Wade and Amy Bellamah-Daniel noticed a disturbing trend in Cincinnati - a culture of disordered eating that ranged from fad diets to full-blown eating disorders. They also noticed something else disturbing - there weren't any local programs to deal with the issue. So they started one.

"Clients of the Body Truth outpatient program go through their daily routines, with all the stresses and temptations. Then, from 5:30 to 9 p.m. three days a week, they attend group sessions to learn new ways to look at themselves, their bodies and food."

The Daniels believe the benefit of this approach is that it teaches people, from the very beginning, how to cope in everyday life. Meeting several times a week allows patient to share not only their struggles, but also their successes. There is also a mid-week support group for family members. Source: The Cincinnati Enquirer

Labels: cultures, support, treatment

As all eyes turn to Sydney, Australia, for its annual Fashion Festival, organizers are determined to promote health and wellness by using healthier-looking models.

"They really are trying to make steps towards respecting the care and governance of the models they represent. And also they're implementing guidelines around the age and they've stipulated that models must be at least 18 years or older and... models with extraordinarily thin physiques shouldn't be used."

Simon Lock of IMG Fashion believes the industry in Australia is taking very seriously the health of its models, especially in light of an incident last week in which a model was discovered to be only 14 years old. She was barred from Australia's Fashion Week. Source: The World Today (ABC Australia)

Labels: fashion, influences, modeling

A recent study conducted at the University of Denver found that women who have sports anxiety are more likely to experience eating disorder symptoms than women who do not have the anxiety, or aren't involved in competitive sports.

"The study of 274 female college undergraduates examined whether differences in eating disorder symptoms exist between women depending on the level of their athletic-exercise activities. The participants also completed questionnaires about attitudes and behaviors related to eating disorders, self esteem and sports anxiety."

Though many eating disorder experts agree that exercise can boost a woman's self-esteem, competitive sports can cause fear and worry about performance, thus driving women to overcompensate for their anxiety through eating disorders and other unhealthy behaviors.

Read more: Compulsive Exercisers and the
Female Athlete Triad

Labels: anxiety, body_image, sports

The unrealistic standards of "beauty" that have been perpetuated by Hollywood and the media are part of what prompted Dove to create two programs: The Dove Self-Esteem Fund (DSEF) and the Campaign for Real Beauty. Dove's goal is to reach five million girls by 2010, and thus far the campaigns are almost halfway there.

"Through DSEF, Dove, along with the Girl Scouts of the USA, conduct self-esteem workshops and after school events for girls ages eight through 17. At these programs, girls participate in at least an hour-long educational program that teaches each of them about a positive self-image."

The workshops are partially funded through profits from the sale of Dove products. The Campaign for Real Beauty includes not only TV commercials, but on-line videos that show how images of models are manipulated to make them look "perfect". Source: The East Carolinian

Labels: media_influences, self-esteem, self-image_issues

It's always been viewed as primarily a female problem: an obsession with weight and appearance that leads to eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia. But an increasing number of men are fighting similar battles.

"[Sam] Lample said in males, there is more of a focus on size than weight. He said some males will obsess over becoming muscular or 'ripped' like Hollywood A-List men... Men are starting to experience the same type of media-related pressure for appearance and body shape as women have for some time..."

Because the disorders in men often don't involve weight loss, they can be deceptive. Symptoms in men look different, and are typically expressed through excessive exercising and use of potentially-harmful substances - such as steroids - to increase muscle mass. Source: ABC Channel 15 (Phoenix, AZ)

Read more: Eating Disorders and Mental Illness and Eating Disorders in Boys and Men

Labels: body_image, men, muscles

Lucy Howard-Taylor battled anorexia for almost four years. It's been six months since she wished she was dead - and she is no longer convinced that she was ugly, worthless, and dull. She shares her battle in her new book, Biting Anorexia.

"It is the only memoir written by a recovered anorexic to be endorsed by the Eating Disorders Foundation of NSW [New South Wales] because it refuses to glamorize the disorder, highlighting instead the inner turmoil, loneliness and quiet desperation behind the denial of food. 'Usually I have nothing to do with these kinds of books because they can be damaging to sufferers, but as soon as I read this, I thought this will change lives,' the group's founder, Amanda Jordan, said yesterday."

It was difficult for Howard-Taylor to put her eating disorder battles onto paper, she said, but she felt she owed it to other girls who she knew were facing the same battle. Source: The Sydney Morning Herald

Labels: awareness, recovery, support

Jen is an avid blogger who candidly shares her struggle with, and recovery from, anorexia. She recently contributed a guest post on another blogger's site, where she shared a shortened version of her story:

"To anyone who's ever thought that eating disorders are a sign of weakness... I'd like to say this: recovering from an eating disorder is the hardest mental, physical, and emotional work you will ever do. Imagine telling a heroin addict that he must shoot up three times per day, but only a little bit. ... Alcoholics, drug addicts, and gamblers can totally abstain from their drug of choice. Disordered eaters can never, ever get away from it."

Though she has re-learned how to eat healthy and how to love herself, Jen reminds readers that recovery is an ongoing process that requires renewed commitment every day. Source: Beyond the Tag

Labels: recovery, support

America the Beautiful, Darryl Roberts' documentary about modeling, the health and beauty industry, and self-image, is a wake-up call - even for people to whom the information is not new. The 105-minute film takes a hard look at our societal standards of beauty, and the roles that certain industries play in setting that image.

"The film also follows the career a Gerren, a model who walked runways for Tommy Hilfiger, Marc Jacobs and Richard Tyler when she was 13, but was told she needed to be 'more skinny' by Parisian casting agents and had a meltdown before she was 15."

Editors from some of the top teen magazines are interviewed in the film, as are grade-school girls, who are asked how they feel when they see the "perfect" models on magazine covers. (Most of them answered that they feel "ugly.") America the Beautiful takes a hard look at the price we pay for "beauty," and asks hard questions about whether the result is worth the cost. Source: Jezebel.com

Labels: awareness, documentary, media_influences

A study by a group of doctors in British Columbia, Canada, has found that the life expectancy of individuals with anorexia nervosa is significantly lower than that of those who do not suffer from the eating disorder.

"Their number crunching revealed, for instance, that a woman who develops the disorder at age 15 will live on average to age 56 - 25 years less than the average Canadian female... About half of those who die commit suicide, while the rest succumb to medical problems..."

The B.C. specialists hope their study will help eliminate the stigma surrounding anorexia and other eating disorders, and will prompt both sufferers and the community at large to take the disorders more seriously. Source: Canadian National Post

Labels: death, health, life_expectancy

It sounds so simple: When you are hungry, you eat. When you feel full, you stop. But for the ten million Americans who struggle with eating disorders, it's anything but easy. Take, for example, a young woman who was arrested for stealing from a California grocery story. The suspect had stolen $10 worth of candy bars and other sweets and consumed it all - more than 4,000 calories - in 30 minutes.

"The suspect, Katie, was sobbing, very ashamed, and extremely remorseful. Katie, a student at a local community college, related that she suffered from bulimia nervosa. She had not intended to engage in theft while in the story, but became overwhelmed by anxiety and had an un-ignorable craving to eat... She then was compelled to rid herself of the calories and had induced vomiting in the employee's bathroom."

Though anorexia gets more attention, bulimia is actually more prevalent - affecting one in seven females ages 12-25. The medical consequences of bulimia - a disorder marked by bingeing, then purging, in response to feelings of depression, anxiety or worthlessness - are immense, and anyone who exhibits symptoms of the disorder needs to seek immediate help. Source: Officer.com.

Labels: bulimia, purging, shame

Researchers with Children's Hospital Boston have determined that teen girls who force themselves to throw up - even as little as one time per month - are at risk for a wide range of health disorders, including irregular menstruation.

Self-induced vomiting, which is primarily done as a form of weight control, can wreak considerable havoc on developing bodies, said S. Bryn Austin, one of the researchers who was involved in the study.

"Given that adolescence is the period of peak bone development and that normal hormonal functioning is essential for healthy bone growth, we are especially worried that these girls may be setting themselves up for a host of health problems, including low bone density, stress fractures, and osteoporosis later in life," Austin said.

The Children's Hospital study, which was published in the May 2008 edition of the Journal of Adolescent Health, was based on an analysis of 2,791 girls who participated in the National Eating Disorders Screening Program. The report revealed the following statistics about the effect of forced vomiting:

• Twelve percent of the high school girls who were studied reported having forced themselves to throw up at least once in the previous three months.


• Girls who vomited one to three times a month were 1.6 times more likely to experience irregular menstruation than were girls who never forced themselves to throw up.
• Girls who vomited four times or more each month were 3.2 times more likely to have an irregular cycle.

According to a May 27, 2008, New York Times article on the study, self-induced vomiting has been associated with a range of other medical problems, including electrolyte imbalances (which can lead to heart conditions), dental enamel erosion, and tears in the esophagus.

Labels: anorexia, side_effects, vomit

Today's ultra-thin body ideal, created and encouraged by the media and fashion industry, can cause even the healthiest girls to dislike their bodies. In a special article on the WebMD website, freelance health writer Heather Hatfield interviewed several body image experts who offered practical tips for feeling good about your body.

"...the problem with the cultural norm in America is that human beings aren't meant to be one size or one shape. 'The research on body diversity is conclusive: Even if we all ate the same optimal, wholesome diet and exercised to the same high degree of physical fitness, we would still be very diverse in our shapes,' says [Kathy] Kater [a psychotherapist in St. Paul, Minn.]..."

The panel of experts suggested that people who struggle with their body image need to find a peer group that's encouraging. If you hang out with people who continually complain about their (or worse yet, your) body, find some people with healthier mindsets. Source: WebMD

Labels: body_image, influences, positive_messages

A study conducted by Children's Hospital of Boston found that the risk factors of developing eating disorders are different for boys and girls, and - in girls - these factors change with age. The study followed more than 6,500 girls and 5,500 boys for seven years.

"Binge eating was observed in 4.3 percent of females and 2.1 percent of males, while 5.3 percent of females and 0.8 percent of males began to purge... Having a mother with a history of an eating disorder almost tripled the risk for girls, but only up to the age of 14."

The study also found that negative comments about weight from fathers were strong predictors of binge eating. Source: RN Web

Labels: causes of eating disorders, influences, risks

A study out of Stockholm, Sweden, has found that new moms with histories of eating disorders had a much harder time adjusting to motherhood than did those with no history of eating disorders.

"Women with eating disorders were more likely to worry they may not be a good mother; did not feel proud of being a mother; and felt they no longer had enough time for themselves. The researchers also found this group much less likely to enjoy feeding and caring for their babies, and more likely to worry their child would turn out unhealthy or not normal."

Researchers compared levels of adjustment between 67 first-time moms without eating disorder histories and 44 first-time moms with histories of either anorexia or bulimia. Only 13 percent of the non-eating-disorder group struggled to adjust to motherhood, compared with 92 percent of those with histories of disordered eating. Source: Reuters

Labels: mothers, parents, self-esteem

A 15-year-old girl who has spent most of her life dieting wrote a letter to a Pennsylvania newspaper advice columnist to express concerns that she may be anorexic. She shared her story (which includes teasing by family members) and symptoms (which include four months of missed periods), and asked for advice.

"Your obsession with your weight and your changed attitude toward eating are certainly warning signs for anorexia, but it's not possible to know if you are too thin without more information. I recommend an appointment with your family physician... The Internet is an excellent source of information, but spending time with a professional who can listen to your individual needs will help most."

The advice columnist noted that missed menstrual periods are also a potential sign of anorexia, though other causes could be to blame. She also suggested that the girl address the matter with her family, to tell them how she feels when they tease her and to ask them to stop. Source: Observer-Reporter

Labels: anorexia, diagnosis, treatment