College-aged young adults already concerned with their physical appearance can have tendencies toward eating disorders reinforced by perfectionist fathers.
A survey of more than 400 male and female college students showed that fathers are more likely than mothers to create the kinds of pressures that can lead to disordered eating, and eventually to anorexia, bulimia and other problems.
Seventeen percent of the students surveyed exhibited eating patterns considered maladaptive, including vomiting as a result of feeling uncomfortably full.
Personal perfectionism was also found to be more an issue in eating disorders than food itself. Those who feel out of control of their lives and bodies may turn to eating as an area in which they do have a sense of control.
