Eating Disorder Research Paper Outline

Take A Bite On This Attention Getter: February 4, 1983 was the day that opened the eyes of America to the view of the damaging effects of eating disorders. This day marks the death of the very famous singer of the time, Karen Carpenter. Looking glamorous and confident on the outside, most did not know she was suffering from Anorexia Nervosa (B5). Throughout her teenage years, she was overweight. In 1967, weighing 140 pounds, Karen was put on a water diet by her doctor. This brought her down to 120 pounds (B6). Even though she was now at a healthy weight, she was still insecure due to her large amount of celebrity peers who were the ideal, perfect weight. Taking dozens of thyroid pills a day and throwing up the little food she ate, by 1975 Karen weighed 80 pounds. Her body became so weak that during one of her performances in Las Vegas, she collapsed on stage (B7). She was then finally admitted into the hospital, where it was confirmed she was 35 pounds underweight. Shocked by this, Karen consulted with doctors and therapists to do anything she could to return back to a healthy weight. However, it was too late. Due to the excess laxatives and starvation, Karen’s body could not take anymore (B8). Her death was a surprise to America, unaware of the dangers of eating disorders.

Defintion of topic/terms:
Types of Eating Disorders: The three types of eating disorders are Anorexia Nervosa, Bulimia Nervosa, and Binge Eating.
Anorexia Nervosa: An eating disorder in which a person sees themselves as overweight, even when they are unbelievably skinny. An anorexic might exercise excessively and starve themselves to lose more weight.
Bulimia Nervosa: An eating disorder in which a person eats large amounts of food, followed by dangerous measures to control his or her weight. Examples of this are excessive exercise, self-induced vomiting (purging), and the abuse of diuretics and laxatives.
Binge Eating: An eating disorder in which one consumes enormous amounts of food at