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Connor Aube
Oct 9, 2020
After reading the Lee article I believe that in the Chinese culture digestive problems are what leads to depression. Throughout the article, it mentions
how the norms of culture in Hong Kong are to eat all the food on your plate and is seen as disrespectful and not the "Confucian" way when leaving
leftovers. The Chinese culture is not like the western world we live in, the Anorexia nervosa is seen more in western culture than in the Chinese. It
was stated in the article that three of the Chinese anorexia patients had previously reported atypical behavior in not exhibiting an intense fear of
obesity and distorted body image. This shows that the eating disorder isn't as prevalent or intense as it is in the United States. Throughout the
Western culture females everywhere take too much consideration into what their body weight is or how they are viewed by society. However, in non-
western cultures like Hong Kong, obesity may be admired as signs of wealth, success, and even secondary sexual characteristics. Another aspect to
look at is the gods the Chinese worship and how they are viewed through a visual representation. The Chinese god of luck and wealth is seen as
being fat or overweight which gives the idea that if you take after the god you worship or cherish than it's ok to be overweight. It's actually seen as
bad luck to be considered thin, a compliment that is opposite to the western world is when someone says "have you put on weight recently."
The Chinese families and culture have very strong family ties and the way the parents handle their children when dealing with weight. However, the
self-image of the female population in Chinese culture is looked at entirely different than females in the western world. The lee article mentions the
growing influence of cultural norms from western society into the Chinese norms. Some of the Hong Kong patients mention being teased because of
their weight and fear of being obese was mentioned in 3 of the patients. As the cultural ideas and norms grow the female population in hong kong
becomes more susceptible to dealing with an increase in anorexia. The way they view how their food is eaten and the amount they consume will
ultimately decide if the participant will become more depressed because it's going against the norms of their society. As the western norms continue
to grow in the Chinese culture it opens a new area that the chinse will have to deal with for years to come.
Brandon Denny
:
Oct 9, 2020
This article presents compelling and complex information regarding anorexia nervosa, its potential causing factors, and the consequences. AN affects
many people around the world, of many ages and both sexes. Although this article does not make a strong relationship between Western culture and
Hong Kong, it might affect Hong Kong people. That is important to know because Western culture's beauty norms, through observation and empirical
study, may affect many cultures around the world.
These factors (and others) could have led to these patients' psychological issues like their struggle with anti-social behavior. They fear socializing with
other people because of pseudo, childhood, or real-life problems, and they might believe eating will help them cope. However, Chinese culture seems
to naturally counter anti-social behavior, at least through eating and physical appearance. (Hence why they have the biggest population in the world.)
Moreover, they are taught to eat a respectable amount of food to limit food waste. So, in this case, it is their primary digestive problems that lead to
depressive behaviors.
In the first section of the article, Lee mentions that dietary restrictions were the primary weight reduction method. Although diets can be beneficial, it
was a problem in this case. Their dietary habits were abnormal, which caused them to develop AN. Furthermore, it is hard to prove that depression
caused this disorder. Typically, depression has led to overeating, and the article does not necessarily say the patients were overeating (some patients
exhibited bulimia disorder), but that they had harsh diets.
Another point is the middle/low-class socioeconomic status. A lower status may lead to depressive behaviors, but it does not mean it will cause AN.
The restrictive diet occurs first because they have limited economic resources. So, food may be scarce, and after eating the scarce food, they find
themselves in predicaments of guilt, physical pain, and eventually AN, which may lead to depression.
Austin Elias
:
Saturday
In the article “Anorexia nervosa in Hong Kong: a Chinese perspective” by Sing Lee the author discusses a study conducted about sixteen young,
single, females living in China who exhibited severe self-induced weight loss by dietary restriction. They did not have the typical body distorted image
found in Western cultures. Instead they claimed a feeling of fullness or abdominal bloating and not fear of obesity. There was no pressure placed
upon them to be thin by their community. In the Chinese culture food is an important part of social interaction and is intertwined with a variety of
social meanings. There is less concern of external physical appearance and more emphasis placed on success in social role performance for the
development of self esteem and happiness. Children are raised to not waste food because each morsel of rice took many hours of hard work to grow
and it would be bad luck if they refused to eat every bite. Most of the girls the study were described as having introverted personalities and came
from lower socioeconomic neighborhoods which may have been another reason they felt compelled to not waste food. There is greater acceptance of
overeating in the Chinese culture because food is considered more of a social event, so there is less guilt associated with binge eating. Obesity may
be admired as signs of wealth, success, and secondary sexual characteristics in non-Western cultures. When a person is told that they have put on
weight it is considered a compliment; unlike Western countries where being thin is seen as healthier, sexier, and more beautiful.
With so much emphasis placed on eating as a social event; a young person may get depressed if they are unable to enjoy a meal with their family.
They did not participate in these social circumstances due to digestive issues which may have led to depression and weight loss. In depressive
disorder weight loss can occur even if there is no disturbance of body image or fear of obesity. The girls did not report a feeling of being fat and had a
mean original weight that was less than the ideal body weight. Severe weight loss and amenorrhea are biological data common to patients with
morbid self-starvation in all age and cultures, while intense fear of obesity and distorted body image are more abstract biomedical categories. Also,
pain and depression are closely linked, so a person who constantly feels abdominal pain after eating could become depressed and depressed people
are more sensitive to pain. When psychologists are diagnosing AN in the non-Western cultures there needs to be flexible diagnostic criteria. When
these girls were diagnosed with an eating disorder it did not accurately determine the real problem of depression based on a lack of being able to fit
in with society because of digestive problems.
Edited by Austin Elias on Oct 10 at 8:52pm
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