Harriet Brown's teenage daughter was diagnosed with anorexia when she was just 14 years old. Harriet and her husband sought the advice of therapists, psychiatrists, and doctors, and finally landed on a little-known but promising approach - The Maudsley Approach.

"The Maudsley approach advocates separating the disease from the sufferer, the anorexia from the adolescent."

Two studies on this approach produced a 90% recovery rate in the adolescents who participated. The basic idea is that parents get intimately involved in "refeeding" their children. Harriet Brown's daughter now maintains a healthy body weight, and is learning to recognize (and defy) the negative thoughts and emotions that helped trigger her eating disorder. Read more at NYTimes.com.

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When you or someone you love is recovering from an eating disorder, there will be good days and bad days. It's important to be aware of the signs of a "bad" day, and a potential relapse.

"Many people experience periods of relapse during recovery. It is during this time that you must rely on your support systems to help you get through this."

Signs of a relapse include: wanting to be isolated, weighing yourself everyday, skipping meals, and excessive exercise. Read more at Mirror-Mirror.org.

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For many parents, when a child admits she struggles with an eating disorder, the first reaction is fear. Eating disorders are serious. Some people's health, and very lives, are put at risk because of eating disorders. If your child comes to you, what's your next step?

"Often, as a clinical psychologist, I work hand-in-hand with both a physician and a dietician, and your daughter's first step is to be medially evaluated to determine the cause of her weight loss."

Be supportive of you daughter. Be willing to get her some psychological help as well. Learn how you can help online.

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A few months ago, Milan shocked the fashion world by banning models with an unhealthy body mass index. Now the government is taking it one step further.

"[Models] must also hand over medical certificates to prove they are healthy. Fashion leaders and the government signed a joint agreement..."

The agreement also calls for the use of size 14 and 16 models. Read more online.

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Men and women are different is so many other ways, it may not come as a surprise that their responses to body image issues are different as well. In a study conducted by researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 222 women and 151 men were observed.

"'In a nutshell,' [Kristen] Harrison said, 'we found that, following exposure to ideal-body images, men who are insecure about their bodies eat more in front of other men, while women who are insecure about their bodies eat less in front of other women.'"

Though the differences in eating habits where slight, they came after less than 45 minutes of exposure to "ideal-body" images and text. Multiplied by the thousands of hours of exposure each year, there's potential for the development of serious eating disorders. Read more at ScienceDaily.com.

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The New York State Legislature has passed a bill that requires health care providers to cover illnesses like bipolar disorder, major depression, and eating disorders.

"It's named after Timothy O'Clair who committed suicide in 2001 when he was just 12 years old. His father had been trying to get him help for years, but his insurance company wouldn't help."

Under the new law, health care providers much provide 30 days of inpatient and 20 days of outpatient care. Read more online.

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In a move similar to the one take by organizers of Madrid Fashion Week in October, a major Brazil fashion event has set a minimum age requirement for its models.

"Young models anxious to begin their careers may... believe the way to success is a rail-thin body... rising models may starve themselves to meet the perceived beauty standard."

Models for Sao Paulo events now need to be at least 16 years old. Read more online.

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"Go ahead and treat yourself, it's the holidays!" That's the general theme about food and diets during this time of year. It's a theme that sounds great to many, but can spell disaster for people who struggle with binge eating.

"Unlike other addictions, it is impossible for compulsive overeaters to be abstinent from their drug of choice - food. So when they speak of "abstinence" they are referring to freedom from compulsive, out-of-control eating and obsession with food."

Sticking to a food plan, and avoiding foods that trigger binges can help keep binge eating under control during the holidays. Getting help from family and friends can help, too. Read more online.

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Muscle dysmorphia, considered a type of reverse anorexia, is an obsessive-compulsive disorder that causes someone to feel as though they are small and weak, even if the person is an avid body builder. It's a condition that's often overlooked, partly because people who suffer from it often look extraordinarily healthy.

"'People would tell girls at school with eating disorders that they should get help, but tell me I was disciplined and dedicated.' [Michael] Feldman said."

The most noticeable sign that someone has muscle dysmorphia is often his or her rigorous work-out schedule. Suffers are often isolated from friends and family because they spend so much time in the gym. Read more at Examiner.com.

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A study in the December issue of Pediatrics found that many teens who suffer from eating disorders find new purging and weight loss techniques on the Internet. What's disturbing is that some of the information was found on sites meant to help girls recover from eating disorders.

"...46 percent of those who went to a pro-recovery web site said they had gained new information about different weight-loss techniques."

It's important for parents to ask their teens questions about the information they're finding on the Internet. Read more online.

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Two new studies from the Stanford University School of Medicine and Lucile Packard Children's Hospital highlight two specific areas that, with regard to eating disorders, need more attention. Those areas are Internet use among teens with eating disorders, and pre-teen weight loss.

"Researchers found that pro-eating disorder site visitors tended to have a longer duration of the disease, spent less time on schoolwork, and spent significantly more time online each week than those who never visited the sites."

The study on pre-teen eating disorders revealed that the "adult-specific" criteria used to diagnose eating disorders is often missing in pre-teens. Read more online.

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A team of Dutch psychiatrists recently conducted a study in which they found that women living in urban areas were three to five times more likely to struggle with bulimia. Cases of anorexia were not directly linked to geographic locations.

"Eating disorders experts say that some young people turn to bulimia because they are cut off from traditional family networks to support them when they encounter problems."

Increased availability of food was offered as another possible explanation. Of the 110 cases of bulimia studied by the Dutch team, the incidence rate jumped from 7.0 per 100,000 in rural areas to 25.5 in large cities.

Read more online.

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