of a person. The DSM-5 latest version, place it in the feeding and eating conditions chapter, and it includes problems such as bulimia nervosa, restrictive food absorption problems, ruminant disorder, binge eating disorder anorexia nervosa, and pica ( Brownell & Walsh, (Eds.), 2017) . All these disorders have been changing with time and under the influence of environmental factors as well as the emergence of new phenotypes. Therefore, understanding their origin gives more insight as to how to handle the disorders.
The Origin of Eating Disorders
The origin of eating disorder dates back to as early as the 12 th century and has been reported to have started from a widespread diffusion of Christianity and Gnostic philosophy. The movements had promoted a dichotomy between the holiness of souls, material world and evil. Self-starvation ; for example, was considered by Christian hermits to be a form of purification which benefited Roman women. As a strong belief among women, some girls died of self-starvation.
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In the middle ages, Saint Catherine of Siena was one of the early cases of the eating disorder. She denied herself food as part of spiritual faith in her religion and later succumbed to death as a result of self-starvation. These women of faith would deliberately starve themselves for weeks as they believed that refusing to eat was a way of showing dedication to God and yielding to food was a sin. Anorexia mirabilis was the label given to the condition of self-starvation and is currently known as anorexia nervosa ( Culbert, Racine & Klump, 2015). A close relation between spirituality and inanition in the form of self-starvation during this period was ascribed to demonic possessions. Women who practiced self-starvation were believed to be witches or possessed.
During the Renaissance period, the relationship between extreme fasting and religious context became less associated, and new patterns of food deprivation emerged. Starvation abilities were often explained with a combination of material and spiritual beliefs. Self-starvation progressively distanced itself from religious associations and became deeply connected with self-representation and body image. The ideal of feminine beauty began to switch from rounded figure to a slender, slim appearance in the mid-18 th century. Industrialization too contributed to the trend of slender women and frail beauty became an upper-class statement, a rally of prosperity, the delicacy of mind and efficiency. Lord Byron, a poet, promoted the idea of beauty as a languished body which is anguished, pale and enclosed by a melancholic aura ( Culbert, Racine & Klump, 2015) . As a result, most women in this era practiced self-starvation for the purpose of beauty. In the 19 th century, a similar idea of feminine attraction was observable in Pre-Raphaelites art, one of it pictures the Empress of Austria as a tall and very thin figure. She was keeping up with strenuous physical activities as well as a strict diet to maintain her boy size. Her modern beauty progressively gained popularity until the 20 th century.
The ideal body shape of women continues to change in order to suit the social and cultural norms. Ideal body image over the past years have shifted from ample curvaceous figures to slender body sizes, and the western culture has influenced other cultures globally emphasizing female body image as thin. Foreign exchange programs have contributed to the widespread of anorexia nervosa ( Culbert, Racine & Klump, 2015) . Currently, the existence of cheap, highly palatable and calorific foods as well as the excessive worth placed on dietary restraint and slimness has meant that dieting, shape and weight concerns are a norm among young women. The increase of food disorder further reflects a true increase in the incidence as a result of these disorders.
Bulimia Disorder
Historical evidence shows that bulimia disorder dates back to as early as the ancient Roman rule. It involved overindulging of food then removal through vomiting and then returning to eat. It was mostly done among the wealthy. Ancient Egyptians too practiced bulimia by use of monthly purges to avoid illness as they believed that diseases came from food. Since people in the middle ages did not understand the cause of the disease, bulimia was used as a remedy and treatment for illnesses. Symptoms of the disease were not widely mentioned until the early 1900s. Originally, it was thought to be a physical disease brought about by a medical condition. Over the years, researchers attributed these disorders to endocrine deficiencies and hormonal imbalance. In the 1930s, researchers discovered that the eating disorder was caused by part of emotional and psychological rather than physical. Bulimia disorder participants would puke during mealtimes so they could consume more ( Linardon, Fairburn, Fitzsimmons-Craft, Wilfley & Brennan, 2017). The disorders continue to escalate as time passes and most scholars point out that the reason behind the increase was the increasing rate of depression primarily among the youth, cultural pressures for thinness, increased dieting behavior and obsessive-compulsive behavior.
Even though treatment options of bulimia are possible, delay of the treatment may lead to serious problems such as anxiety disorder, depression, kidney damage, heart damage dental and digestive system injuries. Additionally, bulimics are at the risk of self-destructive behaviors such as self-mutilation, kleptomania and drug abuse. Currently, bulimia is the second highest cause of death among the youths. This disorder is typically observed in women and mostly starts during adolescent where individuals would not control themselves while binging and purging which later makes them feel shameful and guilty. This binging and purging is usually done in secret due to embarrassment, and most of them succeed in hiding this condition.
Excessive concern about body shape and weight, obsession with food, episodes of binging, episodes of purging after eating, depression, self-criticism, the shame of body weight and shape or excessive exercise with lack of eating are some of the symptoms of bulimia nervosa. Even though the main cause of this disorder is still vague, bulimia nervosa is likely brought about by inferiority complexes, personality or emotional disorder, stress, genetic or biological susceptibilities, and a culture obsessed with body image.
Obesity
In the 1980s, obesity designated to be a worldwide health problem. Its prevalence across nations has more than doubled since and recognized as a major concern according to The World Health Organization. Obesity is recognized based on the body mass index of an individual. The weight in kilograms is divided by height in square meters. Individuals whose body mass index is 30 or has exceeded it are categorized as being obese ( Brownell & Walsh, (Eds.), 2017) . This condition puts people at higher risk of health illnesses such as hypertension, high blood pressure and high levels of cholesterol, cardiovascular diseases, type 2 diabetes respiratory problems, cancer, and gallbladder problems. About 39% of people are overweight in the U.S., and 13% are obese in the world’s population.
Obesity has been both admired and reviled over the ages in the human population. It dates back to 30,000 years ago where pocket-sized figurines of obese women were viewed as something that was desirable. It was an impediment to good health and longevity as documented in the writings of ancient Egyptians, Indians, and Greeks. It was considered as beautiful as the Rubenesque obese female nudes showed ( Brownell & Walsh, (Eds.), 2017) . A variety of tribal customs like fattening up women and young girls to make them become more wanted. Tahiti was one of the places which practiced this tradition of fattening women. Women were restricted to a special house for a year where they did little activities. Then the fattened women were presented to the chief to be venerated as an example of beauty and fertility.
Food scarcity has been there most of the time across the globe, and among civilizations. Therefore, being obese or overweight was taken as a symbol of wealth and prosperity. Up until the 18 th century where food was abundant and readily accessible to the population of obese people began to increase. Initially, the abundance of food brought about a healthier and stronger population, but later advanced to a full-blown health concern. In the 1930s, firms providing life insurances began screening consumers for body weight, and health practitioners linked obesity to be one of the causes of heart disease ( Brownell & Walsh, (Eds.), 2017) . Until 2000, the number of overweight people in the U.S. was more than the population of underweight citizens.
In the United States, obesity may have been created in the 20 th century when it was found out that the health of poor children immensely enhanced when their malnutrition was reduced by giving them with food which had more calorie such as sugars and fats. Presence of low-cost food improved the overall economic and industrial productivity. This improvement in industrialization technology made it possible to produce high-calorie cheap foods, making it easy to consume excess calories. Prevalence of obesity later escalated sharply in the 1980s. Between then and 2011, the percentage of obese people had skyrocketed from 13.4 % to 34.9% according to the National Health Examination Survey ( Brownell & Walsh, (Eds.), 2017) . Obesity of parents during this time was viewed as a sign of success, yet the obese children in schools were often subjected to bullying and mirth. At the same time, medicine paid little consideration for obesity. After the epidemic, physicians began to pay attention to this eating condition, but it continued to be viewed as being responsible for afflictions and not as a disease.
Obesity mainly occurs when a person ingests food which has a lot of calories than what they burn, and the excess energy is stored in the body as fat. Both developing and industrialized nations show a substantial rise in obesity making it a global epidemic the World Health Organization has recognized. Worse still, this eating disorder impacts both the lower and upper socioeconomic classes in these populations. Urbanization is one of the reasons for an increasing rate of obesity. People living in these areas tend to use up fewer calories than they consume as they do fewer activities such as walking or household chores and have deskbound jobs unlike their counterparts living in the rural areas ( Brownell & Walsh, (Eds.), 2017) . Energy-dense foods which are also low in nutrients are readily available and at low costs is another factor that causes increased rates of diabetes.
Since 2008, the epidemic had cost about $147 billion dollars in healthcare cost alone according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In order to reduce the cases of obesity, WHO reassures governments to help in creating awareness of the disorder and its associated health problems through campaigns and education in school. Inspiring healthy eating habits is another strategy to reduce obesity ( Brownell & Walsh, (Eds.), 2017) . Urban planning which provides more public space for adjustment to food product marketing and safe physical activities would be another way to tackle obesity issues. Lastly, food industries could also aid in reducing the levels of fat and sugar in food.
Pica
Unlike bulimia and obesity, pica is an eating disorder that is pigeonholed by an appetite of non-food materials such as hair, paper, and feces. For it to be considered as a disorder, it must have persisted for more than one month at an age where eating such stuff is reflected to be unfitting or not part of the culture. Pica can lead to intoxication resulting in both mental and physical impairment alongside surgical emergencies ( Roy, Fuentes-Afflick, Fernald & Young, 2015). It has been associated with mental health illnesses such as trauma, pregnancies0, and maternal deprivation.
The condition is commonly seen during pregnancies, among children, and with those people with developmental problems such as autism. Children who ingest materials contaminated with lead, soil, chalk dust and glue, may suffer brain damage. In addition to poisoning, they may also have a higher risk of tearing of stomach walls and gastrointestinal obstruction. Eating feces may lead to ingestion of parasites in animals which may be fatal. Signs and symptoms are characterized with gastric pain and occasional bleeding, wearing of teeth, constipation, bowel perforation toxoplasmosis, trichuriasis, kidney damage and mental retardation ( Roy, Fuentes-Afflick, Fernald & Young, 2015) . Diagnosis is often made in a hospital emergency room, where other medical complications of non-food items have been ingested. There is no specific treatment for the disease. However, the most operative approaches are often based on behavioral adjustments despite existing treatments achieving limited success. Even though it is associated with nutritional deficiency, it clears up upon addition of missing nutrients in the patient’s diet. It usually ends spontaneously in pregnant women and young children. At the same time, it may persist for years especially in people with developmental disabilities and mental retardation ( Roy, Fuentes-Afflick, Fernald & Young, 2015) . There is no known prevention of mental disease. However, educating individuals especially young couples on healthy lifestyles provides efficacy in treatment.
Conclusion
While diseases such as obesity have been identified as a global epidemic that threatens the overall wellbeing of people, others such as pica are not well understood. Nonetheless, the most unifying factor among the disorders is the psychological role of the disorders’ development ( Linardon, Fairburn, Fitzsimmons-Craft, Wilfley & Brennan, 2017) . On the other hand, as opposed to traditional cultural perceptions of fatness being associated with wealth, current standards and cultural norms forces people to lose weight to the extent of being anorexic. Therefore, in order to achieve a better comprehension of eating disorders, behaviors of the affected individuals have to be considered. After all, eating disorders is a social construct as it is biological.
References
Brownell, K. D., & Walsh, B. T. (Eds.). (2017). Eating disorders and obesity: A comprehensive handbook . Guilford Publications.
Culbert, K. M., Racine, S. E., & Klump, K. L. (2015). Research Review: What we have learned about the causes of eating disorders–a synthesis of sociocultural, psychological, and biological research. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry , 56 (11), 1141-1164.
Linardon, J., Fairburn, C. G., Fitzsimmons-Craft, E. E., Wilfley, D. E., & Brennan, L. (2017). The empirical status of third-wave behavior therapies for the treatment of eating disorders: A systematic review. Clinical psychology review .
Roy, A., Fuentes-Afflick, E., Fernald, L., & Young, S. (2015). Pica is prevalent and strongly associated with iron deficiency, but not anemia, among Mexican-born pregnant women living in the United States. The FASEB Journal , 29 (1_supplement), 590-4.
