Eating Disorders News and Views: August 8 2012

Warning: Articles may be triggering.
articles do not necessarily reflect the views of this blog

FAMILY HEALTH MATTERS: Eating disorders a concern for not only teenage girls

Eating disorders describe several serious conditions that affect 24 million Americans each year, according to the Renfrew Center Foundation for Eating Disorders. And, it’s not always those you would expect.

Boys, adult women and men are not immune from developing this life-threatening condition, either. In fact, according to the National Association for Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders, 10 to 15 percent of individuals suffering from anorexia are male.

Eating disorders fall under several categories, the most widely publicized, and dangerous of which are anorexia (severe food restriction) and bulimia (consuming and vomiting large amounts of food). Binge eating (excessive eating without vomiting) and excessive exercise are also considered eating disorders.
Read Family Health Matters in full


Anorexia’s scary online empire
Nothing tastes as good as blogging feels

Once upon a time, anorexia was a relatively private matter. The person suffering from it usually denied their affliction to avoid treatment. Most often, it would remain a secret once diagnosed, in part to avoid becoming the subject of local gossip. And once detected, the person in question would undergo treatment and find herself sequestered away from the outside world in a hospital that wouldn’t even allow Barbie or Disney princess paraphernalia to infiltrate its walls, lest it trigger her urge to starve. Hopefully, she would recover. She would go on with her life, and her friends and family would encourage her to eat, maybe relax a little. Her once-secret eating disorder would become something that she had overcome. It was possible that she would even write a memoir about it one day; Wasted; Solitaire; Feeling for the Bones; Thin; I could name at least a dozen that aren’t about eating disorders, but simply memoirs of a troubled life involving starving yourself at one point in a longer line of suffering.
Read Online Empire in full


Young with eating disorders 'missing out on vital help'

Eating disorders in children are not being taken seriously enough, depriving them of vital treatment, a leading expert has told BBC Newsnight.

Professor Bryan Lask said he is seeing ever younger patients, with increasing numbers becoming ill under age 10.

His pioneering research suggests a strong genetic predisposition to anorexia, which experts say needs to be tackled through early intervention.

New figures reveal eating disorders cost the NHS £1.26bn a year in England.
Read Young with EDs in full


Young, beautiful, anorexic and dead

AT 19, with several teen magazine cover shoots behind her and the prospect of a lucrative modelling career, Bethaney Wallace faced a crippling struggle with eating disorders which finally claimed her life this year.

Doctors believe that over the three years since she developed anorexia and bulimia, her condition had weakened her heart and it stopped beating as she slept.

Her father said: "She lost her self-esteem. She would say she was fat but she was so beautiful -- she didn't realise how beautiful she was.

"She had up days and down days. It was like Jekyll and Hyde.

"I tried to warn her that her organs would fail but she just said: 'Don't be silly'. If you mentioned food it would start an argument."
Read YBA&D in full


Eating disorders exact a toll on older women, too

Molly Woolsey was 19 when her anorexia was diagnosed. Once she passed her 20s, the St. Paul woman said, passers-by assumed she had cancer or another terminal illness because she was so thin.

“It doesn’t occur to them that someone my age could have an eating disorder,” said Woolsey, now 45.
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Anorexia, binge eating and bulimia are considered afflictions of teenage girls or women in their 20s. But increasingly, older women are admitting to eating disorder symptoms, which put them at higher risk for a wide range of health problems.
Read Toll on Older Women in full


The pressure to be everything

In the recent Wenatchee World article about eating disorders, nutritionist Laurie Kutrich noted that she has seen an increase in patients with anorexia and bulimia. In October 2010, The Guardian reported a significant increase in prevalence of eating disorders seen in women ages 30 and above. I believe we need to look beyond conventional explanations for the rise in eating disorders and consider ways that the economic downturn may be increasing these illnesses in our society and community. The slow economy creates pressure on women to become an “equal or greater” breadwinner in the family unit (in addition to fulfilling all the other more traditional female roles).
Read Everything in full.


Great Majority of Women with Eating Disorders are Vegetarians

A new study published in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics has determined that women diagnosed with an eating disorder are four times more likely to be vegetarian compared to women with no eating disorders.

In addition to this, women with a diagnosed eating disorder were twice as likely to have been vegetarian at some point in their lives, compared to women without eating disorders.
Read Great Majority in full.


Eating Disorders Tied to Drug Use, Drinking

Adolescent girls with a variety of eating disorders -- even conditions less severe than anorexia or bulimia -- are at risk for obesity and alcohol and drug use, a prospective study found.

Among those who reported binge eating but not purging, the risk for becoming overweight or obese was doubled (OR 1.90, 95% CI 1.04 to 3.48) compared with healthy peers, according to Alison E. Field, ScD, of Harvard University in Boston, and colleagues.
Read Tied To in full



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Eating Disorders News and Views: June 22, 2012

Sober Days: Anorexia, alcoholism linked?
my desert

Question: I have been in recovery with A.A. for 3½ years; I am also anorexic. Is there a connection between alcoholism and anorexia/bulimia?

answer: There is evidence of a relationship between eating disorders and alcohol abuse in women.

A study of two populations of adult women — those presenting for alcoholism treatment and those
Read Sober Days in full


Why women who starve themselves MUST be force-fed: Liz Jones backs the judge who ruled an anorexic girl must be kept alive against her will
the daily mail

Sitting at my kitchen table with a piece of toast in front of me, I feel stressed, tired and unhappy, so I don’t want to eat it.

I have to eat it, because if I don’t, I’ll be ill. I put it in my mouth. I want to gag, but I chew. I swallow hard. It’s a tiny square of wholemeal bread. I give the crust to my dog.

I force-feed myself — not every day, but often, when life becomes too much to bear. It’s hard, but it saves my life.

A debate is raging about whether Mr Justice Peter Jackson was right to order an anorexic 32-year-old woman in Wales to be force-fed to keep her alive — against not just her wishes, but those of her parents.
Read Starve in full


Should Anorexics Be Force-Fed?
the huffington post

Should Anorexics be force fed? The latest legal ruling could kill the patient - but doing nothing might also condemn her to death.

The Daily Telegraph has reported that a leading judge who sits in the Court of Protection, Mr Justice Peter Jackson, has ruled that a former medical student suffering from severe anorexia nervosa, and who is at a life-threatening low weight, should be force-fed against her wishes by doctors.
Read Force Fed in full


Coroner blames fashion industry for bulimic schoolgirl's death
itv news

The fashion industry was squarely blamed by a coroner today for the death of a schoolgirl who was found hanged after suffering from an eating disorder.

Michael Rose, the West Somerset Coroner, called on magazines and catwalks to stop using thin models after Fiona Geraghty was found dead at her home, near Taunton, last year.

The 14-year-old schoolgirl, who had been suffering from bulimia, hanged herself in her bedroom in July last year. She had confided in health staff that she had been taunted by other girls at her public school because of her weight.
Read Blames in full


Eating Disorders in Women Over 50
Survey Shows Women in Their 50s Binge, Purge, and Diet Nearly as Often as Adolescents
Web MD

Eating disorders don't just strike teens. A new survey shows that middle-aged women binge, purge, and engage in extreme exercise and dieting about as often as adolescents do.

"Strikingly, things are as bad in this age group as they are in the younger age groups. I was sort of gobsmacked that 8% reported purging in the last five years," says researcher Cynthia M. Bulik, PhD, director of the University of North Carolina Eating Disorders Program, in Chapel Hill.
Read Women in their 50s in full


New Research Strategy for Binge Eating
psych central

Researchers have discovered that blocking the Sigma-1 receptor, a cellular protein, reduced binge eating and caused binge eaters to eat more slowly.

Binge eating disorder affects 15 million Americans and is believed to be the eating disorder that most closely resembles substance abuse and dependency.

Binge eaters typically gorge on junk foods excessively and compulsively despite knowing the adverse consequences, which are physical, emotional and social in nature.
Read New Strategy in full



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Eating Disorders News and Views: May 18, 2012

  Eating Disorders in Men: An Interview With Dr. Roberto Olivardia
Huff Post Healthy Living

Dr. Roberto Olivardia is a clinical instructor of psychology at Harvard Medical School and assistant psychologist at McLean Hospital in Belmont, Mass. He maintains a private psychotherapy practice in Arlington, Mass., where he specializes in the treatment of body dysmorphic disorder (BDD), attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), and compulsive skin-picking. He also specializes in the treatment of eating disorders in boys and men. Dr. Olivardia is a co-author of The Adonis Complex, a book which details the various manifestations of body image problems in men, including eating disorders, BDD, steroid use, and cosmetic surgery.

What inspired you to specialize in eating disorders in men?
Read EDs In Men in full.


Brain Reward Systems Of Obese Women Different From Those Of Women With Anorexia: Study
Huffington Post

The brain reward systems of women with anorexia may work differently from those of women who are obese, a new study suggests.

Researchers from the University of Colorado School of Medicine found that women who are anorexic have sensitized brain reward circuits, while women who are obese have desensitized brain reward circuits.
Read Brain Reward System in full.


Tyra Banks applauds Vogue decision to nix too-thin models; Mag to ban models under 16 who appear to have eating disorders
Daily News

The model turned talk-show host is praising Vogue magazine for its recent pledge to stop using too skinny models or girls who appear to suffering from an eating disorder.

The fashion tome will reportedly no longer feature models under the age of 16.

Banks called Vogue’s decision “the beginning of something huge."

In an open letter to The Daily Beast, Banks talked about her own struggles to keep her weight down to a size 4 and the unhealthy things women did to keep thin.
Read Tyra Banks in full.


Is your daughter or son trying to hide anorexia?
The Mirror

When a child or teenager feels they’re being controlled by the people around them, they use anorexia to seize control back.

I was deeply saddened recently to read that anorexia had claimed the life of Charlotte Seddon, a lovely girl of 17 and a star student who had everything to live for.

Yes, it’s a salutary story. She first stopped eating when she was 12.

Like many anorexics, she was bright and devious enough to fool her parents that she was eating (despite profound weight loss).

Anorexics cleverly cover their tracks spreading crumbs, leaving buttery knives on the table, false traces of toast uneaten and consigned to the bin when no one is looking.
Read Hiding in full.


Dukan Diet guru struck off medical register after saying children who lose weight should be given extra marks at school
Daily Mail

A diet guru whose fans include the Duchess of Cambridge's mother has been struck off the medical register in France after being accused of misadvising teenagers.

Pierre Dukan, 70, asked to be removed from the doctors’ list at his own request because he was facing disciplinary action.

The nutritionist had used a book to propose ideal weights for 17 and 18 year-old school pupils, giving them extra exam marks if they kept to them.
Read Diet Guru in full.


Bournemouth charity I*Eat bridges anorexia divide
BBC News Dorset

There are more than 200 new cases of anorexia and bulimia in Dorset every year. The youngest patient in the county is just 10 years old.

But this could be just the tip of the iceberg.

Health professionals estimate there could be as many as 1,500 people with eating disorders in the county, many of whom do not come forward for fear of becoming stigmatised.

I*Eat in Bournemouth is a charity that aims to bridge the gap and help vulnerable people get their lives back on track - people like Vicky Field.
Read I*Eat in full. 
Find I*Eat Org here. 


Birmingham TB victim Alina Sarag 'given bulimia warning'
BBC News Birmingham & Black Country

A 15-year-old girl died of tuberculosis (TB) after being told she may have bulimia during appointments with health professionals, an inquest has heard.

A GP allegedly advised Alina Sarag, who attended Birmingham's Golden Hillock School, that her physical deterioration was due to mental health problems.

Alina was treated for TB after being diagnosed with the disease in 2009, Birmingham Coroner's Court heard.

She appeared to recover from the condition, but died in January 2011.
Read TB Victim in full.


Healthbeat Report: Uncontrollable Overeating
ABC News

When healthcare professionals diagnose mental illness, they usually turn to the diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders or DSM. This so-called bible of psychiatry is undergoing a major and somewhat controversial overhaul. Already under the category of eating disorders are anorexia and bulimia. Now something called binge eating disorder may join the list as its own diagnosis.

So when is eating too much a true illness? Experts say there are telling signs.

The stories of binge eating patients are similar. Embarrassed, ashamed, they would eat at times till it hurt.
Read Uncontrollable Overeating in full.


Mirror, mirror: Palo Alto JCC event looks at media’s role in negative body image
J.Weekly

Sydney Calander is so accustomed to hearing her women friends tear down their own appearances that she hardly notices it anymore.

“Honestly? It’s been like that ever since I can remember,” says Calander, 20, a junior at Pitzer College in Southern California. “Around the time I turned 12 or so, I became aware of all my friends getting really critical about their bodies, the way they looked — how they felt they had to look in order to be loved, or to attract a partner.”

As a student at San Francisco’s Jewish Community High School of the Bay, Calander made sure not to let her own similar thoughts spiral into negative behavior.
Read Negative Body Image in full. 


Could airbrushing ban curb desire to be thin?
Express and Star

We have a love-hate relationship with food – and both extremes of consumption come with a massive health warning.

A young woman who almost died in a four-year battle with anorexia that plunged her weight to four and a half stone has now launched a campaign to ban airbrushed images showing super-slim celebrities in glossy magazines.

Rachael Johnston, who is now aged 20 and a “healthy” size eight, wants children to be protected from the kind of images she says led to her eating disorder.

On the one hand, we want to stop the obesity epidemic that is making many of us – and our children – so unhealthy.

But on the other we don’t want to drive youngsters to extreme dieting.
Read Airbrushing in full. 


Diagnosing a public health problem: Photoshop
Philly.com

Why is it that the fatter America gets, the more unrealistically thin our ideal of what people should look like becomes? It's not just a perplexing paradox. It poses a threat to the public’s health: our nation’s obesity crisis may eventually be coupled with anorexia and bulimia crises as well.

As noted in my post last week, America is in the midst of an obesity era. Thirty-seven percent of adults and 17 percent of kids are obese, and no one is particularly happy about it. All the while, Americans are bombarded with digitally manipulated (a.k.a. “photoshopped”) images of models that are impossibly thin and blemish free.

As highlighted by recent stories by the New York Times and BBC, young women in the U.S. and abroad have began to protest the photoshopped female form and the notion that they should strive for a body that — by virtue of skeletal constraints — is literally unobtainable.
Read Photoshop in full.


Eating disorders increase risk of dying prematurely, large study shows
Examiner

A disease of vanity? Think again. Although this stereotype of eating disorders continues among the public and even some mental health professionals, new research confirms that eating disorders are serious —and lethal. Jaana T. Suokas, MD., presented findings from a new, large scale study at the prestigious American Psychiatric Association Conference held in Philadelphia yesterday.
Read Increased Risk in full.


Research Study for Moms of Anorexic Boys
Laura's Soap Box

Are you the Mother of a Son who has received inpatient treatment for Anorexia Nervosa?

If so, please consider participating in this important study, which seeks to explore and document the psychological and social caregiving experiences of these mothers.
To date, there have not been any published research studies that have focused exclusively on parents of sons with anorexia.
Read Research Study in full.


all sources linked above

Eating Disorders News and Views: April 24, 2012

The following News and Views presented do not necessarily reflect the opinion or beliefs of Weighing The Facts.
Warning: Some articles may be triggering.

Internet Crackdown on Pro-anorexia Sites

Two years ago, when Madeleine Bowman began treatment for anorexia, she stopped looking at a pro-anorexia website that for years had served as her community and her source for ideas to nurture her secret illness.

But on Tuesday she was curious and decided to take a look. Fortunately, her login had expired.

Bowman 26, of New York, is in recovery from a decade-long battle with anorexia, she said.

She'd stumbled upon the website in eighth grade, after googling "eating disorders." Bowman had been skipping meals to lose weight and she wanted to find out if she was anorexic. She then visited the site often to find new ways to hide her condition from friends and family.

Given the many social aggregators that spread information to wider and wider audiences, Bowman says that today it would be even easier for someone to find their way to a pro-anorexia site.

That might not be the case for much longer.
Read Internet Crackdown in full.


Self-Harm Banned by Instagram

Instagram, the popular online photo-sharing service that was recently bought by Facebook for US$1 billion, is banning images and accounts that condone "self-harm" behavior such as eating disorders, cutting oneself, or committing suicide.

In a blog post Friday, the company said the following:

Going forward, we won't allow accounts, images, or hashtags dedicated to glorifying, promoting, or encouraging self-harm. Should users come across content of that nature, we recommend flagging the photo or flagging the user as a "Terms of Service" violation for our Support team to review.

It is important to note that this guideline does not extend to accounts created to constructively discuss, or document personal experiences that show any form of self-harm where the intention is recovery or open discussion. While we strongly encourage people to seek help for themselves or loved ones who are suffering, we understand the importance of communication as a form of support, in order to create awareness and to assist in recovery.
Read Banned in full.


Family of Padiham victim (17) warn other families of signs of anorexia

THE family of a talented and caring Padiham teenager who died battling anorexia have called for more to be done to raise awareness and help youngsters with the disease.

Charlotte Rose Seddon (17), a straight A student, died suddenly at home in Balliol Close 12 days after leaving the Priory, Altrincham, following four months of treatment. She weighed just 6st.

An inquest into her death at Burnley Coroner’s Court heard Charlotte’s heart failed after becoming small due to a lack of nutrients.

Pathologist Dr Jane Edwards, who carried out the post-mortem examination, said there would have been no symptoms or warning, despite Charlotte having regular health checks.
Read Warn Other Families in full.


K 06 Other Specified Feeding or Eating Disorder

Feeding and Eating Conditions Not Elsewhere Classified

These Conditions should be considered only if the individual has a feeding or eating disturbance judged to be of clinical significance that does not meet the criteria for any of the Feeding and Eating Disorders described above. The Conditions are described briefly; detailed criteria are not provided pending additional research. Although a diagnostic hierarchy (“trumping”) is not explicitly described, only a single condition should be assigned to an individual reflecting the description that best fits the individual's symptoms.

Sufficient data are not available at present to justify designating these Conditions’ as Disorders. However, these Conditions may be associated with levels of distress and/or impairment similar to those associated with the recognized Feeding and Eating Disorders, and may require intensive clinical intervention.
Read Other Specified in full.


Study: 16 Percent Increase in Men with Eating Disorders

New data from the NHS shows a shocking rise in the number of men with eating disorders (ED’s). Over the last year, there has been a 16% increase in the number of men and boys admitted to the hospital for eating disorders. While this is a huge jump, it may only hint at the true number of men suffering from an ED.

By its very nature, disordered eating is a secretive and guilty practice. Sufferers develop an unhealthy relationship with food over time and often go to great lengths to hide the symptoms of their condition. In particular, men have a difficult time admitting they have a problem because of the stigma that still surrounds eating disorders. Conditions such as anorexia and bulimia are often seen as a women’s disease and may be labeled “unmanly”.
Read 16% Increase in full. 


Image is everything: Unfortunately, that's the case in our society

Half the girls in this country between the ages of 11 and 13 believe they are fat.

That startling statistic comes from The Renfrew Center Foundation for Eating Disorders in Philadelphia and echoes what others say about the way girls think about food and their bodies.

Some young women go on fad diets or exercise binges at a time in their lives when they should be enjoying childhood and succeeding in school. Instead, they are overly preoccupied with their appearance — or better said, what they think they should look like.
Read Half The Girls in full.


Instagram, Pinterest latest to ban 'thinspo,' other 'self-harm' content

Many online communities have seen issues with "thispo" or "thinspiration" content, promotion anorexia or bulemia, and Instagram, Pintarest, and Tumblr are among services which have responded by banning "self-harm content," with Instagram the latest.

Blogging service Tumblr made its move in February, saying that while it is ”deeply committed to supporting and defending our users’ freedom of speech, [but] we do draw some limits.”
Read Latest to Ban in full

Binge Eating Disorder Continues to Rise Among Men

About 8 million men and women suffer from Binge Eating Disorder (BED), which is nearly three times the amount of those affected by Anorexia and Bulimia. With as many men affected by BED as women, The Eating Disorder Center of Denver (EDCD) aims to offer a treatment program that is accommodating and effective for both genders.

A newly recognized condition, those suffering from BED eat more than normal meal portions, feel a loss of control when eating and do not purge after binging.

Men are traditionally underrepresented in clinical trials for BED that gauge the effectiveness of treatments and are often overlooked when developing treatment programs, according to Dr. Tamara Pryor, EDCD clinical director.
Read BED Continues to Rise in full.


Demi Lovato: Bullies Sparked Bulimia

Demi Lovato's bulimia was sparked by school bullies who branded her 'fat'.

The 20-year-old former Disney star - who was admitted to rehab in 2010 for help with an eating disorder, self-harm and depression - believes her problems started at the tender age of 12.

Talking about her tormentors, she said: 'They called me a whore and told me I was fat and ugly. I shouldn't have listened, but I took it to heart and it hurt. I thought maybe I didn't have friends because I was too fat.'
Read Demi Lovato Bullies in full.


Anorexia May Be Caused By Brain Abnormality

London, April 22 (ANI): A new study has suggested that anorexia may be triggered by a defect in the brain, offering new hope that the potentially deadly eating disorder can be treated.

The pioneering research, carried out on anorexics as young as eight and using powerful new brain-imaging techniques, could lead to different treatments.

Anorexia is defined as a body weight at least 15 per cent below that expected, the Daily Express reported.

"We believe subtle problems in early brain development make patients susceptible to anorexia. We need to re-examine other mental health problems," said Psychologist Dr Ian Frampton of Exeter University, one of two researchers leading the study.
Read Anorexia Brain in full.


Pro-Anorexia 'Thinspiration' Photos Shouldn't Be Banned from Social Media

First, they came for the thinspiration pictures.

Internet censors are always agitating to ban one thing or another, and it's rarely the same thing twice. Instead, there's a revolving carousel of images that are deemed in succession to be beyond even the online pale. Each one seems to present a plausible occasion for, this once, curtailing free speech. The king wearing a pig snout. A swastika. Naked children.

Right now it's semi-naked women that the distressed classes want to cover up -- the very images on which the entirety of Western visual culture is founded.

This time, the anxiety about graven images has nothing to do with how they might arouse desire in men. We're afraid of what's known as " thinspiration," it seems, because glamorous photos of very skinny women, together with admiring captions, might arouse self-loathing in women, and thereby inspire self-mortification, and in particular anorexia.
Read Shouldn't Be Banned in full.


Scots man reveals his battle with anorexia as number of sufferers rise 

JONATHAN Hill has a year to start eating or he could die.
That is the stark warning he was given by doctors trying to help him overcome anorexia.
And he is an example of a worrying trend, with a rising number of males fighting the disorder which is usually associated with young women.
Jonathan, 29, has battled an eating disorder since he was 12.
His weight is currently six and a half stone – he used to be as low as four and a half – and hopes he is doing enough to see his fourth decade.
“I’ve accepted I’ll always have this illness. I won’t get better,” said Jonathan.
Read Scots Man in full.

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Eating Disorders News and Views: March 3, 2012

Senate Recognizes National Eating Disorders Awareness Week
Surfky

FRANKFORT, KY (3/1/12) – The Kentucky State Senate has recognized that February 26 through March 3, 2012, as National Eating Disorders Week and honored the National Eating Disorders Association on the floor of the Kentucky State Senate.

“Eating disorders are a continually growing problem in Kentucky,” said Jerry P. Rhoads, D-Madisonville. “It is important to raise awareness about this issue so that our citizens will achieve a healthier lifestyle.”
Read Recognizes in full.


Anorexia on the Rise Among Kids and Anti-Obesity Campaigns Blamed
MedicalNet

According to Dr Jane Morris, chairwoman of the Scottish Eating Disorder Interest Group, healthy eating drives are causing anorexia in children. She said children were obsessing about their diet because of drives to combat obesity.

Last week reports of children as young as six were being treated for anorexia emerged, and figures showed medical treatments were on the rise. Dr Morris, a consultant child and adolescent psychiatrist at the Royal Edinburgh hospital, said it was a ‘huge concern.’
Read On The Rise in full.


Anorexia Research Finds Government Intervention Justified
The Guardian

Governments are justified in using the law to prevent modelling agencies from using very skinny women on catwalks and stop magazines from printing adverts and photographs that suggest extreme thinness is attractive, according to research from the LSE.
The first-ever economic analysis of anorexia, studying nearly 3,000 young women in the UK and the rest of Europe, found that the social and cultural environment influences decisions by young women to starve themselves in search of what they perceive to be an ideal body shape.
Young women, who make up 90% of anorexia nervosa cases, are influenced by the size and weight of their peer group.
Anorexia, say the researchers, is a socially transmitted disease and appears to be more common in countries such as France, where women are thinner than the European average. It mostly affects girls and women between the ages of 15 and 34, they found, who were willing to trade off their health against self-image.
Read Justified in full.


Peer Pressure Drives Spread of Anorexia: Study
HealthNews

LONDON (Reuters) - Anorexia is a socially transmitted disorder and appears to be more prevalent in countries such as France where women are thinner than average, according to new research from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE).
The "economic analysis" of anorexia, using a sample of nearly 3,000 young women across Europe, concluded that peer group pressure is one of the most significant influences on self-image and the development of anorexia and appeared just as the autumn/winter season is winding up with Paris Fashion Week.
The research by LSE economist Dr Joan Costa-Font and Professor Mireia Jofre-Bonet of City University, showed that it is becoming increasingly apparent that standards of physical appearance are important and powerful motivators of human behavior, especially regarding health and food.
Read Peer Pressure in full.


Research Fail: New Anorexia Study Focuses On Weight, Not Behavior
Blisstree

Anorexia is widely seen as a disease of isolation and loneliness–but according to a new study, it could be a “socially transmitted disease,” passed from one skinny woman to another. Researchers in London have found that body image and weight are greatly impacted by the behaviors, attitudes, and even weights our peers, which is all well and good. Unfortunately, the study has one gigantic flaw that makes it difficult to take seriously: the definition for who is “anorexic” seems to be based solely on weight, not behavior. Which may be how they do it in the DSM, but that doesn’t mean it’s accurate.

Reuters reports that the researchers used a sampling of 2,871 women ranging in age from 15 to 34. The participants reported their age, gender (even though they were all female), marital status, weight, eating habits, political attitudes, education level, and body image perception.
 Read Research Fail in full.


Binge Eating is Common Yet Misunderstood
NewsWorks

It's the most common eating disorder, but it often goes undiagnosed or is misdiagnosed. Participants in this week's Binge Eating Disorder conference in Philadelphia want to change that.

Binge eating disorder can easily look like obesity since people who have it tend to be overweight. But it goes far beyond food choices and exercise. Binge eating is triggered by deep psychological distress and eating offers relief -- albeit short-lived.

Chevese Turner said she felt extremely depressed and upset after an eating binge, yet felt unable to stop this behavior which started early on in her life.

Turner was an overweight child experiencing trauma at home and at school, and food became a momentary escape. She said she was able to break the vicious cycle and get better once she understood what she was dealing with, and found a therapist specializing in this disorder
Read Misunderstood in full.


Eating Disorders Quietly Plague Black Communities
The Grio

Although white women were once thought to be the sole group battling eating disorders, over the past few years, reports of eating disorders among minorities -- particularly African-Americans -- have increased.

Stephanie Covington Armstrong, an African-American woman, shares her struggles with bulimia with theGrio.

Raised in Brooklyn, NY, Covington said she grew up poor and dealt with a series of issues that impacted her childhood, including poor eating habits, low self-esteem, and rape. She believes these traumas led to her eating disorder.

"I started thinking that something was wrong with me... that I wasn't lovable... and that I was damaged," she said. "So the way that I was able to kind of calm those fears was with food. My eating would push down all of those fears, and my eating disorder pushed over the edge."

Covington emphasized that the eating disorder gradually took over her entire life.
Read Quietly Plague in full


Weight History May Be Vital to Bulimia Treatment
PsychCentral

In a new study, researchers discovered a majority of women with bulimia nervosa reach their highest-ever body weight after developing their eating disorder — even though bulimia is characterized overall by significant weight loss.

The study concludes that exploring a woman’s weight history and the course of the eating disorder will improve productive discussion of weight and weight history, and thus improve treatments.
Read May Be Vital in full.


Anorexia Loved Me: Victim of Officer's Sex Abuse
smh.com.au

"Anorexia became my friend, it loved me"
"I could not come to terms with what he did to me"
"I have learnt that no one is above the law"
"I now have the power and no one can take that away from me"

A young woman has spoken of her battle with anorexia and depression, which left her "an inch away from death" following the sexual abuse inflicted upon her as a child by a NSW police officer.

The woman fought back tears as she delivered an extended victim impact statement in the sentencing of former Senior Constable Gregory Ernest Urch, 61, who sexually assaulted her and another minor during the mid-1990s.
Read Loved Me in full.


Is Anorexia A Female Disease? Think Again
FairfieldMirror

What do Nicole Richie, Lindsay Lohan, Billy Bob Thorton and Elvis Presley have in common? They have all suffered from eating disorders.

While eating disorders in females are often identified, male celebrities are not publicized as much but they too have fallen victim to the same disease.

In 2008, a student was diagnosed with an eating disorder after witnessing many female schoolmates obsessing over how “fat” they were. Currently receiving treatment four years later at age 14, Avi Sinai is one of many males who have suffered from anorexia nervosa.

According to the National Eating Disorders Association, anorexia nervosa is a “life-threatening eating disorder”, but sex or gender is not mentioned.

Compared to women, men tend to be more secretive about anorexia due to cultural and social expectations within their own society. Thinness amongst women is advertised within the media, allowing them to battle with weight issues without it being socially unacceptable.
Read Think Again in full. 


Binge Eating: Patients Struggle to Break Free When Food Takes Control
USA Today

Peterson had been struggling with binge-eating disorder since the mid-'90s, from the time she was just 11. By late 2009, she carried more than 200 pounds on her 5-foot-2-inch frame.

"I was feeling miserable," said Peterson, who works in retail. "I couldn't walk across the parking lot, couldn't run, my back hurt. I felt like my customers thought I was stupid and were judging me."

But her vision kicked her into action, inspiring her to seek help to control her binges and lose weight.

"I lost it, because if I didn't, the binge-eating disorder would have killed me," said Peterson, 29, and more than 70 pounds lighter.
Read Struggle in full.


Anorexia Sees No Age, Color, or Gender
DailyRx

Many people believe that anorexia and bulimia are disorders most apparent amongst white teenage girls, yet a recent report demonstrates that they’re increasingly affecting minorities, children, and boys.

David Rosen, M.D, M.P.H. professor of pediatrics at University of Michigan Medical School, is the author of a new clinical report entitled "Identification and Management of Eating Disorders in Children and Adolescents".

He explains, “the epidemiology of eating disorders has gradually changed.”

He calls upon his fellow pediatricians to “be familiar with early detection and appropriate management of these disorders.”
Read Anorexia Sees No in full.



Eating Disorders Consume the Lives of the Affected
Iowa State Daily

Most people are familiar with the two main types of eating disorders: anorexia and bulimia. Anorexia involves limiting the amount of food one eats while bulimia involves ridding oneself of the eaten food through purging or excessive exercise.

With this week being National Eating Disorder Awareness Week, it is the perfect time for people to become educated about what eating disorders are, who they affect and where to get help.

Eunice Bassler, senior lecturer of food science and human nutrition, explained a common misconception about eating disorders. “Eating disorders are disordered eating patterns with a psychological component.”

Bassler most often deals with disordered eating patterns, which are simply irregular eating patterns. These do not get classified as eating disorders until a psychological condition, such as a distorted view of the body or a fear of gaining weight, is identified along with the disordered eating pattern.
Read Consume in full.


Five Warning Signs of Eating Disorders in Your Teen
TimesUnion

To help attract attention to National Eating Disorders Week (February 26-March 3, 2012), eating disorders and food addictions expert Tennie McCarty offers tips to parents on how to spot eating disorders in their teen children.

“Over the years, most of the talk about eating disorders in teens has focused on anorexia and bulimia, typically blamed on unrealistic body images portrayed in the media. Increasingly however, the discussion has turned to the opposite end of the spectrum - compulsive overeating and food addiction. As the obesity rates in American children continue to skyrocket, teen overeating and addiction to food are becoming serious concerns to many parents,” said McCarty.
Read 5 Warning Signs in full.


Why You Should Care That New Eating Disorders Might Make The DSM-V
BlissTree

When most people hear ‘eating disorder,’ they think anorexia or bulimia. But there are lots of different types of disordered eating—binge eating, compulsive night eating, obsessively health-conscious eating—and psychiatrists may officially recognize several ‘new’ eating disorders in the upcoming Diagnostic and Statistic manual. The DSM guides the way psychiatrists diagnose and treat mental health patients, how insurance companies cover treatment, what researchers get grants for studying and the drugs pharmaceutical companies develop. I asked Dr. Janet Taylor, a clinical psychiatry instructor at Columbia University’s Harlem Hospital, about the DSM, new eating disorders and what these mean for mental health care.
What is the DSM-V?
Read Why You Should Care in full.


May Institute: What Women Over 40 Should Know About Eating Disorders
Wicked Local

It’s not just teenage girls who are willing to starve themselves or “binge and purge” in order to become as thin as the movie stars and fashion models they admire. Today, more and more women in their 40s, 50s, and 60s are seeking help for eating disorders they have developed as they battle slowing metabolisms and thickening waistlines.

"A growing number of older women are developing eating disorders or have hidden them for years," confirms Lauren Solotar, Ph.D., ABPP, May Institute’s Chief Executive Officer and a clinical psychologist who has specialized in the treatment of eating and anxiety disorders.
Read Women Over 40 in full.


Drawing on Experience to Tell Their Eating Disorder Stories
Derby Telegraph

The idea was developed through users of the charity who found it difficult to express how they felt with words.
Lauren Hind, 20, has been using the First Steps programme for the past four years and now volunteers with the organisation.
Her creation involves a picture of her face and words, such as "fat" and "worthless", describing how she has felt.
She said: "When we first had the workshops, I got really angry because I couldn't draw.
"But then the teacher told me that art didn't have to be drawings, it could be words too. Then I came up with my piece. It doesn't have a name. It's all my thoughts and feelings that I've ever had but couldn't say."
Lauren, who lives in Sinfin, used to binge-eat and said she had avoided getting help sooner because she was afraid of being turned away.
Read Drawing On Experience in full.



Healthy Eating Campaigns ‘Causing Anorexia’
Deadline News

A SCOTS expert has said government healthy eating drives are causing anorexia in children.

Dr Jane Morris, chairwoman of the Scottish Eating Disorder Interest Group, said children were obsessing about their diet because of drives to combat obesity.
Last week reports of children as young as six were being treated for anorexia emerged, and figures showed medical treatments were on the rise.
Dr Morris, a consultant child and adolescent psychiatrist at the Royal Edinburgh hospital, said it was a ‘huge concern.’
Read Causing Anorexia in full.


Anorexia and Aging: Is There a Silent Crisis of Eating Disorders in Older Women?
Family Goes Strong

Expert: "Eating disorders are the deadliest mental illnesses and premature death is very common."

It's National Eating Disorders Awareness Week from Feb. 26 – March 3. There is a lot of helpful information available on how younger and younger kids are struggling with eating disorders, how 5-year-old girls are complaining they are "fat," and how boys are now struggling in significant numbers with one of the deadliest mental illnesses there is.
Read Anorexia and Aging in full.

Eating Disorders News and Views: February 7, 2012

Integrative Medicine to Treat Eating Disorders
By Carolyn Coker Ross, MD
psychcentral.com

Integrative medicine can be defined as “a healing-oriented discipline that takes into account the whole person — body, mind and spirit — including all aspects of lifestyle. It emphasizes the therapeutic relationship and makes use of both conventional and alternative therapies.”
Complementary and alternative therapies used in integrative medicine can include acupuncture, chiropractic, herbal medicine, dietary supplements and others that give the clinician a wide array of treatments for difficult conditions. This is particularly true in the integrative medicine approach to eating disorders.
Read Integrated Medicine in full


Council ‘Pleased’ at Action Against Bullying Teacher
 hestar.co.uk

 A COUNCIL has said it is ‘pleased’ action was taken in a case of a teacher found to have bullied a bulimic colleague who later died at school.
Moira Ogilvie, former acting deputy headteacher at Rotherham’s High Greave Junior School, was found guilty of unacceptable professional conduct and sanctioned by the General Teaching Council this week.
The committee found she had ‘bullied, intimidated, undermined and victimised’ Britt Pilton, who collapsed and died at the school, aged 29, in February 2009.
Her inquest ruled her stress and bulimia had been worsened by issues at work.
Read Bullying Teacher in full


Vancouver Media Maven Ralks About Her Eating Disorder
 vancourier.com

Rachel McHollister has suffered from anorexia since she was 14 years old. Now an owner of a boutique public relations firm, she first started restricting what she ate. As she got older, she binged and purged. She’s been fighting the disease for 13 years and continues to wage war against it on a daily basis.

McHollister recently participated in a UBC panel discussion on body image and related issues such as self-esteem, social pressure, and media messages that can contribute to eating disorders to raise awareness of the issue.
Read Media Maven in full


La Scala Fires Ballerina Over Frank Talk of Anorexia 
 latimes.com

An act of whistle blowing has landed a ballerina at La Scala in Milan, Italy, in big trouble. The famed company has reportedly told her to hand in her pink tutu in exchange for a pink slip.
Mariafrancesca Garritano, who has danced with the company for about 17 years, has  been fired following an interview with a British weekly in which she said that one in five dancers at La Scala Theatre Ballet suffers from anorexia. The interview, which ran in Britain's Observer, contains an unflattering account of how the company pressures its dancers to lose weight.
Read La Scala Fire Ballerina in full


Children Under 10 in Northern Ireland Treated for Eating Disorders
 bbc.co.uk

 A number of children under 10 have been treated in hospitals in Northern Ireland for eating disorders.

The Department of Health has not published the exact number, but up to 12 children were hospitalised in the three years between 2007 and 2010.
Nearly 80 teenagers have received hospital treatment for conditions such as anorexia in the past five years.
It is understood up to £4m is spent each year on adults and teenagers who travel to England for treatment.
Ann McCann from the Eating Disorders Association said the organisation had dealt with a girl as young as eight, who had been bullied for being a "little bit overweight".
She said the numbers of children affected are growing - the vast majority are girls, but one in ten are boys.
 Read Children Under 10 in full


Openness About Eating Disorders Overdue
 therepublic.com

 Although we don’t exactly shout it from the rooftop, my family never has hidden the experience of our middle daughter’s struggle with anorexia nervosa, the eating disorder that leads some people — and especially smart and pretty young women — to starve themselves.
Very often, the conversation produces a flash of understanding.
There was the baseball executive. The City Council member back in Wisconsin. The fellow parishioner. The neighbor. The casual professional acquaintance.
All had firsthand experiences with eating disorders.
Surprised? You shouldn’t be.After all, the theme of National Eating Disorders Awareness Week, to be held Feb. 26 to March 3, is “Everybody Knows Somebody.”
Read Openness in full


The Realities of Living With Eating Disorders
With support and therapy, sufferers can still live a fulfilling, normal life
Sally Chaster / timescolonist.com

am in my early 50s, and I have struggled with a severe and debilitating eating disorder since I was six.
I suffer from anorexia, but there are many other serious, debilitating eating disorders, including bulimia, binge eating and others.
People with these disorder may be underweight, normal weight, overweight or obese, and may die at any size from any of the disorders. They can be young or old, male or female, any colour, nationality or religion.
How can people help? The answer to that is "nothing" and "everything."
Eating disorders are mental illnesses which often result in medical problems. There is increasing evidence of a genetic predisposition to eating disorders, and the trigger for activating a disorder may be any number of things.
Read The Realities in full 


Crystal Renn Reveals The Truth About Her Recent Weight Loss 
 huffingtonpost.com

With her background in plus-size modeling, Crystal Renn always finds herself on the hot seat about her weight. Is she gaining? Losing? What size is she? It's all a bit ridic, if you ask us.

But Renn herself has been vocal about her struggles with anorexia -- she once confessed to surviving on Diet Coke and sugar-free Jello -- and in a new interview with "Entertainment Tonight," she rebuts rumors that she's recently slipped back into unhealthy eating habits.

The model defended her weight loss back in February 2011, saying:
Read Crystal Renn in full 


EveryBODY’s Beautiful Shines the Light on Eating Disorders
 kingstonthisweek.com

When you look in the mirror what do you see? Do you see someone confident staring back, who looks great, flaws and all? Or do you see someone who never quite looks good enough?

In today’s world, where society is inundated with images of what is deemed to be perfection, many people are often plagued with feelings of doubt when it comes to their own body and body image. And sometimes those doubts can lead to more serious issues, including eating disorders.
“These are issues that directly or indirectly affects everybody,” says Pam Fountas, founder and host of EveryBODY’s Beautiful, a fundraising event Friday, Feb. 10, in support of local eating disorder clinics.
“I’d argue that 99.9 per cent of the population knows what it’s like to not feel comfortable in their own skin at one point or another in their lives.
Read Shines in full

Eating Disorders News and Views: January 10, 2012

Binge Eating Disorder May Be Added to DSM-5

The DSM-5 Feeding and Eating Disorders Work Group is proposing a number of diagnostic changes. Here’s an overview.
Criteria for “binge eating disorder,” the fruit of an explosion of research on the subject since publication of DSM-IV, are being proposed for inclusion in DSM-5. The addition of the disorder, defined as recurrent eating of “an amount of food that is definitely larger than most people would eat in a similar period of time under similar circumstances,” is among the major changes proposed for the chapter on feeding and eating disorders. Virtually identical criteria for binge eating disorder were listed in the appendix to the chapter in DSM-IV but it was not included as an official diagnosis.
Read Binge Eating Disorder DSM-5 in full.


Women with Anorexia May Have Categorical Learning Deficiencies

Recent research has focused on examining the cognitive abilities of people with eating issues and in particular, of women with anorexia nervosa (AN). “These studies are important for a better understanding of AN given the possibility that cognitive deficits may (a) contribute to the development and persistence of AN, (b) result from neurological changes associated with the disease, or (c) influence the choice of treatment approaches,” said Megan E. Shott of the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Colorado. More recent studies have discovered that although individuals with AN may have deficits in cognitive functioning, many of them also have very high IQs.
Read Categorical Learning Disabilities in full.


When Eating Healthy Turns Obsessive

In a vegan café in New York City, Nisha Moodley pushes a glass crusted with the remnants of a berry-açai-almond milk smoothie across the table and begins listing the foods she excised from her diet six years ago.

"Factory-farmed meats; hormone-laden dairy; conventional non-organic fruits and vegetables; anything hydrogenated; anything microwaved," the slender 32-year-old health coach says. "I would not eat irradiated food; charred or blackened foods; artificial coloring, flavoring, or sweetener; MSG; white rice; sugar; table salt; or anything canned.

Back then, a typical breakfast for Moodley consisted of buckwheat mixed with seaweed, raw cacao powder, flax oil, and flax seeds. Lunch was usually homemade brown rice with lentils, fresh vegetables, and kale, followed by a mid-afternoon snack of homemade flax-seed-and-buckwheat crackers. And for dinner, a salad with garbanzo beans, avocado, carrots, beets, and mushrooms.

Moodley initially adopted this diet to address recurring bad digestion. But her commitment to healthy eating -- something to be commended, ordinarily -- turned into an obsession that took over her life. "I was terrified of food that didn't fit within my idea of what was healthy," Moodley says. "I was terrified of cancer, of dying."
Read Healthy Turns Obsessive in full


Is Binge Eating a Mental Disorder?

According to the latest draft of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders ( DSM) in the American Psychiatric Association (APA), binge eating is a mental disorder.

Health professionals refer to this document to conclude whether an individual is suffering from a mental disorder or not. In the manual, binge eating shares place with grave medical conditions such as substance-related disorders, sleep disorders and anxiety disorders. But does this mean that if you chug cheese burgers, you are suffering from a clinical eating disorder? Let's find out...

Binge eating depicts a lack of control over one's eating habits, a feeling where one has no control over how much or how many times one is eating.

The top characteristics which distinguish binge eating from normal eating are:
- Eating food much more quickly than normal.
- Eating food until feeling awkwardly full.
- Consuming large amounts of food when not feeling hungry.
- Consuming food in a separate room, or in isolation so as not to feel embarrassed by the quantity or style of eating.
- A binge eater tends to feel very appalled with oneself. A deep feeling of depression or guilt lingers on after the completion of an eating spree.

Here are a few tried and tested ways to avoid binge eating:
- Distract yourself from the food and indulge in an activity you love. Rush for a warm water bath when you think food is overpowering you. Go for a nice chocolate pedicure session or may be light some nice scented candles in your room and play some light music rather than eating.
- In other times, you might find this a tad bit boring, but sip small amounts of water whenever you feel you are in the mood to indulge.
Read Binge Eating/Mental Disorder in full



Emirati Woman Recounts How She Chose Life Over Anorexia

Sitting in the lounge of a Dubai hotel, Samira Murshid Al Romaithi could be any other 28-year-old woman. Clear-skinned and bright-eyed, she smiles as she greets me, exposing a set of pearly white teeth and a long mane of dark hair that falls over a pretty, sensitive face.

Confident without being overbearing, articulate and charming, this is a woman who holds a senior position with the Government in Abu Dhabi; who is the vice president of the UAE Jiu-Jitsu committee and a blue-belt competitor; who is about to launch her own business selling health food snacks; and who not only has a BA and a master's but also is halfway through another master's, in diplomacy and international relations. Her zest for life is obvious.

It's almost impossible to imagine she once suffered from anorexia.

Anorexia - a word that conjures up images of skeletal-like young women and that many presume is vanity in the extreme, an attempt to achieve the perfect body gone terribly wrong and an example of just how askew our priorities have become in the complicated modern world.

But there is, of course, more to this insidious disease that (along with other eating disorders such as bulimia) is still a taboo subject in many parts of the world and especially so in the UAE.
Read Emirati Woman in full


People With Eating Disorders Still suffering on Sidelines

BY THE time she was finally admitted to hospital, Noelle Graham's heart was on the point of giving out. Years of extreme dieting, purging and vomiting had ravaged the very substance of her body, leaving her blood so low in potassium it could no longer sustain a regular pulse.

That four-month admission, in 2009, was the culmination of nearly a decade of disordered eating that began when Ms Graham was only 12 - starting benignly enough as a decision to become a vegan and escalating through compulsive exercise, deliberate vomiting and long periods of starvation.

Still battling not to relapse, Ms Graham sees a psychiatrist and has had to return many times to hospital, where she said doctors typically, ''stick me on a drip and rehydrate me, then send me home''.
Read People With Eating Disorders in full



New Approach to Diagnosing Anorexia Nervosa
January 9, 2012
A new approach for diagnosing patients with anorexia nervosa has been developed at the University of Sydney. The approach could have a significant impact on the treatment and recovery of sufferers, as well as reducing the strain on public health.

As reported in the Sydney Morning Herald, Professor Stephen Touyz, of the University of Sydney's Centre for Eating and Dieting Disorders, advocates a move to diagnosing anorexia nervosa in stages of severity, similar to the method used for diagnosing cancer.

"At the moment, you can only diagnose anorexia nervosa if you have the illness quite severely already," says Professor Touyz.

"By the time you have anorexia nervosa, and people can see that you've got it, you're an extremely ill person. This is an illness where 20 percent of people who are diagnosed could potentially die."

Professor Touyz's proposed system of stages would introduce the diagnosis of stage one anorexia nervosa for patients who clearly already suffer from the illness but do not yet meet its official diagnostic criteria.

Read New Approach in full

Eating Disorders News and Views: November 15, 2011

Warning: Some articles may be triggering


Anorexia and Cheerleading: A Dangerous Combination
By Samantha Van Vleet

Anorexia, a very serious and life-threatening eating disorder, appears to occur more commonly among the aesthetic sports, such as figure skating, gymnastics and cheerleading.

A growing concern regarding anorexia has become evident in the cheerleading realm. In fact, Gymnastics Australia has banned cheerleaders from wearing uniforms that expose their stomach. This decision may have been led to by research conducted that suggested cheerleaders who bared their stomachs in uniform were at a greater risk for developing eating disorders.

What is anorexia?

Anorexia is commonly used to describe the eating disorder anorexia nervosa, characterized by excessive dieting and calorie restriction to the point of emaciation. Anorexia, although it prevents physical symptoms, is thought of as a psychological disorder as the underlying cause is usually emotional.

What are the symptoms of anorexia?

Cheerleaders suffering from anorexia are likely to exhibit incredibly odd eating habits and behaviors. A cheerleader may have lost substantial amounts of weight in a relatively short period of time and may over-exercise. Cheerleaders suffering from anorexia are also likely to suffer from hair, skin and nail issues, such as dry, flaky skin, discolored skin, hair loss and brittle purple fingernail beds. Additionally, a cheerleader may exhibit the signs and symptoms of depression and may seem preoccupied with her weight and size.
Read Cheerleading ED in full here.


Images of airbrushed fashion models should come with 'cigarette-packet' warning, says Norwegian minister
By Ian Sparks
Mail Online

Images of airbrushed fashion models should come with a ‘cigarette-packet’ style health warning in a bid to tackle eating disorders in teenage girls, a government minister in Norway has declared.

Advertisements of super-skinny models are causing young women to starve themselves to obtain ‘unobtainable ideal bodies’, equalities minister Audun Lysbakken said.

He has called for stark warnings on all posters and press adverts when a photo has been digitally altered.

One suggested text for the warning reads: 'This advertisement has been altered and presents an inaccurate image of how this model really looks.'

We have to reduce the pressure the beauty ideal generates.' The call comes after countries including Spain, Italy and Brazil have all clamped down on skinny models at catwalk shows.
Read Warning Label in full here.


My five-year bulimia nightmare, by Diane Keaton
Mail Online

Diane Keaton has spoken for the first time about her 'awful' five-year battle with bulimia.

The actress revealed that she used to gorge herself on huge tubs of ice cream before making herself sick.

She said she was a struggling actress when she was ordered to lose 10lb for a part in the original Broadway production of Hair in 1968. It was the beginning of her bulimia nightmare.

Miss Keaton, now 65, said that she did not think her condition was called bulimia at the time, but it was real for her. 'It was just this trick you could do,' she added. 'It's a horrible problem. Ugly and awful.'

After undergoing psychotherapy – what she called the 'talking cure' – she one day realized that she did not want to binge any more.

Miss Keaton – who dated a string of Hollywood stars including Woody Allen, Warren Beatty and Al Pacino but never married – claimed that she was not beautiful, even when she was younger.

'I was friendly looking, no Candy Bergen,' she said. 'The smile, maybe, was all I had.'

Her disclosures may surprise many as she is known for shunning the spotlight – Vanity Fair magazine once described her as 'the most reclusive star since Garbo'. But now she has written a memoir, Then Again, due out next week.
Read Keaton in full here.


Vail health: Bulimia and the brain
Adolescent anorexia stems from both nurture and nature
Randy Wyrick

VAIL — Don't put your kid on a diet, because diets don't work, says Dr. Kenneth Weiner, an expert in eating disorders and brain development.

Within three years, 90 percent of people weigh more than they did before the diet. The other 10 percent have built lifestyle changes into their lives, Weiner said.

Weiner is co-founder, CEO and chief medical officer of the Eating Recovery Center in Denver and has been treating eating disorders for more than 25 years. He talked to Colorado School Counselors Association's annual conference at the Vail Cascade Resort & Spa on Friday.

To help adolescents avoid eating disorders, concentrate on who they are and not what they are, what's on the inside rather than what's on the outside, he said.

“We live in an obese society and childhood obesity is going to break the healthcare bank. My patients are the collateral damage,” Weiner said.

Nurture vs. nature
Eating disorders stem from nurture more than nature, he said, and so many things can feed that beast: Trauma, certain interests and hobbies, modeling, dancing, swimming, violence, culture, media.

“For many people with an eating disorder, it's preceded by some sort of trauma,” Weiner said.

Still, genetics play a role.

Between 40 to 50 percent of the risk is genetic. Fifty to 60 percent is psychosocial. If her mother has it, a girl is 12 times more likely.

It's as inheritable as schizophrenia or bipolar disorder, Weiner said, and it's treatable.
Read Vail in full here.


10% OF GIRLS ARE FANS OF PRO-ANOREXIA WEBSITES
By Lucy Johnston and Chloe Randall
Express UK

ALARMING numbers of teenagers are using a network of underground “pro-anorexia” websites that glamorise and promote the life-threatening eating disorder.

New research reveals that more than 10 per cent of schoolgirls aged 13 to 17 have used a pro-anorexia site, and almost six per cent of boys, despite high-profile search engines blocking them after media outrage.

A Sunday Express investigation has discovered that many sites have gone underground, allowing access only to those who know a password.

Tips and tricks to reach a “goal weight” include eating cotton wool, inflicting pain to inhibit cravings and viewing pictures of skinny models, celebrities and other site users to boost motivation.

There are also suggestions on how to dupe family and friends that a meal has been eaten.

Websites may have trademark emblems with which followers ­demonstrate their dedication to an anorexic lifestyle, such as a red bracelet, worn by celebrity Nicole Richie and actress Lindsay Lohan in the past. Mary George, of eating disorder charity Beat, said: “These sites should act responsibly. Anorexia and bulimia are dangerous activities and people can be encouraged to copy them.”
Read 10% in full here.


Former child star to host eating disorders TV series

Former child star Tracey Gold is to share her experiences with anorexia as the host of a new U.S. reality show about eating disorders.

The actress, who battled the illness while starring in hit sitcom Growing Pains, will be seen working with patients undergoing intensive treatment for anorexia or bulimia as part of U.S. series Starving Secrets.

Gold admits shooting the show was an emotional rollercoaster, but she hopes it will give audiences an insight into the participants’ fear of gaining weight.

She tells The Daily Beast, “It’s not an easy show to watch, but it’s riveting and it really lets you know what it’s like. When we first started, every story tore me apart. I had such a close relationship to the subjects. As we got further along, I was able to get some distance.”
Read ED TV series in full here.


Anorexic Mum Fits into Seven-year-old Daughter’s Clothes
by Savitha.C.Muppala

A 26-year-old mum and her seven year old daughter look pretty much the same as the mother can easily fit into the daughter’s clothes.

Rebecca is extremely proud of the fact that she weighs just five stone and easily fits into the clothes meant for seven or eight year olds.
Rebecca has been a victim of anorexia for most part of her life. She recalls that it all began after she started putting on weight at the age of 13 following her parents’ divorce.
Read Anorexic Mum in full here.


How do lesbians' and gay women experience anorexia and bulimia?
Health Canal

A psychology PhD student at UWE Bristol (University of the West of England) is researching lesbians' experiences of anorexia and bulimia and how these experiences may be similar to and different from those of heterosexual women.

The research involves in-depth interviews with self-identified lesbian women who are experiencing anorexia and/or bulimia.

Researcher Rebecca Jones said, “This new research will build on the pilot study I did at UWE Bristol as an undergraduate, which has just been published by the online journal Psychology and Sexuality.

“My motivations stem from having past experience of an eating disorder and self-identifying as a lesbian. When I started University I became interested in lesbians' eating disordered experiences from a research perspective which prompted me to explore the literature further in my undergraduate research project.”

According to Rebecca, there is now a considerable body of research exploring how our culture's norms and ideas about gender impact upon girls' and women's experiences of anorexia and bulimia and heterosexual girls' and women's experiences of anorexia and bulimia.

“However,” she says, “much less is known about lesbian experiences of anorexia and bulimia. The article I have just published explores some of the similarities and differences between lesbian and heterosexual women's experiences of anorexia and/or bulimia. Analysing interviews with a small number of self-identified lesbian women with a history of anorexia and/or bulimia indicates that many of the ways in which these women described their eating disorders were similar to those identified in research with girls and women assumed to be heterosexual – such as a search for identity, an exertion of self-control, and a pursuit of feminine beauty.
Read Experience Anorexia and Bulimia in full here.


Teens who eat with parents less likely to be depressed
By Simon Collins

Kiwi teenagers who eat meals with Mum and Dad are less likely to be depressed and much less likely to be suicidal, a new study has found.

Teenagers who eat with their families frequently are also less likely to binge drink, smoke cigarettes or cannabis or use inconsistent contraception.

They are more likely to eat fruit and vegetables and less likely to eat fast food. But, apparently because of other lifestyle factors, they are just as likely to be overweight.

The study, published today by the Families Commission, is based on Auckland University's Youth 2007 survey of 9100 New Zealand high school students. Previous reports have shown that the teens were happier, less likely to be depressed, had better nutrition and were more physically active than in a similar survey in 2001.

The first survey did not ask about family meals, but the latest one found that 24 per cent of teens ate meals with all or most of their family less than three times in the previous week.

The other three-quarters ate meals with the family three to six times a week (41 per cent) or at least seven times a week (35 per cent).
Read Eat With Parents in full here.

Eating Disorders News And Views October 1st, 2011

 

Protect Our Girls and Pass the Self-Esteem Act

The simple fact is there's an epidemic crisis of confidence affecting girls and women, and both its causes and effects are going largely ignored and unspoken in and by the mainstream.

We're asking for support to pass federal legislation requiring advertising and editorial that's meaningfully changed the human form through photoshopping or airbrushing to carry "Truth in Advertising" labels. The labels will simply state that the models shown have been altered. No judgments, no morality, just clarity. Clarity that may help address and stem these horrifying numbers:

- 42% of girls in grades 1-3 want to be thinner
- 51% of 9-10 year old girls feel better about themselves when they're dieting
- 53% of 13 year old girls are unhappy with their bodies; by the time they're 17, 78% of them will be
- By the time they're 17, these girls have seen 250,000 TV commercials telling them they should be a decorative object, sex object or a body size they can never achieve (actually, Donna gave me this statistic, so no doubt you;re quite familiar.)
- 7 million girls and women under 25 suffer from eating disorders
- 80% of women feel worse about themselves after seeing a beauty ad. $20B is spent on beauty marketing in the US annually. That's a lot of money being spent making women feel worse about themselves.
To Sign and Read in full: Self-Esteem-Act


Research & Treatment for Teens with Eating Problems
Columbia University Medical Center

About the Study
An MRI Study of Adolescents with Bulimia Nervosa

We are interested in learning why some people develop eating disorders. We are recruiting girls (ages 12-19) who have a problem with binge-eating and purging and girls who do not.

Participation in this study involves interviews, games and puzzles, as well as taking pictures of your brain using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). There are no known health hazards associated with MRI.

Treatment, free of charge, will be provided for girls in need. Compensation (up to $400) will also be provided for participation. Parental consent is required for girls under 18 years of age.
Read in full: Teens with ED Problems


Proposed Legislation: Warning Labels On Photoshopped Ads?

A newly proposed piece of legislation proposes to mandate that all advertisements whose images have been altered with Photoshop bear a warning label alerting the public to the practice. Husband and wife team Seth, a former CAA Agent and Global CMO of Live Nation, and Eva Matlins, co-founders of online women’s magazine Off Our Chests see the modification of women’s bodies without it being made clear “a wrongful act that’s led to increasing cases of emotional disorders.”

The answer, they believe, is government action. “Similar conversations have taken over the past few years,” they write in a press release. “However, to date, no action has taken place in the U.S.” In response, the Matlins propose The Self Esteem Act in order to encourage government and media to work together to address the body issues plaguing women and girls in the country.
Read in full: Warning Labels


Sexy Anna Rexia: Eating Disorders As Machisma

It’s almost October and you know what that means: Here come the goblins, ghosts, witches, and sluts!

The sleaziness of women’s (and little girls’) Halloween costumes has become an annual gripe for mommies and feminists.

But my friend Jeannine Gailey, PhD, a sociologist at Texas Christian University, clued me in on what might be the most appalling costume ever created: Anna Rexia, the sexy side of a life-threatening eating disorder.

Yikes.
Read in full: Anna Rexia 


Somerset Woman Shortlisted to Win Grant to Help People With Eating Disorders

A WEDMORE woman is in the running to win a £10,000 grant to help people with eating disorders – but needs your vote.
Jane Smith supported two of her daughters through anorexia and in 2004 set up the Anorexia Bulimia Care’s befriending service, which supports families affected by an eating disorder via the telephone or email.
Now cosmetic giant Avon has shortlisted Jane in its Hello Tomorrow Fund 2011, along with five other finalists from across the country. Jane said she was delighted to be shortlisted and the money could make a real difference to the charity, which receives thousands of calls each month.
She said: “I speak to around 2,000 people a year personally. The £10,000 grant from Avon would make a real difference to my wish to develop an Anorexia Bulimia Care’s befriending service. I ask local people to vote for our project now and help make my dream a reality.”
Jane’s daughters suffered eating disorders aged 11 and 13, but have since fully recovered.
Jane said: “Our whole world turned upside down. We were a happy, loving family and then we were suddenly plunged into a nightmare. You can’t force someone to eat against their will.
“Our 11-year-old lost a third of her body weight over eight weeks and had to be tube fed for two weeks, for 24 hours a day.”
Read in full: Shortlisted


R.E.S.P.E.C.T.

I recently found out that September is National Childhood Obesity Awareness Month. Wow! A month to honor fat kids! Way to go!!!

OOOPS!

Sorry. It’s a month devoted to ending childhood obesity. And the state of Georgia has a poster child. Or should I say poster children?

I suppose it pays to have clout. After all, if the First Lady of the United States wants to declare a month after her personal pet project, who am I to complain? If I were the First Lady, I may declare a month after something close to my heart as well. I just MAY declare MAY as: Everyone Loves Everyone Else No Matter What They Look Like Month!  (ELEENMWTLLM!).
Read in full: R.E.S.P.E.C.T.


Heidi Diaz, Kimkins creator, is one of this years inductees into the 2011Rogues Gallery.

The Rogues Gallery was designed to hold people like Heidi Diaz.  She had no problem being the first person to snuggle up to the otherwise reviled Kevin Trudeau.  She duped people out of money, she lied about a diet that was found to be unhealthy and has since modified the diet and continues to try to sell it.  She asked people to send her cheques when the court ordered her Paypal account money because she claimed that was the only money she had.  She lied so often and so poorly it is amazing that she is not sitting in jail....She is an unrepentant con woman who continues to operate her website, but now she has finally added the court ordered warning to her page.  It is in the barely visible colour of off-white on a white background.

Seriously, her own webpage says she has engaged in false advertising fraudulent business practices.
Read in full:  Heidi Diaz Rogues Gallery


Dieting NZ Women, Girls 'Losing Chance of Children

Kiwi women and girls are dieting their way out of a chance to have children, says a leading fertility specialist.
Dr Stella Milsom says young women should slow down, eat more and exercise moderately - or pay "too great a price".
The Auckland Fertility Associates endocrinologist said she was sick of reading stories trumpeting the weight loss of the same celebrities who visited her clinic for treatment.
"It really frustrates me when I see my patients written up in the women's magazines when I know they've got the bones of an 80-year-old."
Read in full: Losing Chance of Children

 
Physician Focus: Eating Disorders on the Rise

As many as 10 million females and 1 million males in the U.S. are affected by eating disorders, including anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa and binge eating disorder. These conditions are often hard to detect, carry great shame, and present severe physical and mental health problems for patients. Many of those afflicted are young adolescents, teenagers and young adults.

The vast majority of patients with anorexia and bulimia some 85-95 percent are women. Binge eating disorder affects about 2 percent of all adults up to 4 million Americans, affecting slightly more women than men. Recent studies have discovered an increasing incidence of these disorders among males. The peak onset of these conditions occurs during late puberty and in the late teenage and early adult years.

Anorexia nervosa is characterized by a refusal to maintain a normal body weight through self-induced starvation. Bulimia nervosa consists of episodes of binge eating consuming large amounts of food in a short amount of time in a way that feels out of control followed by actions to compensate for overeating, such as vomiting, restricting food or the use of laxatives. Those suffering from anorexia and bulimia have common traits: they fear gaining weight, are fixated on losing weight, and are very dissatisfied with their bodies. Binge eating disorder consists of consuming large amounts of food but without the compensatory actions to purge one's system; it's often associated with obesity.

Medicine has yet to pinpoint the specific causes of these illnesses, but we do know that certain factors contribute to them. Among them are cultural issues, such as the pressure to be thin or fit a certain body size or image, and stressful psychological situations, such as traumatic events in childhood, troubled personal relationships, or major changes in life.
Read in full: Eating Disorders Rise


Is Your Child Cutting?

Self-inflicted behaviors include cutting and burning oneself without the intent of suicide. It is a new trend that is becoming glorified especially on the internet. Here's how to identify such behavior and how to help your child.

It appears that there are a plethora of websites dedicated for the instruction and glorification of self-inflicted behaviors (SIB). One research study examined 100 videos on the internet regarding SIB and found that there were 2 million hits on some of these websites. 80 percent of these videos had no viewer restrictions. 58 percent had no warning of content. The question stands, “Do these types of websites glorify and encourage self-abuse?” With the amount of activity on these websites, it would seem that non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) has developed a cult following.

Here are some facts about NSSI:

1. Cutting and burning usually occurs in adolescent females with the average age of 16.

2. The cutting and burning usually occurs on arms, legs and torso. These areas are easily covered by bracelets and clothing.
Read in full: Is Your Child Cutting?

sources linked above