Eating Disorders Not Treated in Japan

In today’s society, the pressure to be thin promoted by mass media pushes some females to the point of developing eating disorders. Seeing celebrities in magazines that are unhealthily slim seem to only further promote the idea of inappropriate means of achieving a seemingly acceptable body shape, especially through the development of eating disorders. In America, there are a plethora of treatments for eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia. In Japan, the treatments are seemingly inadequate and do not reach nearly the amount of people necessary. In 2014, there were only ten thousand people treated for eating disorders, even though there are believed to be more than 725,000 people that suffer from these disorders. Though they are suffering, they are suffering in silence.

Eating disorders can stem from a number of different issues. The first, and most obvious reason, is related to the fact that being thin is societally comparable to being beautiful thanks to the likes of photoshop. In Japan, more than in most other countries, this idea is extremely prominent. On social media, a trend surfaced to see if women could wrap an arm around their stomach to try and touch their belly button, which served as an exemplification of the glorification of unnatural thinness. It is believed by many medical professionals that there is a large amount of societal pressure that plays a large part in driving women to become extremely skinny.

In an attempt to combat the prevalence of this trend, there is a new Japanese magazine called La Farfa that is aimed at “plus-size girls.” The hope is that by encouraging positive body image, less and less women will feel the need to develop eating disorders just to feel like they are meeting society’s beauty standards. Though this may help a little, there still is likely to be issues that need to be addressed as far as eating disorders are concerned.

Many believe that the Japanese medical system is failing to effectively address the problems that eating disorders pose. It is believed that most people suffering from eating disorders are not receiving any medical or psychological support at all. In Japan, there is no family doctor referral system, which means that if someone thinks they are suffering from an eating disorder, they have to, for the most part, seek psychiatric support for themselves. Since there is a negative connotation associated with eating disorders, it is believed that those suffering from eating disorders are prevented from seeking help in order to avoid shaming. Most often times, by the time these women seek help, their conditions are already so severe that they are close to death.

Anorexia, a disease that is categorized as a lack or loss of appetite for food characterized by an obsessive desire to lose weight, is one of their main concerns. Their other main concern is bulimia, which can be described as binge-eating followed by inappropriate means of weight-control such as self-induced vomiting. The Japanese government committed to bringing awareness to the issue in 2014, but they only sponsored a few community support groups. With this, they only partially fund them.

While most people in Japan that suffer from eating disorders are currently not getting help, many are hopeful that as more people speak out about the issue, more people will come forward to get help. It seems that nowadays, most people, especially females, are not happy with just being themselves. Unfortunately, this often leads to them disrespecting their bodies and forgetting what it means to be healthy. Although this issue does not seem like it is going to get much better in the near future, it is likely that the Japanese will continue to take steps to increase the amount of people being treated for their eating disorders.