DDB Canada's Vancouver office has developed a multimedia campaign to raise awareness about the seriousness of eating disorders. Developed for The Looking Glass Foundation, the campaign includes public service announcements designed for television, radio, print, and online.

"The campaign tag line, 'Not every suicide note looks like a suicide note' refers to the insight that seemingly innocuous behaviors could be signs someone is suffering from an eating disorder that could kill them...Because of the seriousness of the disorder and the fact that many people do not take it seriously, DDB wanted to introduce an element of shock value into the campaign using real-life stories."

DDB's associate creative director and its copywriter conducted extensive research on eating disorders, including interviews with several victims and their families. All of the ads include a call to action, and direct people to The Looking Glass Foundation for additional information Source: >Marketing magazine

Labels: awareness, media_influences, positive_messages, pro-ana

More websites are promoting anorexia and extreme thinness as a legitimate lifestyle choice for young women and teens. The websites feature "thinspiration" photos of females so emaciated they seem to be missing not only fat and muscle, but all human tissue except bones, according to an article in The New York Times on May 25, 2008. Although more boys are becoming anorexic, the overwhelming majority who suffer from this life-threatening disorder are girls.

The websites celebrate boniness as a thing of beauty achieved only through sacrifice and self-denial, reporter Virginia Heffernan writes. The captions on the portraits, some of them truly horrifying, tout the starving bodies as objects of admiration. For example, one girl wrote, "Skeleton, you are my friend. I will sacrifice all I have in life. Bones are beautiful." Another says, "Time spent wasting is not wasted time." A poetic teen writes, "I want to be so thin, light, airy that I don't leave a shadow. I can dance between the raindrops."

"Pro-ana" or pro-anorexia websites become communities where girls who are starving themselves share advice and encouragement about the best ways to avoid eating. Participants post and update their "CWs, HWs, and BWs" with their pictures. CW is current weight, HW is high weight, and BW is best weight. An anorexic's entire outlook and mood can depend on whether she is BW or HW.

The "thinspo" and "pro-ana" sites often have a defiant tone. Experts say these young women are striking a revolutionary pose against society and their families, firmly upholding their right to destroy themselves. Self-destructive females like Sylvia Plath and Virginia Wolfe become role models. One buzzword is "fierce." The goal is to be as thin and fierce as a pouting, strutting runway model.

Labels: encouragement, pro-ana, self-destruction

Soon, the French could begin handing down jail sentences in connection with the promotion or encouragement of anorexic behavior. The draft law, proposed by French senator Valerie Boyer, is aimed at halting images and messages in the media that glorify excessive thinness.

"While not seeking to target bona fide dieting, the law would punish any encouragement to make 'people deprive themselves of food in order to get excessively thin', or than constituted an 'open apology of anorexia.'"

Penalties for breaking the law would include up to three years in jail and a nearly $60,000 fine if the message or image resulted in someone's death from anorexia. Simply inciting anorexic behavior would carry a penalty of two years in jail. Source: Telegraph UK

Labels: legislation, media_influences, pro-ana

The pro-ana, or pro-anorexic, subculture has been around for years. But now technology is making it easier for "pro-anorexics" to find each other through websites and discussion groups.

"One of the primary symbols in these groups is the 'goddess Ana.' Group participants personify anorexia and bulimia by giving them feminine nicknames - Ana and Mia. Members talk about praying or talking to Ana, frequently deified as a goddess or angel, and asking her for support."

It's common practice on many of these discussion groups for participants to post information about their current weight and their goal weight. Many will also post before and after pictures and ask for verification from the group that they are indeed losing weight. Read more at DigitalYouth.com.

Labels: pro-ana, support, trends

Microsoft's Spain division has shut down four websites that were promoting anorexia and bulimia. The shut down came as the result of a request by Iqua, an Internet quality control agency.

"It was the first time in Spain that a company housing Internet sites has shut down web pages seen as promoting eating disorders following a complaint from authorities, Iqua said."

Spanish authorities banned another site in January that planned to run a "calorie-reduction" contest where girls could earn "points" based how drastically they were able to cut their daily caloric intake.

Labels: pro-ana, pro-mia

Their existence was long-ago exposed. Parents were warned to take proactive steps, and teens were warned to stay away. Despite that, pro-anorexia and pro-bulimia web sites are as prevalent now as ever, still posing a serious threat to anyone who struggles with - or is at risk of developing - an eating disorder.

"As it survives online and increasingly underground, this movement poses serious public health challenges. As many as 70 percent of adolescent girls seek health information online. Of adolescent girls viewing pro-ana sites, 96 percent reported learning new weight loss or purging techniques; 69 percent of these viewers reported using these weight-reduction strategies."

So what's a parent to do? The strongest recommendation is to install an electronic filtering system that blocks access to specific web sites or content. The less access adolescents have to these sites the better. And if a site's popularity decreases enough, it may go away altogether.

Labels: prevention, pro-ana

Some girls who struggle with eating disorders think that pro-anorexic sites help them feel better about their disorder and their obsession with weight and appearance. But investigators from the University of Missouri in Columbia have discovered that the opposite is true.

"After looking at the anorexia-promoting Web site, young women had worse moods, worse social self-esteem, and a worse sense of their ability to cope with their appearance than those who viewed one of the other two websites [on fashion and home décor]. They also thought of themselves as heavier and said they were more likely to exercise and think about their weight in the near future."

In light of these results, the study's authors suggest that parents closely monitor the websites their children view, consider blocking pro-anorexia websites and keeping a "family" computer in an open area of the house.

Struggling girls boarding schools, like Copper Canyon Academy in Arizona, offer a combination of therapy and academics to help teenage girls get back on track.

Labels: body_image, pro-ana, self-esteem

Pro-anorexic web sites have been in existence nearly as long as the Internet itself. But in the past they've been hard to find. Now, with the advent of social networking sites and web sites like YouTube, pro-anorexic information is getting easier to find.

"Eating disorder charities have called on social websites to look closely at their online material. Susan Ringwood, chief executive of the charity Beat, said: 'Pro-anorexic sites weren't easy to find and most responsible internet providers would cut them out. But on the networking sties there isn't the same control over them at the moment. Some of the more hardcore stuff does seem to be getting on to these sites. We are concerned that this is a trend.'"

Some disagree that the videos can trigger or support eating disorders and feel that if they're banned from YouTube, they'll simply show up again somewhere else. Read more at Technology.Timeslonline.co.uk.

Teens suffering from eating disorders or other issues can find help at a residential treatment center, like The Aspen Institute.

Labels: networking_websites, pro-ana, responsibility

A pro-eating disorder web site is a place where unhealthy eating (or non-eating) habits are encouraged. Many teens who want to loose weight find their way to these sites, which reinforce negative body image and low self-esteem.

"Potentially dangerous venues include Web sites where people who engage in disordered eating gather to discuss their activities. A majority of these sites have sections where people share tips and techniques 'that I would consider as a physician fairly harmful,' [Dr. Rebecca] Peebles said."

Dr. Peebles conducted a study from 1997 to 2004 in which she found that 41% of teen patients had visited a pro-eating disorder Web site. Of these patients, half of their parents had no idea they were visiting the Web sites. Read more at HonoluluAdvertiser.com.

Eating disorders may be not be the only issue facing your teen. An adolescent residential treatment program can help get to the root of your teen's problems and create a treatment plan. Learn more about residential treatment programs for teens, like The Aspen Insitute of Behavioral Assessment, at www.aspenassessment.com.

Labels: influences, pro-ana, pro-mia