A British psychiatrists' organization has announced a campaign to curtail media use of unrealistic body images, which have been accused of promoting disordered eating and undermining the self-image of many consumers.

A Feb. 23 Medical News Today article reported on the effort:

The Royal College of Psychiatrists' (RCPsychs') Eating Disorders Section said the media should be portraying images of more diverse body shapes and helping people feel positive about their bodies.

They also want a kite mark scheme to be introduced whereby a symbol appears on images that have been digitally enhanced to make a model's body appear more perfect.

The RCPsychs are urging the government to address the issue by establishing a new Forum with representatives from the media, advertisers, experts and organizations on eating disorders, regulatory bodies and politicians.

Dr Adrienne Key, a consultant psychiatrist and member of the RCPsych Eating Disorders Section told the press earlier today that the aim 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."

Labels: media_influences

British department store Debenham's is receiving praise from eating disorder groups in the wake of its announced intent to start using size 16 mannequins.

"Debenhams, which stocks women's clothing up to a British size 26 in its stores, says 42 percent of its sales are garments in sizes 14 and 16," UPI reported. "Susan Ringwood, who heads the charity Beat, which campaigns against eating disorders, applauds Debenham's announcement.”

Debenham's size-16 mannequins will be used in window displays promoting clothing by designers like Ben de Lisi, a favorite of actress Kate Winslet.

Many experts have criticized the fashion industry for promoting unachievable (and unhealthy) body images in advertising, claiming that such actions can lead to poor self-esteem, unhealthy body image, and the development of eating disorders among customers -- especially girls and young women.

Labels: body image, fashion, great britain, self-esteem

Tanith Belbin is one of the foremost ice dancers in the world. She and her partner, Ben Agosto, won a silver medal in the 2006 Olympics, but Belbin looks back on those Olympics with something other than joy. She’s embarrassed by photographs that show spindly legs and a jutting chest bone.

Four years later, according to Juliet Macur's Feb. 16 New York Times article, Belbin has overcome a history of unhealthy eating practices, and she and her partner are hoping for an even more impressive result in the 2010 Olympic Games:

She can thank one of her coaches, Natalia Linichuk, for that. ...

Linichuk and Gennadi Karponosov, who were the 1980 Olympic ice dancing champions, began coaching Belbin and Agosto in the summer of 2008, when Belbin and Agosto left suburban Detroit for a fresh start.

Linichuk took one look at the 5-foot-6, 105-pound Belbin and said, "You need to gain 10 pounds." She said more muscle would help Belbin skate faster and more fluidly. ...

As it turned out, Linichuk also ended up saving Belbin from a problem that has long plagued figure skaters: disordered eating. Often not as severe as eating disorders like anorexia and bulimia, disordered eating involves irregular eating habits that can be fueled by a distorted body image. Belbin said she had struggled with those issues since puberty.

Labels: binge eating, purging, self-esteem, self-image_issues

In a Feb. 15 article on the website of The Daily Pennsylvanian (the student newspaper of the University of Pennsylvania), writer Sarah Ryu addressed the problem of eating disorders among college students:

Whether the problem lies with the students themselves or their peers around them, eating concerns surround Penn students everyday, and they range from simple dietary regulations to clinical disorders.

“There’s a whole continuum from eating concerns and worries, which are milder, all the way to clinical levels of anorexia and bulimia,” Denise Lensky, the associate director of Counseling and Psychological Services, said.She added that eating disorders affect a “pretty sizeable portion of the population.”

For some, these concerns can be a continuation of attitudes or habits that existed prior to college, Lensky explained. For others, college can be the first encounter with such issues. ...

“College is challenging because for many, it’s the first time that they are completely on their own with regards to their eating,” Lensky said, explaining that the responsibility of doing their food shopping and providing their own meals can be a challenge for some students.

Labels: college_students

To the uninformed, the terms "healthy eating" and "eating disorder" sound like opposites. But as those who are familiar with orthorexia nervosa are well aware, it is possible for a dedication to healthy eating to morph into an obsession -- and a form of disordered eating.

In a Feb. 12 article on the website of Time magazine, writer Bonnie Rochman explored the scourge of orthorexia, and the arguments in favor of its inclusion as a separate disorder in the upcoming fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders:

When [Kristie] Rutzel first sought help for anemia and osteopenia, a precursor of osteoporosis triggered by her avoidance of calcium, her doctor in upstate New York, where she attended college, had never heard of orthorexia.

"You should be trying to eat healthy," she remembers him telling her. He couldn't quite grasp that he was talking to a health nut who believed there were few truly healthy foods she felt were safe to eat.

Her condition was eventually identified as anorexia, a diagnosis that organizations like the Washington-based Eating Disorders Coalition think is a mistake.

The group, which represents more than 35 eating-disorder organizations in the U.S., wants orthorexia to have a separate entry in the bible of psychiatric illness, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM).

The American Psychiatric Association, which publishes the DSM, is currently accepting input on proposed changes to the manual. DSM-V is slated to be released in 2013.

Labels: dsm-v, orthorexia

In the run-up to the May 2013 publication of the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-V), the American Psychiatric Association has posted a draft of the new manual on the website www.DSM5.org., and is inviting feedback from the public.

Among the changes is one that will be of particular interest to those who treat or have been affected by eating disorders: Binge eating disorder is scheduled to be classified as a separate disorder in the DSM-V.

In the current edition (DSM-IV, which was published in 1994), eating disorders are represented in three categories:

• Anorexia Nervosa
• Bulimia Nervosa
• Eating Disorder Not Otherwise Specified

In the "rationale" section of the DSM5 website, APA notes that "Binge Eating Disorder is one of the disorders in the DSM-IV appendix. It is recommended that it be formally included as a disorder in DSM-5."

Labels: binge eating, dsm-v

According to a Feb. 3 post on the website of the Times Herald-Record newspaper, the following organizations in Orange County, New York, will be sponsoring eating disorder-themed events during February:

• An educational workshop, "One Size Doesn't Fit All," presented by Susan Piowaty, social worker, 9 a.m.-noon Feb. 24 at the Orange County Emergency Services Center, 22 Wells Farm Road, Goshen. Registration is required; call 342-2400.
• The office of Dr. Michelle Winchester Vega & Associates at 339 Blooming Grove Turnpike, New Windsor, will have a literature table available for the month. Additionally, Dianna Chillo will provide a question-and-answer session from noon-1 p.m. and 6:30-7:30 p.m. Feb. 23.
• The next meeting of the Eating Disorders Coalition will take place at 9 a.m. April 13 at the Mental Health Association office. Anyone who would like to join the prevention and education effort is invited. The coalition meets the second Tuesday of every month. For more information, call 342-2400.

Labels: awareness

As a student at the University of Georgia (UGA), Jilian McLendon's desire to stay slim devolved from a focus on health to the development of anorexia.

But unlike many students who are unable or unwilling to get the treatment they need, McLendon found the help that enabled her to overcome her eating disorder.

Julia Carpenter wrote about McLendon's experience in a Feb. 2 article on redandblack.com (a website that addresses issues of interest to UGA students):

Now healthy, happy and armed with a greater understanding of her past illness’s long-lasting effects, McLendon stressed that the disorder operates on two levels -- the mental and the physical.

"You have to gain the weight and get healthy again, but also mentally, you have to be ready for it," she said. "You have to be willing to get better." ...

University students suffering from an eating disorder can pursue three different avenues of treatment in Athens: [University Health Center Counseling and Psychiatric Services] , an outside psychology clinic or outpatient therapy.

McLendon’s father took her out of school and brought her home to be with her family.

“That’s the best support,” she said. “The support of a family that loves you no matter what.”

Labels: anorexia, eating disorders, family, recovery

In a move that has received widespread and diverse reactions, German magazine Brigitte has stopped using ultra-thin professional models. It has turned, instead, to "ordinary" women like Anja, who was a recent cover girl.

"The glossy cover featured a beaming model [Anja] standing defiantly, hands on hips, with one of her red high-heeled shoes clasped between her teeth," Canada's Canwest News Service reported. "The first two issues have sold out on most newsstands, says Brigitte Online fashion editor Susanne Gundlach."

Brigitte editors say they aren't surprised by the warm reception. A recent survey found that its readers openly dislike fashion models they described as "skinny and lifeless." Media critic Shari Graydon has written that she believes there is a growing backlash among women who are tired of the airbrushed images and unattainable body types featured in many fashion magazines.

Many experts have identified exposure to unrealistic media images as a possible risk factor for low self-esteem, unhealthy body image and eating disorders.

Labels: media_influences, size 0

After Vince Withers lost his daughter to an eating disorder, he started the Newfoundland and Labrador Eating Disorders Foundation. This week, the foundation is hosting numerous events aimed at raising awareness about -- and de-stigmatizing -- eating disorders.

"Having gone through this personally, I would suggest to families that they be very aware to changes in personality of their adolescents," Withers told CBC News. "People with an eating disorder will have noticeable changes in terms of mood, self esteem, school, in terms of having their friends around them."

Withers estimates that there are about 8,000 families in the Newfoundland/Labrador area with families members who are struggling with eating disorders. He hopes to bring the issue out in the open so people who need help can get it.

Labels: awareness, daughters, fathers

In his eye-opening documentary "America the Beautiful," director Darryl Roberts exposes the unhealthy influence of the fashion industry, and also reveals some unpleasant truths about the health & beauty industry and the use of sex to sell magazines.

Kathy Flanagan of the Milwaukee Wisconsin Journal Sentinel wrote the following in her Nov. 20, 2008, review of the film:

[Roberts] weaves a convincing story in his behind-the-scenes look at the beauty and fashion industry and threads the movie with the story of Gerren Taylor, a striking 12-year-old African-American girl.

Roberts follows Gerren and her stage mother on her zenith ascent to New York runway model. One moment she's a middle-school student, the next she's touted by designer Marc Jacobs as a beautiful new face. Almost as quickly as she makes it to the top, Gerren is pushed back to the bottom and implodes.

This beautiful tall, thin girl with the beguiling smile says she's fat and ugly. ...

Too bad "American Beauty" is rated R. Impressionable young girls should see this.

Labels: beauty, fashion, unhealthy eating

It's well-known that college can either trigger or exacerbate eating disorders in those who are prone to the condition. Despite this, many universities fail to offer adequate support. In the Feb. 2 edition of The Daily Cardinal, University of Wisconsin-Madison student Emily Sutter took the school to task for its lack of support.

If you enter UHS [University Health Services] counseling services meeting the criteria for anorexia, bulimia, or eating disorder not otherwise specified, they will very kindly show you the door letting you know that they do not treat eating disorders while giving you a list of therapists in the area that do.

For someone who is unsure about treatment, that is typically the end of the road. Seeking help for an eating disorder is a terrifying experience, and having a door shut in your face provides little motivation to take that step again. ...

Living with an eating disorder is very lonely, and for the longest time I felt ashamed. It is so comforting to finally be surrounded by people who relate to what I am feeling. In group, I do not have to hide anything or fear that I will be judged.

I do not ever have to worry that my support group will shut a door in my face and say, "sorry, we won’t help you," like UHS has done to so many suffering with eating disorders. We are fed up (yes, pun intended) with this type of response to our outreach for help. A change needs to happen now before someone loses his or her life to an eating disorder.

Labels: colleges, support