Disordered Eating and Mental Health in Asian American Women
Author | : Serena Cho |
Publisher | : |
Total Pages | : 0 |
Release | : 2022 |
ISBN-10 | : OCLC:1350283677 |
ISBN-13 | : |
Rating | : 4/5 (77 Downloads) |
Book excerpt: Despite being one of the fastest growing ethnic groups in the United States, Asian Americans are often excluded from clinical trials and public health research. The perpetuation of the "Model Minority" has created bias amongst society, assuming Asian Americans are not vulnerable to economic, social or medical hardships. The Asian American community has consequently internalized this stereotype and endorse this stereotype as a standard towards social mobility. In order to gain social mobility, "thinness" is an additional criteria women must achieve. However, the promotion of unattainable thinness and Eurocentric beauty standards manifests body dissatisfaction, which may push Asian Americans women to engage in disordered eating behavior. Eating disorders and disordered eating has been noted to be comorbid with mental health issues such as depression, anxiety, and emotional dysregulation. Asian Americans are three times less likely to seek mental health service compared to Whites, highlighting an ignored mental health crisis within the community. Continuance of untreated mental health concerns may attribute to the statistic that suicide was also revealed to be the leading cause of death in Asian American women in the US. The internalization of multifaceted factors such generational status, biculturalism, and familial values may cause disruption in Asian American women's relationship with food, mental health, body, and identity. This systematic literature review explores the relationship between the spectrum of disordered eating behavior and poor mental health in Asian American women.