The Whole Business of Compulsive Eating

In spite of widespread dissemination of information about healthy nutrition over the past decade, it seems that eating habits of most people have become increasingly unbalanced.

In a recent National Health Survey conducted in America, it was found that two thirds of people who were overweight were on a diet. This discovery by itself was not surprising. The alarming fact was that nearly half of those with normal weight and one sixth of those who were underweight were also found to be on a diet. Food marketers and restaurants are reporting a steadily increasing demand for rich and high-calorie desserts. The growing popularity of high-quality ice-creams and designer chocolates available in leading stores in Pakistan corroborates this further.

It is estimated that today in the West, only two out of every 10 women eat ‘normally’ without watching their weight. While fewer women in South-east Asia are overweight compared to their western counterparts, the same basic trends are spreading in our part of the world, due to increased westernization in our lifestyles and diets.

It seems that it is predominantly women, rather than men, who are eating unbalanced diets and becoming more and more obsessed with the size and shape of their bodies. When ‘Women’s lib’ was initiated around the world, many women held high hopes of finally being freed from the pressure placed on them by men and society at large to have the ‘ideal’ body. They were told that they would no longer be judged by others (or themselves) on their physical appearance but instead would be respected and valued for their personality and intellect. But then the media, especially in the last decade or so, propagated the philosophy that ‘discipline is liberation’ and inspired us to shed pounds and conform to the ‘ideal’ body weight.

When Oprah Winfrey, an icon in TV chat shows, announced that ‘losing weight was the most important achievement’ of her life , within 24 hours over a million women had phoned in to subscribe to the liquid-diet programme, which she had followed. The problem today is tha,t an almost ‘fleshless’ body shape has become synonymous with a perfect healthy body for women. As a result, the health conscious boom today, seems to have incorporated the ‘lets get slim’ fad of the 1970s, resulting in intensely puritan eating ethics, even poorer body image and subsequently, compulsive eating. At a workshop attended by 400 women, held recently in California, only 13 women responded to the question ‘how many of you love your bodies’. This is indeed a sad reflection of how women feel about themselves.

When our body is deprived of certain foods for a extended period of time, particularly sweets and high-calorie foods, a craving arises and gradually becomes more and more intense. This physical craving is echoed by the psychological desire for the forbidden food items. Finally, both mind and body give in and the person is forced to develop a desperate, almost insatiable appetite for food.

Society sends mixed messages to us all the time. We have temptations round every corner, yet as a rule we are required to hide our indulgences. Anyone, who has a passing interest in psychology, would acknowledge, how forbidden fruits have a tendency to taste sweeter and this desire can even turn obsessive. Yet these reasons alone do not offer a satisfactory explanation as to why, 60 per cent of American women are estimated to be compulsive eaters.

In his best-seller, ‘Women who have too much’, Robin Norwood states that there is a particular group of women who have an extremely high tendency to over-eat. These women often become compulsive eaters before they reach adulthood, and some even before they reach puberty. In families where one or both parents are alcoholics, their children, especially young girls, are prone to developing unhealthy eating habits. It seems that sugar acts on the brain in a similar way to alcohol, inducing a state of well being and even serving as an anaesthetic for pain. Other addictive behaviours in parents, such as smoking, can also lead to a dysfunction in children’s eating habits.

Compulsive eating is also linked with depression. According to Norwood, “Our emotions generate from nerve cells, requiring a complex diet of chemicals and the body’s ability to nourish these cells, is often impaired in compulsive eaters”. Such individuals experience debilitating depression and also exhibit other typical characteristics. They tend to talk excessively in order to compensate for the isolation they have felt due to the lack of love and attention at home. Depressed individuals engage in compensatory behaviours in order to conceal the hurt and rejection they feel. Talking and acting out are distractions used in order to avoid facing the real problem. Obsessing over perfectionism is yet another characteristic of compulsive eaters, who attempt to develop self-esteem by being high-achievers, trying to win admiration from others as a substitute for love.

Recent trends indicate the acceptance of ‘fleshy’ women as attractive, a trend which was popular in the 1940’s and 50s. Women in Pakistan today should be wise enough to ignore the portrayal of the ‘perfect’ body by models and fashion designers.

The intense dissatisfaction with weight and figure has led to a phenomenal wave of dieting and puritanical eating habits around the world, as well as Pakistan. Now, whenever a friend confesses to me that she has been ‘naughty’, she is usually implying that she has broken away from her diet and has consumed a double chocolate chip sundae.

While conducting research I learnt that people who crave for chocolates and sweets, either feel guilty for doing so or did not want to admit to their cravings. Most people felt that sweets and all such forms of candy are indulgences for children and are not meant for adults.

Ironically, the most compulsive eaters are also compulsive dieters and health freaks. Their whole psychological programming from early childhood is that they are not good enough to warrant the love and attention of others, so they must be perfect in their appearance and accomplishments. Of course the see-saw between compulsive eating and dietingm, leads to an almost intolerable conflict. The more often we diet, the more unhealthy and sluggish our metabolism becomes. Thus the weight that is lost goes back on, and the dieter has to eat less and less just to maintain the weight, constantly battling the urge to binge.

When compulsive eaters set their limits on what they can and cannot eat, it usually stems from the fact there is some area of their emotional life where they feel helpless. So while they might have been unable to set limits on the hurt caused by the insensitivity of others, especially their parents, they can at least try and exert control in one corner of their life, food.

The whole business of compulsive eating is summed up in two words - sublimation (of pain, depression and worthlessness) and substitution (of love, by eating excessively). Society should let indulgent eating out of the closet, and rob it of its repressive attraction. The compulsive eater must be encouraged to get to the root of his/her problem and find a way to truly satisfy themselves, rather than causing themselves harm in an attempt to fill the void.