All people have felt hungry at one time in their life or another, even if they cannot remember it Ho many times does a baby cry for food or instinctively reached for its mother when someone touches its cheek also known as the rooting reflex. It is an act of self-preservation for us to feed ourselves. Researchers during WWII found that prisoners of war would unconsciously conserve body energy when their rations were cut in half, even to the point of not laughing or smiling. The body was trying to keep as much energy as it could for itself since it didn’t know when it was going to be fed again.

Hunger is a very intricate part of any animal’s body chemistry. When the stomach is digesting, it contracts a grinds the food into little pieces, which are then sent to the intestines to be digested. When it is empty, the stomach will essentially try to digest itself, which is why when someone is very hungry their stomach will actually “

growl”. Two scientists, Washburn and Canon wanted to test this theory. Washburn swallowed a balloon that was filed with air. He was told to push a button each time he felt hungry. The balloon confirmed that every time his stomach contracted, that was when he felt hunger.

Research has also shown the ideal weight that women have in their head is 10 to 20 pounds lighter than what men actually want. Women have a tendency to make things bigger then they are especially their cheeks, hips and thighs. Men or often correctly judges their own body weight, what women wanted and what most men wanted in women the women did. Nearly half of American women feel negatively about their body image.

Unger is a survival instinct, more basic than anything else, except maybe sex. But without food, the body won't even propagate itself. Hunger is motivated by many factors, both external and internal. Society, self image and personal genetic can also have an influence on what we eat and how much of it we eat.

Bulimia is also known as the “binge-purge” disease. This is where a subject will over eat, then either throw it all up or use laxatives to get rid of it quickly. Bulimia patients do not look underweight, but they are just as sick as anorexia patients. Their organs are slowly shutting down, and they will stop having menstrual cycles. When the body doesn’t get the nutrients it need, it will shut down unimportant body functions and preserve only those it needs as log as it can, just like with prisoners of war. Everyone is affected by eating disorders, all classes, even celebrities. Karen carpenter, lead singer of the 70’s group the Carpenters died of anorexia

Some topics in this essay:
Finally Obesity, Washburn Canon, Anorexia Nervosa, Macy Gray, North Americans, Researchers WWII, , Dolls Barbie, disease affects, weight women, motivations eat, eating disorders, prisoners war, genetic influence,