Why are girls developing eating disorders at even younger and younger ages?

writing a paper.
what do u think are key reasons?
i need opinions
family?
Emotional?
Social?

Ok, this may be long but I've had an ED for years
one of the reasons is that the media gives us a false sense of what is attractive... they tell us that models who could slip through the cracks in a tile floor are attractive. Women with curves have to have small stomaches and slim waists otherwise nothing else matters small or large.

Another is those Proana sites they make it look like it's the cool thing to do or just a choice
"ok, I'll just turn anorexic for a few days to lose this amount of weight then I'll go back to normal"
But it ends up with them NOT going back because once you lose some, it's NEVER enough.

Barbie, Bratz and other dolls like that are also prime examples you NEVER see a fat doll like that and lil girls are VERY easy to influence like that and dolls that show perfect bodies only reinforce that you need to look like that no matter what.

It's also a fitting in thing
for me, I hung out with malnurished girls so they were tiny and I was well fed with a fairly high metabolism (I was med. sized but felt fat so I'd diet and work out and walk and work out then binge eat and purge and so on) it's a serious MENTAL ILLNESS usually brought on by low self esteem and self worth

Well,
here's a key fact about the eating disorder phenomenon;
It's a Western Civilization thing.
There are very little eating disorders in the Middle-Eastern and Eastern cultures.
So if I had to guess...
What does America have that other Eastern cultures don't?
Well,
our society is based on celebrity idols for one.
Another thing is fast food. On average, an American eats one fast food meal a deal.
Maybe eating disorders are developed so girls can eat what they want, but still maintain a low weight?
Learned Laziness?

That's just an educated guess though.
:)

-Sean G.

the media
always showing us that skinny is in and the way to be
and that being bigger than the average model can cause you to be an outcast