Eating Disorders Blog

An article appearing in The New York Times last week raised questions about parents who take public health messages to the extreme. Could parents' attempts to help kids eat healthy food be backfiring and causing disordered eating? An 8-year-old boy interviewed for the article said that he worries about calories and getting enough vitamins, but most of all he worries about sodium. "Sodium makes your heart beat faster, so it can create something really serious," he said. The boy's mother is proud of his nutritional knowledge, but nutritionists have begun expressing concerns that some parents are behaving obsessively.

Cynthia Bulik, the director of the eating disorders program at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, commented for the article: "We're seeing a lot of anxiety in these kids. ... They go to birthday parties, and if it's not a granola cake they feel like they can't eat it. The culture has led them and their parents to take the public health messages to the extreme." (Source: www.nytimes.com)

Labels: parents, role-models, influences

Posted By: Aspen Education Group 0 Comments

Joan Jacobs Brumberg, the author of a book called The Body Project is launching a play by the same name at Ithaca, New York's Schwartz Center for the Performing Arts. Ms. Brumberg hopes that her play will create dialogue about troubled eating behaviors among American women. The title of the book and play reflect the idea that American women are taught to be fundamentally dissatisfied with their natural physical appearance, and so almost every woman is constantly in the throes of some kind of project to change her body. The play was developed during intensive workshops with women of all ages.

During background research for the book and play, Ms. Brumberg discovered an interesting aspect of how the American female's social role has evolved during the last century. She examined the personal diaries of adolescent girls from the early 1900s until the present. She noted a significant transition from women being valued for their good works (then) to women being valued for their good looks (now). Brumberg commented:

"I think almost all of us women have some kind of bad body fever; some kind of angst about some part of our bodies that's less than perfect. ... Not everybody has eating disorders, but in a way we all have body projects. Every woman has to come to grips with what is a responsible and intelligent way of dealing with these pressures." (Source: www.theithacajournal.com)

Labels: pressures, influences, society

Posted By: Aspen Education Group 0 Comments

A new type of website is cropping up on the Internet. Known as "Thinspo" (short for "Thinspiration"), these pro-ana (pro-anorexia) and pro-mia (pro-bulimia) websites provide various forms of inspiration and advice for girls and women to starve themselves. Inspirational messages come in the form of photo montages of super-skinny models, tips for tricking doctors at weigh-ins, drastic (and sometimes lethal) weight-loss strategies, and pro-anorexia rock anthems like Superchick's song "Courage."

The sites also promote links to video sites like youtube.com, where anorexic girls proudly post photos and videos of their emaciated forms. These glimpses of normal girls in the throes of extreme anorexia have been dubbed "Real Girl Thinspo" and are often accompanied by encouragement from posters and viewers, such as "starve on, skinny b*tches." Other sub-forms of Thinspo include Celebrity Thinspo and Bones Thinspo.

Anorexia nervosa has the highest fatality rate of any mental illness; about 1 in 5 people who develop the disorder die from it. In light of this, experts and government officials are registering alarm at the growing popularity of pro-anorexia websites. In April 2008, for example, the French government proposed making the incitement of eating disorders illegal and punishable by heavy fines. (Source: themedium.blogs.nytimes.com)

Labels: parents, influences, peers

Posted By: Aspen Education Group 2 Comments

British mannequin maker Rootstein has churned up the “thin” debate with announcement of his latest creations; including a male mannequin whose waist in 11 inches smaller than that of the average Briton.

“BEAT chief executive and eating disorder expert Susan Ringwood told Reuters that skinny male mannequins in shop windows can have just as unhealthy an influence on men as their female counterparts have on women.” [Source: Reuters]

Though they’ve been overlooked in the past, males with eating disorders are finally starting to get some much-needed attention. Official statistics about men with eating disorders indicate that about 1 percent of the population is affected by these disorders, as well as poor body image, and unhealthy levels of physical activity. Many experts believe the number is likely much higher.

 

Labels: media, fashion, men, influences

Posted By: Eating Disorders Blog 0 Comments