Eating disorders affect almost 5 percent of all women and as much as 15 percent of women have unhealthy eating habits according to a website dedicated to raising awareness about eating disorders

The 2 most common eating disorders are anorexia, which is characterized by semi-starvation, and bulimia, which entails a cycle of eating large quantities of food then purging.

According to Laura Wilks, a UNLV student working on her masters in psychology, there are several risk factors that can cause an eating disorder. “One warning sign that someone might develop an eating disorder is being female,” Wilks said, “Especially in the adolescent or young adult stage of life.” Other contributing factors include a preoccupation with weight or body image, history of other psychological issues as well as genetics.

Wilks believes that society also has a huge role in causing eating disorders. “Girls are exposed at a very young age to these images of women that most can never achieve,” she said. She explained that the women girls look up too like models and celebrities present an unobtainable body image.

People may be taking steps to help change the way women are portrayed. Wilks cited things like the Dove campaign which uses “real” women in there advertisements instead of the more common model. She also mentioned how in 2003 Madrid banned models that were too thin from participating in runway shows. “I believe people are taking these steps because they have realized that it has become such a huge problem in the world,” said Wilks

Most people underestimate the severe consequences that eating disorders present said Frank Massey, a nutritionist who works with people who have eating disorders and body image issues. “Eating disorders cause more deaths then many people realize,” he said. When people are starving themselves, like during anorexia, most of a person’s organ systems will suffer, Massey said.

He continued by saying that some of the worst health problems encountered are cardiovascular problems, osteoporosis and kidney dysfunction. Apart from medical consequence there are severe psychological ones as well. “When someone has an eating disorder almost every part of a their life is affected from school to work and even relationships,” said Massey.

Many cases of eating disorders go untreated or under treated according to Wilks. This is because medical professional have yet to pinpoint what the exact cause of an eating disorder is. “There are so many things that play into why a person has an eating disorder,” she said.

According to Wilks successful treatments include therapy and medication.

More and more people are developing eating disorders everyday. Even if young girls are not diagnosed with an actual eating disorder the statistics about how they view their weight are somewhat alarming. In a study sponsored by the U.S department of health and human services of girls 9 to 15 slightly more than half admit to exercising to loose weight.

The age in which girls are becoming aware and concerned of their body image is getting younger and according to Massey that may cause an even bigger jump of people that will develop an eating disorder in the future.

 The Wii allows for the player to actually move and interact with the game which is why people believed it could really help kids get fit. Unfortunately, a study done by BBC news says that the WII does not do much to help get in a good workout. People playing the Wii only use  about 2 percent more energy then those who are playing regular video games.

 So contrary to popular belief the Wii will not be the cure to childhood obesity and kids should still go out and actually play again that works up a sweat.

 I came across some startling facts about them on a mental health website. Eating disorders have the highest mortality rate of any mental illness and roughly 8 million Americans can be diagnosed with having one. Only 1 in 10 people with an eating disorder will receive treatment.

The effects of eating disorders are far too often understated and most who go to treatment centers are sent home too early and never fully recover. Although the majority of people who have these diseases are women there are men who suffer from them too.

This machine created by John Kanzius has the medical world all talking. Kanzius, a cancer patients, invented this machine that uses radio waves to kill cancer cells.

The first group of items I immediately think about is fast food. Almost every drive through you can pull up to has a section of items for a dollar. McDonald’s has double cheese burger for a dollar. Taco bell has a value menu and so does Wendy’s.

Fast food however is not something any one should ever live on as demonstrated by the movie super size me.

At a grocery story you can barley by bread for a dollar let alone all the condiments you need to make an actual sandwich.

I guess you can buy Cup a Noodles for a dollar but once again you will be lacking in the nutrition department.

It is nearly impossible to survive off of the amount of money the government is willing to sacrifice to those families who need food stamps. The only way to really stay in this budget is to eat fast food which we all know will only lead to greater problems.

This week’s People magazine lead story was “Hollywood’s Hottest Bodies.” In the article they listed some of celebrities favorite tips for staying thin and in shape. Some of the tips included Kate Hudson eats a salad for dinner and yogurt with honey for breakfast. Another one was Mariah Carey doing water aerobics. She said it is three times more effective than other workouts.

Although some of these tips are great we must not forget celebrities have the means to hire a whole staff of people to help them stay as in shape as they are. They have chefs, trainers, and even their very own nutritionists to tell them how to eat and how to work out.

We common folk, for the most part, do not have those luxuries. So it is about time we stop looking toward the stars for all the latest diet trends and we really need to stop comparing ourselves to people like Jessica Alba.

Southern Hills Hospital and Medical Center put on the annual baby fair on Saturday. New and expecting moms could go and get all they need for baby and their pregnancy.

 At the fair you could find doctors on site giving immunization shots, a maternity fashion show and car seat checks.

Another great aspect of the fair is that there was nutrition and exercise advice for the mothers who want to lose that baby weight or just stay fit during the nine months of pregnancy.

I attended this event with my oh so pregnant sister. She found the baby fair to be very helpful. “Pregnancy can be overwhelming and it’s comforting to get so much information at one place,” she said.

If you can burn an extra three hundred calories, six days a week, that’s enough to lose an extra twenty five pounds in a year. There are lots of ways to sneak in exercise without it taking any extra time out of your day.

Just find three of these ten suggestions to fit in each day, Monday-Saturday:

1. Roll up your sleeves and spring-clean a room for twenty minutes
2. Do an extra ten minutes on the cross-trainer or the rowing machine at the gym.
3. Stroll to the local shop (fifteen minutes there and back) instead of driving.
4. Each time the ad breaks come on, do a three-minute exercise blast: crunches, press-ups, jogging on the spot.
5. If you work in a desk job all day, take a five minute break every hour to stretch and walk around the room.
6. At work, walk to colleagues’ offices and chat face-to-face, rather than emailing.
7. At the supermarket, park at the far side of the car park. Use a basket, not a trolley - it helps tone your arms.
8. Each time you’re waiting for the kettle to boil (two minutes) do stretches and squats. While dinner is cooking, run up and down the stairs ten times.
9. When waiting for a train twice a day, walk around the station for ten-fifteen minutes.
10. At the weekend, spend ten minutes shooting baskets, and fifteen minutes playing Frisbee.

NB: Figures based on a 155lb woman.”

By: Ali Hale

VH1′s Celebrity fit club shows eight unhealthy “celebrities” trying to get into shape and lose some weight. Not only is it entertaining to watch these people on their quest for fitness it is educational.

The panel of judges include a drill Sergeant, a doctor, and a therapist. Throughout the show people watching at home can learn some great tips on how to eat right and how to exercise properly.

This combination of diet exercise and even therapy really allows for these people to achieve amazing goals.

There are exercise regimes and tips for a healthy diet available on their website. Fans of the show can go on-line and sign up to track their own weight loss progress and get advice from the experts on the show.

There has been a lot of research done to look at why our nation more than others has this very serious problem.

According to FAQ.com the average American women consumes 1,877 calories a day compared to 1,542 in 1971. Calorie consumption has increases by 22 percent during that time period.

This is in large part due to our portion sizes which has also increased drastically as well the increased amount of sugar and fat in our societies diet, according the the Center for Disease Control.

The combination of increased caloric intake and decreased activity can be lethal.

Obesity can lead to very sever health conditions like diabetes and Heart disease. Which we have also seen a dramatic increase in.

A website on heart disease hows that a person dies every 33 seconds from heart disease. This same website also says that a person who is non active and doesn’t exercise is twice as likely to suffer from heart disease as someone who exercises regularly.