ABSTRACT
It is sometimes thought that social pressure from seeing images of ultra-slim models and celebrities can cause or exacerbate eating disorders, but other factors can combine to present a more complex picture:
● family characteristics, e.g. eating disorders, substance abuse or depression; ● personal characteristics, e.g. having an obsessive personality, an anxiety disorder,
low self-esteem or being a perfectionist; ● worry or stress leading to comfort eating, which can cause worries about getting fat; ● dieting and missing meals leading to craving for food, loss of control and
over-eating; ● a distressing event, such as family breakdown, death or separation in the family,
loss of a friend, abuse; ● pressure to be thin caused by a hobby that could become a career, e.g. a dancer.
