Maribel Gomez is overweight and suffers from diabetes. She also finds herself depressed most of the time, often unable to tell why she feels that way. However, she always knows what will make her feel better; a nice plate of five to eight tacos de adobada with a big bottle of Coca-Cola. She can call her neighbor and invite her over to eat so she won’t feel lonely. After this they will talk and talk. On second thought, she’d rather spend some time to herself, indulging in the joy and good feeling that the food she craves will give her. Somewhere else, a young girl named Barbara Lakely is sitting in her bathroom, crying after clawing at her reflection in the mirror and violently forcing herself to vomit the abominable cereal she tempted herself into consuming. To Maribel, food is her best friend, her shoulder to cry on, relief. To Barbara, it is her worse nightmare. It’s surprising what our relationship with food has turned both the food and ourselves into.
The connection that humans have made with food has changed over the course of time. It has evolved from simple natural necessity and satisfaction to emotional dependence and addiction. To people like Maribel, food has become something necessary not only to survive, but to feel good about themselves and their surroundings. Some people eat when they are happy, sad, stressed, anxious, mad, bored or another certain way, yet they’re not even hungry. Others barely eat and avoid it as much as possible, like Barbara. The emotional connection varies according to how people have been taught to eat food, or what they have learned to do when in difficult situations like emotional or physical problems, or criticism from others. The growth of the emotional influence of food has created not only diseases like obesity and diabetes, but also eating disorders like anorexia and bulimia.
Most people find themselves relieved after satisfying their hunger. This feeling has escalated to the point where people go beyond being 'full' because their definition of the word varies according to how they have been taught to eat. To people that have been told that filling yourself with food is healthy and strong, full means 'eating until you can't even open your mouth anymore.' To others that have been influenced by what others wrongly advice them or criticize them to do about their looks, full means 'eating for what you have starved yourself for days.'
Eating excessively has led to many physical and psychological disorders like high cholesterol, diabetes, high blood pressure, arthritis, overweight, bulimia, anorexia, malnutrition, anemia, leukemia, certain kinds of immunodeficiency, self-esteem problems, even social problems. Maribel is currently in a struggling relationship with her husband as he refuses to have relations with her because of her overweight. She feels self-conscious and troubled, which leads her to more over-eating. On the other hand, Barbara feels rejected for other reasons; she often receives strange looks from people around her, instead of receiving compliments, like she expects, she receives reprimands from people and criticism on how unhealthy she looks, and has noticed that her life is not going the way she wants. Currently, Barbara is receiving psychological aid. Many people see food as a friend, a consolation, a way to relieve and escape their problems. Others see it as their enemy; they eat because they have to, because they need it to stay alive and their body craves it, but they cannot wait to get that abomination out of their bodies, which leads to laxatives and forced vomiting.
Children have been taught that food is good, and this is alright, as long as they are also learning healthy ways to eat it. People need to learn the healthy connection between food, which is not seeing the food neither as an ally nor as an arch-nemesis, but for what it is; food, nutrients to nourish the body and stay healthy. We need to encourage healthy diets and establish a healthy relationship with the activities that surround us so that we will learn to exercise, talk, and engage in different activities when we are feeling troubled, instead of opting to an unhealthy alternative that relates to food and can lead to dangerous consequences.
