Peer Pressure and Dieting
Peer pressure occurs when a group of people or just one person
can make an individual feel uncomfortable, leading them to make
decisions that they may not otherwise decide to make if they did
not have influences in their life. This can affect the way a
person thinks, dresses, looks, speaks or eats. The person who
gives in and decides to change their lifestyle usually feels
that they must conform to other attitudes or behaviors to feel
part of the norm.
When peer pressure involves the way a person eats, this can
result in drastic consequences. When a person feels an intense
urge to change their eating habits to fit it, they may develop
habits that can turn a healthy body into a poor bill of health.
This is seen when individuals attempt to diet in order to fit
into an image that they have dubbed as ideal. Many people
associate peer pressure with teens, but adults often face the
same obstacles when they come face to face with weight issues
brought on upon their peers.
Peer pressure not only comes from family and friends, but can
come in the form of other outside influences. For example,
today's society pushes for a thinner world. People cannot escape
the "in-their-face" reminders of how attractive a thinner image
appears to others. This is prominent every time you open up a
magazine, revealing the latest models or watching your favorite
sitcom and spotting the "hottest" television star.
Peer Pressure and Dieting Can Lead To
1) Low Self-Esteem
When a person is constantly hearing about their weight from
family and friends, it may result in low self-esteem. Feelings
of low self-worth, guilt and unattractiveness may develop that
may prompt the individual to diet in order to please the people
around them, as well as themselves.
2) Depression
Peer pressure to diet and make drastic lifestyle changes, a
person may feel depressed because of their failed attempts to
lose weight or that they are not up to the standards of those
they are surrounded by.
3) Anorexia
Anorexia nervosa deals with the strong fear of being or becoming
fat. People who practice this lifestyle wish to maintain an
emaciated body weight. There are about 50% of anorexia nervosa
patients who engage in self-induced vomiting and/or the abuse of
laxatives.
4) Bulimia
When a person suffers from bulimia nervosa, they participate in
reoccurring cycles of binge-eating. After binge-eating, they
engage in some form of purging, which includes such methods as
vomiting, abusing laxatives and/or abusing diuretics. This is
their attempt to prevent weight gain.
5) Poor Body Image
If a person is feeling peer pressure to diet, whether or not
they are of healthy or unhealthy weight, may develop a poor body
image of them. This can lead to unhealthy practices when they
attempt to diet. If someone keeps hearing over and over again
that they need to diet, then they may feel that something is
wrong with their image and that what others say is the truth.