Examining the Rise of Eating Disorders in Different Cultures As these countries grow in industrialization and more global, eating disorders have risen with increasing dissatisfaction in body shape and size. Then following are the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, China, and Vietnam. It is fair to say that the increasing rate of eating disorders, Japan has the highest rate of prevalence, followed by Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, and South Korea. Since these studies in the 1990s, a decrease in non-fat-phobic Anorexia Nervosa (NFP-AN) have decreased and a more Westernized disorder of AN has developed, where sufferers, state a desire for thinness and high levels of body dissatisfaction. These individuals also reported less bulimic symptoms and lower BMI. Typically individuals attributed their restrictive food intake to somatic complaints (i.e., bloating, abdominal pain, or just not hungry was termed “Non-Fat Phobic Anorexia Nervosa (NFP-AN)”. In Hong Kong eating disorders were also seen from the 1990s onward and showed features commonly associated with Western eating disorders were absent, such as body dissatisfaction. In a study in published in 2003, conducted by Lee, Pathy, and Chan (who published an 8-year study) looked at the development of eating disorders according to ethnicity and found that 91.3% reported cases were female, and 8.7% were male. In Singapore, eating disorders have been increasingly common since the 1990s, especially body dissatisfaction. When examining eating disorders on a global basis, this includes a look at Westernization media’s influence on perception of self. This includes shifts in population demographics, food supply, global economies, gender role shifts, and the traditional family structure changes. The study of the significant and rapid increase of eating disorders in Asia takes into consideration the coinciding of westernization, cultural shifts, industrialization, and urbanization.
This is based on Westernization of fashion, beauty ideas, television, social media as well as industrialization and urbanization of Asia. Eating disorders in Asia suggest that eating disorders are not culture-bound or specific, but more culture-reactive. In Japan however in the 1970s eating disorders becoming more prevalent, and by the end of the 20th century disordered eating attitudes and behaviors significantly increased among Asian youth (including Singapore, Hong Kong, Fiji, Pakistan, and Taiwan). There were a handful of reported cases of eating disorders during this time and was rare. Immigrants began coming to Western countries, and studies were conducted on the immigrants and descendants prior to the 1990s.
The first culture to be studied, with an increased prevalence of eating disorders, was Asia. Global Impact of Westernization of Culture What most of the studies agree upon is that eating disorders tend to be culturally-reactive and not necessarily culture-bound. Often when various studies have looked at the emergence of eating disorders globally, they look at the shifts in population, demographics, food supply, global economies, gender roles, and traditional family structure as well as influence on Western societies.
Westernization can be described as the process by which increased cultural contact with the Western views, perceptions, and media, or otherwise Western ideas and cultural norms compared to non-Western cultures. This article will review the rise and potential reasons for the increase in diagnosed eating disorders. According to the National Eating Disorder Association, up to 70 million people (both male and female) suffer from eating disorders. With the rise of global Westernization, technology advances, and cultural shifts, a rise of the idea of an ideal body shape and size has affected almost all parts of the world. It’s no surprise that eating disorders are on the rise throughout the world.