Eating Disorders Blog

Columnist Naomi Lakritz has had enough. Shes had enough of studies and reports that tell women and girls how sensitive they are to images of razor-thin models. Shes had enough of the inference that females arent smart enough to realize that those images are manipulated and airbrushed and not at all real.

I saw a photo not long ago of some women who were far more beautiful than any of the airbrushed babes with pouty lips and long, skinny legs who can be found in the pages of a magazine. They were nuns from a convent in Washington state, all of them in their late middle ages, none wearing any makeup. &

Their clothing would never be considered the latest fashion. But what made them beautiful was the character in their faces and the light in their eyes." [Source: The Calgary Herald]

The fashion, marketing, health and beauty industries continue to push an image of beauty that is unrealistic. Some, like Naomi Lakritz, would argue that it's also an image of beauty that's not that beautiful.

Labels: media

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Montreal-based fashion designer Katrin Leblond, reports that it is still difficult to find healthier-sized models in Montreal, and she believes additional efforts are required.

"There's no centralized industry, there's no centralized monitoring of modeling agencies," Leblond said in a March 10 article by Andrea Hayley of The Epoc Times. "Most of the agencies couldn't even provide me with a choice of more than one or two girls of that size."

According to the Quebec Association for Assistance to People Suffering from Anorexia and Bulimia, as many as 65,000 women in the province struggle with disordered eating behaviors, The Epoc Times reported. The extreme thinness of fashion models is believed to be one of the media influences that contributing to the prevalence of eating disorders.

Labels: media, model, fashion

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On Feb. 22, Britains Royal College of Psychiatrists published a statement calling for warning labels on airbrushed photos of models and celebrities, and for a ban on underweight models at London Fashion Week.

According to an article on www.independent.co.uk, the college's call to action urges the government as well as the media and fashion industries to take greater responsibility in the fight against eating disorders.

The college believes that labels on photos would help to raise awareness of how widespread photo manipulation is, and to dissuade people from attempting to achieve "unattainable physical perfection."

The college also urged the British government to establish a forum, made up of politicians, experts and representatives from the media and advertising, for the development of an editorial ethical code.

Labels: media

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Britain's Royal College of Psychiatrists has published a statement calling for warning labels on airbrushed photos of models and celebrities, and for a ban on underweight models at London Fashion Week.

The college's call to action urges the government as well as the media and fashion industries to take greater responsibility in the fight against eating disorders. The college believes that labels on photos would help to raise awareness of how widespread photo manipulation is, and to dissuade people from attempting to achieve "unattainable physical perfection."

The college also urged the British government to establish a forum, made up of politicians, experts and representatives from the media and advertising, for the development of an editorial ethical code. Dr. Adrienne Key of the college's eating disorders section said the media must be prevented from "glamorizing" excessive weight loss and exacerbating the psychological and social pressures faced by young people.

She commented: "What we need to do is raise people's awareness of what they are looking at. A lot of people have no idea how much manipulation goes on. The aims of the forum should be to collaboratively develop an ethical editorial code that realistically addresses the damaging portrayal of eating disorders, raises awareness of unrealistic visual imagery created through airbrushing and digital enhancement, and also addresses the skewed and erroneous content of magazines."

(Source: www.independent.co.uk)

Labels: eating disorder, media, model

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Former runway model Inga Radziejewski is speaking out about the deadly standards of high fashion. At her thinnest, 5'11" tall Inga weighed just 98 pounds and was still rejected from a fashion audition for being too fat.

At the time, Inga was so skinny that she was just weeks away from complete organ failure due to anorexia. She was subsisting on half an apple a day and peppermint tea with brown sugar. Her body mass index was only 14 (anything under 18.5 is considered underweight, according to the World Health Organization). Inga also heard other models regularly discuss their extreme methods for staying rail thin.

She explained, "I heard one girl say that she started throwing up her food three days before a casting and another said she was taking epilepsy medication to help her concentrate because she was so ­delirious from hunger. When I looked shocked all the other girls said they did it too."

Inga says that although models were often friends with each other, there was definitely a sense of rivalry, and ever-present pressure from designers and photographers to measure up to an impossible standard. Even at size 00, Inga feared she would be passed over at auditions for being too big.

She said, "It was very competitive and I ­dreaded being bigger than the girl next to me. We were all friends but there was ­definitely a rivalry between agencies. If you didn't fit in your clothes they would be taken from you and given to another girl. I was so scared of losing out at castings, I would starve myself."

Inga finally received eating disorder treatment after she agreed to go home and see her parents. Her parents, who saw a photograph of their daughter and became alarmed, begged her to come home for a visit. While home, she agreed to receive outpatient eating disorder treatment at a local clinic. However, when the doctors at the clinic examined her they informed her that she was probably days away from total organ failure and said that they would not let her leave until she began to recover.

Inga says even at that time she didn't see anything wrong with her habits. She looked at other patients at the clinic who were recovering and thought of them as "fat cows," while she was envious of those patients who were even skinnier than she was.

After going through eating disorder treatment, Inga now has a healthy BMI of 20 and weighs about 149 pounds. She is working as a model in mainstream fashion, and has come to terms with leaving the world of high fashion.

"I know that my career in high fashion is now over and part of me is sad about that, but if I hadn't gone into rehab, the cost would have been a lot higher. I could have died," she said.

(Source: www.mirror.co.uk)

Labels: eating disorder, anorexia, media, fashion

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A recent poll of teenage girls shows that nine out of 10 feel pressured to be skinny by the fashion and media industries, and that an unattainable image of female beauty is perpetuated by these industries.

The poll, which included responses from 1,000 teenage girls between the ages of 13 and 17, was conducted for Girl Scouts USA by the youth research firm TRU. More than 75 percent of respondents said that fashion is "really important" to them.

Kimberlee Salmond, a senior researcher at the Girl Scout Research Institute, commented on the poll's findings: "The fashion industry remains a powerful influence on girls and the way they view themselves and their bodies. Teenage girls take cues about how they should look from models they see in fashion magazines and on TV and it is something that they struggle to reconcile with when they look at themselves in the mirror."

More than 80 percent of respondents said that they would rather see natural photos of models rather than digitally altered or enhanced photos. In addition, more than 75 percent of girls said they would be more likely to buy clothes that they see worn by real-size models than clothes that they see on ultra-thin models.

A significant percentage of respondents also reported experiencing or witnessing disordered eating behaviors. One in three respondents reported refusing to eat in an effort to lose weight; about half said they knew someone their age who has vomited after eating to lose weight; and more than one-third said they know someone who has been diagnosed with an eating disorder.
Aside from celebrities and models, respondents reported that peers, friends and parents are the top influences with regard to body image.

(Source: www.reuters.com)

Labels: eating disorder, body image, media, fashion, teen

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Recently, a member of the French Parliament drafted a new law which would require digitally altered photographs used in advertising to be labeled. The law is designed to highlight what some call the "fakery" involved in creating advertising images, and to help combat unattainable and unhealthy ideals regarding the human body.

The Parliament member, Valerie Boyer, is a 47-year-old mother of two who became interested in the idea of labeling altered photographs because of her relationship with her children. Ms. Boyer sees the portrayal of the human body in media and advertising as a serious subject, and one that has a far-reaching impact on society.

Ms. Boyer commented: "I got interested in the subject of the body because it's really a mother's reflection. It's the closeness I have to adolescents that drove me to become interested in these subjects.

"If someone wants to make life a success, wants to feel good in their skin, wants to be part of society, one has to be thin or skinny, and then it's not enough -- one will have his body transformed with software that alters the image, so we enter a standardized and brainwashed world, and those who aren't part of it are excluded from society."

(Source: www.nytimes.com)

Labels: body image, media, advertisements

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World famous fashion designer Ralph Lauren apologized this week for an ad which featured a Photoshop-altered image of a grotesquely thin woman. The model, Filippa Hamilton, actually weighs 120 pounds and stands 5 feet 10 inches tall, approximately a size 4.

The ad featured a photo of her modified so that her hip bones appear narrower than her head and her waist seems cartoonishly small. In addition, her legs appear so thin as to belong to a science classroom skeleton rather than a living human being.

Filippa Hamilton was also recently fired by Ralph Lauren. Although the company denies it, Ms. Hamilton asserts that she was fired because the fashion designer thought her body was too bulky to fit in sample sizes.

Ralph Lauren has a history of portraying extreme thinness (the photo of Filippa Hamilton is not the first bizarrely modified picture to find its way into the designer's fashion spreads). The National Organization for Women is demanding further apology from the designer, and was planning to hold its fourth annual "Love Your Body" celebration on Oct. 21, 2009.

(Source: www.latimes.com)

Labels: body image, media, model

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Germany's most popular fashion magazine, Brigitte, announced that it will no longer use ultra-thin professional models. The magazine plans to feature only "real women" from now on.

The editor, Andreas Lebert, says that the magazine made the decision in response to readers' complaints that stick-thin models promote unhealthy body standards for girls and women. Readers said they were tired of seeing the models' protruding bones.

"We will show women who have an identity -- the 18-year-old student, the head of the board, the musician, the football player," Lebert said. "We will pay the same fee as we would for professional models."

The magazine has invited readers to send in portraits and photos of themselves to be considered for photo spreads.

(Source: news.sky.com)

Labels: media, model, healthy-weight

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A group of 50 French lawmakers are demanding a law that would require published images to have bold printed notices stating whether they have been digitally enhanced. The lawmakers are hoping to protect women from false images of female beauty.

Valerie Boyer, one of the campaigning lawmakers who has written a government report on anorexia and obesity, commented on the importance of passing the law:

"We want to combat the stereotypical image that all women are young and slim ... These photos can lead people to believe in a reality that does not actually exist, and have a detrimental effect on adolescents ... Many young people, particularly girls, do not know the difference between the virtual and reality, and can develop complexes from a very young age ... In some cases this leads to anorexia or bulimia and very serious health problems ... It's not just a question of public health, but also a way of protecting the consumer."

(Source: dailymail.co.uk)

Labels: anorexia, media, obesity

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According to a recent article appearing in USA Today, media hubbub over Jessica Simpson's apparent weight gain is angering nutritionists and health experts. Simpson's current weight is estimated to be between 130-135 pounds. At 5'4", this puts her in the middle of the healthy weight range for her body frame, say health experts. Nutritionists point out that media and tabloids are calling the young star fat, when the average weight for a woman who is 5'4" in the United States is 164 pounds.

Nutritionists and health experts blame media scrutiny and the impossible standards imposed by the media culture for the ubiquity of eating disorders among young women today. Sharon Lamb, a professor of psychology at St. Michael's College in Vermont, commented to USA Today that the media is subjecting Simpson to a "public shaming for putting on a little weight."

Lamb, who is also the co-author of Packaging Girlhood: Rescuing Our Daughters from Marketers' Schemes, believes that the media sends mixed and potentially damaging messages to young women in the way that they "criticize stars who have anorexia, which is a disorder, and then in the same issue they shame a star who puts on a little weight." (Source: www.thecelebritycafe.com)

Labels: media, healthy-weight, body-image

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February 4, 2009 represents the 26th anniversary of the passing of singer-musician Karen Carpenter. Karen Carpenter's death played a significant part in bringing anorexia nervosa to the attention of the American public. In 1983, at the age of 32, after years of battling the eating disorder, Carpenter died of heart failure, which was later linked to her anorexia.

Carpenter's death brought sustained media attention to eating disorders which, up until that time, were little known to mainstream America. Her family started the Karen A. Carpenter Memorial Foundation, which currently funds not only programs to fight eating disorders but also arts, entertainment, and education. (Source: www.wikipedia.org)

Labels: awareness, media, education

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As public opinion continues to shift away from the size-zero standard of beauty, a teenager from Glasgow is helping solidify that opinion. At a healthy size 12, Angelica Gray has no shortage of offers from modeling agencies in Australia, Belgium, London and America.

“Ms Gray is just the latest model to buck the size-zero trend in what many believe is a growing section of the fashion world. The average dress size a UK woman is 16. The average model is a size six… Victoria Allison, model booker at Model Team, Ms Gray’s Glasgow-based agency, said: ‘The market does seem to be changing. Girls like Angelica are proving that curvier models can be just as beautiful as a slimmer model and can work equally well in high-fashion clothing.’” (Source: The Sunday Herald)

Though curvier models are being more widely accepted, Dr. Alex Yellowlees, who treats women struggling with eating disorders, says there’s still a problem. The curvier models are often referred to as “plus-size,” even though they’re not at all overweight. Accepting size-12 models is a start, but the practice of labeling them “plus-size” needs to stop.
 

Labels: media, model, fashion

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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

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The Australian government has enacted a new code that encourages the beauty and fashion industries away from “ultra-skinny” models. It also discourages the use of digitally-enhanced photographs.

“The code, which is not compulsory, also calls for fashion magazines to stop advertising rapid weight-loss diets and cosmetic surgery. Editorial content that may promote a negative body image is also a no-no.” [Source: New Zealand Herald]

Australian Federal Youth Minister Kate Ellis says the newly-passed code is the government’s way of pressuring the fashion and beauty industries to make a “genuine commitment” to support healthy body images. Lynda Williams, Auckland, New Zealand’s Women’s Health Council coordinator hopes her country’s government will soon pass a similar measure.

Labels: media, model, size-zero

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The Girl Guides of Great Britain -- the British equivalent of the Girl Scouts -- are calling for "warning labels" on pictures of models and actresses that have been manipulated in order to make the subjects appear slimmer.

The Guides want help people recognize the difference between natural and "photoshopped" images of women, noting that girls as young as ten years old worry about their weight, and 50 percent of people ages 13 to 19 years old would consider having cosmetic surgery.

Digital photo manipulation has been criticized for its negative impact on self-image and self-esteem, as well as for contributing to the development of eating disorders among those who are unduly influenced by these images.
 

Labels: media, model, fashion

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When people talk, or write, about the causes of eating disorders, many blame the media and the fashion industry. All those ultra-skinny models must be triggering eating disorders in our kids, right?

Well, some new research is calling that theory into question.

“Dr. [Walter] Kaye says traits that contribute to developing anorexia are genetic. ‘Heritability is a much more powerful influence than culture is,’ said Dr. Kaye. So, what’s the difference between an anorexic brain and a healthy one? In one study, participants were given a taste of sugar. In healthy people, the insula and frontal cortex areas of the brain lit up, signaling a ‘wow that tastes good!’ That pleasure light didn’t turn on in the anorexic’s brain.” [WLS-TV (Chicago)]

Studies like this one are helping doctors and counseling make important progress in not only understanding what triggers eating disorders, but understanding how better to treat them.

Labels: awareness, media, genetics

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The Oprah Winfrey Network will debut in January, and a new show – Inside Rehab – will bring coverage of eating disorder treatment to the prime-time schedule.

“Over the course of eight episodes, the docu-series will offer a ‘rare look inside an eating disorder treatment facility where patients face their demons and struggle to come to terms with what’s behind the food.’” [Source: Hollywood Insider]

The show’s chief creative officer, Lisa Erspamer, said the show offers hope and perspective not only to people struggling with eating disorders, but to their friends and family as well.

Labels: awareness, media

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A new television show called "Freaky Eaters" features those with bizarre food preferences and the professionals who are trying to help him.

• One episode is about a poet who eats only raw meat in order to prove himself manly to his father, grandfather, and brother, all of whom have military backgrounds.
• Another features "French fry girl," a freaky eater who eats only French fries and nothing else. Her therapist dyes her potatoes different colors in order to make them repulsive to her, and then forces her to eat them.

Dr. Mike Dow, a therapist who hosts the show, says that "freaky eating" could be classified as a non-specified eating disorder (a category also commonly known as EDNOS) . Sufferers often eat just one or two foods, and thereby receive inadequate nutrition. Most of them are overweight. People with the disorder usually have an "emotional addictive component" within their strange eating habits, Dr. Dow said.

"Usually there is something that they are medicating," he said. "There was a study that says it takes more and more of the same amount of fat to cause the same response in the brain. We build tolerance to food in the same way people build tolerance to cocaine or alcohol. There is a biological addictive response that is being built. I don't think a lot of people think of food as an addictive substance, but it absolutely is."
 

Labels: awareness, media, ednos, picky eaters

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The world is alive with Fashion Weeks. From London to Milan to New York, designers, spectators and critics are lining runways populated with models. This year, a handful of “curvy” models have been added to a handful of shows, and report Laurie Penny thinks the fanfare is premature.

“In this context, getting excited about the ‘return’ of curves is just one more way of obsessively scrutinizing women’s bodies, fetishising female flesh and particularly female fat as somehow shock, abnormal, edgy. Female fat is not edgy. It’s not an unusual fashion trend. It’s everyday reality for over three billion human beings on this planet.” - Source: New Statesman

Laurie is particularly sensitive to how women are portrayed, because she struggled with an eating disorder for five years. She overcame it with the help of friends, family and therapy, but is still acutely aware of how narrowly “beauty” is defined in the fashion industry. “Curves” aren’t a victory, they’re normal. And they, and the women who have them, should be treated that way.

 

Labels: media, model, fashion

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