Using Competitive Running to Rehabilitate Teenagers Aged 16-20 Who are Suffering from Anorexia Nervosa

1.0 Research Questions

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Order now

Anorexia nervosa is an eating disorder that affects many teenagers in the contemporary society. The two questions that this research proposal seeks to answer are:

Which alternatives can be applied for the diagnosis and treatment of anorexia nervosa among teenagers aged 16-20?

Can competitive running rehabilitate Anorexia Nervosa patients aged 16-20?

2.0 Background and Rationale

In the contemporary society, many teenagers are gradually getting to believe the fallacy that the real beauty lies in their weight. Many are slipping into suspicious weight-loss activities and distorted ideas that are rather unhealthy. In the process, cases of anorexia nervosa are on the rise. Anorexia nervosa is basically an eating disorder. A person suffering from this disorder deliberately cuts down on their food and beverage intake due to their strong desire to become thin even when they are already thin (Bowden, 2013). Such persons also intensely fear the idea of gaining weight hence become very nervous and anxious about food. According to Lock and Gowers (2005), teenagers suffering from anorexia nervosa live in denial of the fact that they are already underweight and many of them engage in unusual behavior such as eating very little food, excessive exercising, using laxatives and forcing themselves to vomit. Research shows that some complications that are associated with anorexia nervosa include cardiovascular complications, infertility, failure to have menses and osteoporosis. Although the cause of anorexia nervosa is unknown, the disorder is attributed to genetics, personal and cultural factors (Bowden, 2013). People who have relatives that have previously suffered from anorexia nervosa are at the risk of genetic predisposition to the disorder. When a person becomes increasingly conscious of their weight, probably due to peer and social pressure, they develop an apprehension towards food and beverage. The pressure to shape up becomes so much that they end up slipping into anorexia nervosa. In some cultural settings and activities such as dancing, athletics, and modeling, body appearance is given a priority hence making those involved struggle to shape up; or else they are asked to ship out.

Some cultural orientations emphasize on body shape as the measure of health and, therefore, many young people strive to maintain a slim shape although some develop anorexia nervosa in the process. Surprisingly, teenage girls and young women are the hardest hit. Although statistical information on the prevalence of the disorder in developing countries is not clear, research shows that an estimated 2 million people suffered from anorexia nervosa globally in 2013, and in Western countries, there is an estimated predisposition of 4.3% among teenage girls and young women, and 0.3% for teenage boys and young men while the predisposition for teenagers, in general, is 17% (Botha, 2015). What is clear from the research is that teenagers, especially girls, are more likely to suffer from anorexia nervosa and die from complications related to the disorder. The common interventions include family therapy, behavior modification and nutritional rehabilitation (Bakker et al., 2011). However, these therapies do not seem to have helped matters; hence creating the need to come up with alternative and workable interventions that will see a significant reduction, if not elimination, of the prevalence and deaths related to anorexia nervosa. The information collected from this research will, therefore, not only add to the wealth of knowledge in this area but also provide an alternative form of therapy. It will be of invaluable benefit to the teenagers suffering from the disorder, and those who face the risk of predisposition. Besides, psychologists, counselors, psychotherapists and the health practitioners in the field, who will be expected to oversee the dissemination of the therapy, will reap highly from the information gathered in this study.

3.0 Literature review

According to the available research, anorexia nervosa is among the psychological disorders that register high mortality rates. According to a survey conducted by Botha, (2015), the number of anorexia nervosa-related deaths rose from 400 in 1990 to 600 in 2013. The survey indicated that most of the deaths were a result of the refusal to eat so as to maintain a lean body shape (4%), excessive exercising (2%) and suicide (5%). The researchers recommended a more elaborate and personalized therapy for helping those suffering from anorexia nervosa since the current ones may not work for every patient. Another survey conducted by Conti (2016) explored the prevalence of anorexia nervosa and the effectiveness of the available therapies. According to the study, of all the diagnosed cases in 2015, females aged 12-25 accounted for 90%. The main reasons for the prevalence included anxiety, self-criticism, low self-esteem, introvertism, resistance to change, a perfectionistic perception, and the desire to look like the peers (Conti, 2016). In most cases, the victims focused on rejecting food as a means of controlling weight. These reasons were echoed by Bowden (2013) in their research which indicated that young female adults and teenagers either reduced their food intake to the bare minimum or refused to eat and forced themselves to vomit so as to reduce weight. This resulted in complications such as dehydration and failure to have the menstrual periods: issues that required swift nutritional therapy to prevent fatalities. This evidence shows a worrying trend of young people who want to maintain an ideal body shape irrespective of the consequences.

Research has also been carried out to determine the efficiency of diagnosis and treatment of the two subtypes of anorexia nervosa: the restrictive subtype that is characterized by the intake of very low-calorie diets, and the binge-purge subtype characterized by excessive exercising, abuse of laxatives and forced vomiting. One such study conducted by Suematsu (1997) identified four criteria for diagnosing anorexia nervosa. Although practitioners use a variety of criteria to diagnose the disorder, Suematsu (1997) restricted their criteria to missed menses for three consecutive months, the intense apprehension associated with weight gain, slow heart rate, and rapid weight loss. The main aim of the study was to identify the salient features of anorexia nervosa, examine the effectiveness of diagnosis and analyze the treatment options. Nutritional Rehabilitation is the main treatment therapy given to people suffering from anorexia nervosa, but it does not work efficiently for all (Itulua-Abumere, 2013). The findings of this study were echoed by Izydorczyk (2015) who carried out a survey to determine the most common characteristic features of anorexia nervosa, diagnosis and the distinction between anorexia and other psychological conditions such as general apprehension and prevalent circumstances such as famine and poverty. The study revealed that the most salient features that practitioners relied on included the fear to gain weight, forced vomiting after eating, blatant rejection of food and unexplained missed menses. The researchers suggested that due to the overlapping of some features of anorexia nervosa and those of other conditions, close family members and clinical, behavioral observers can give a better account of the patient's history that can help in efficient diagnosis. The scholars recommended early treatment of the condition so as to prevent the development of complications.

It is important to note that the recommendations suggested by scholars in this field center on clinical approaches to the diagnosis and treatment of anorexia nervosa. None has ventured into preventive care or alternative forms of therapy. Therefore the main aim of this project will be to explore the possibility of providing an alternative diagnosis and treatment therapy and examine the probability of a preventive approach. By exploring whether competitive running can rehabilitate teenagers suffering from anorexia nervosa, the project will add to the existing knowledge on diagnosis and treatment of the disorder as well as provide a platform for the possibility of applying proactive therapy.

4.0 Methodology

This research will adopt qualitative research methodology. The participants will include both male and female adolescents suffering from anorexia nervosa, psychotherapists and health care professionals who deal with anorexia nervosa cases. After being informed about the purpose of the project and consenting to take part, all the participants will be subjected to a common online survey with open-ended questions regarding the alternatives they would prefer for the diagnosis and treatment of anorexia nervosa. The rationale for this will be to collect as much data as possible on the alternatives to the already existent diagnostic and therapeutic approaches to anorexia nervosa. The participants will be prompted to provide their basic demographic information after which they will comment on the prompt: which alternatives can be applied in the diagnosis and treatment of anorexia nervosa? in different spaces that will be provided.

The following table will be provided for the responses to the above research question.

Diagnosis Treatment

After gathering the data, all responses will be coded in line with coding procedures proposed by Vangelisti, Crumley, and Baker (1999) cited in Camic, Rhodes, and Yardley (2003). The information will then be grouped into preliminary thematic categories which will be derived using Bulmers (1979) analytic induction (Camic, Rhodes, and Yardley, 2003). Based on this initial list of thematic categories, a further 25% of the data will be reviewed so as to allow for the expansion, redefining or collapsing of the thematic categories. The final list of thematic categories will then be determined. The rationale for having thematic categories is to ensure that all the data are considered, and none is discarded as long as it is relevant. This will provide a broad spectrum that will make it possible to gather objective information. After coding the data, 20% of it from across the coders will be checked using Cohens Kappa (Camic, Rhodes, and Yardley, 2003) for consistency. Anny disagreement will be discussed, and a single final code will be assigned to all the coders. This will ensure objectivity and consistency of the data. Consistent data is highly likely to produce objective results. Since the aim of the first research question is to gather as much information as possible from people who are directly involved or affected by anorexia nervosa, it will be important for this information to be objective and reliable.

To answer the second question, the participants, upon consent, will be subjected to an observation period of six months. It is important to note that all the participants in this second part will be adolescents aged 16-20 and who will be suffering from anorexia nervosa at the time of recruitment. The participants will be grouped into five, depending on their vicinity, with one of them as the group leader. They will then be guided on how to organize and take part in running competitions fortnightly for six months and rec...