Diets can be expensive and boring, don't improve your health, and don't make you more beautiful. In addition to the media and societal messages, the family plays a significant role in influencing attitudes and feelings around body image. In the family that strives for perfection, reputation, appearances, and achievement are valued at the expense of emotional connectedness. In these families, there is a pattern of valuing members for their appearance or accomplishments, resulting in high-achieving members of the family who are at very high risk for developing eating disorders. In the overprotective family, dependency and overprotection are valued at the expense of age appropriate autonomy.
Food becomes a way of soliciting protection, nurturance, and connection.
In families characterized by depression or alcoholism, there is a stronger likelihood for emotional problems and eating disorders in family members. These families are often emotionally or physically unavailable. Members lack intimacy and have difficulty expressing feelings of love and affection. Instead, there are feelings of powerlessness, anger, and fear of loss of control. These three types of families can impact how individuals deal with conflict and express control when life seems out of control.