Supermodel Kate Moss has received widespread criticism for a Nov. 18 comment that has been associated with encouraging unhealthy eating habits.

When asked what her motto is, Moss said Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels, a phrase that is popular on pro-ana websites that promote self-starvation.

In a Nov. 19 article on the website of the British newspaper The Sun, Deanne Jade (founder of the UKs National Centre for Eating Disorders) explained the danger in Moss comment:

The problem with soundbites such as this is that they become a mantra and have a power over you.

Kate's connection with Topshop [a chain of British clothing stores] means that she has become a style icon for millions of young women in the UK.

Young girls are her market and they are very suggestible and vulnerable.

For Kate to say what she has done is just one more nail in the coffin for those young women who are trying to hold on to their self-esteem no matter what their size is.

Labels: support, pro-ana, celebrities

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Londons Fashion Week opens today. And as it reignites the debate over too-thin models, the Royal College of Psychiatrists is asking the British government to do something about pro-anorexia websites.

A Sept. 17 Reuters article provided the following information about the effort to regulate or eradicate websites that encourage the unhealthy eating practices that can lead to eating disorders such as anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa and binge eating disorder:

Encouraged by social networking sites like Facebook and "thinspiration" Web sites, growing numbers of Britons are looking online to get tips on how to starve themselves or hide extreme weight loss, says the Royal College of Psychiatrists.

"(These) Web sites normalize illness," said Ulrike Schmidt, chair of the college's eating disorders section.

The report calls on the government to tackle the proliferation of pro-eating disorder sites as part of its wider efforts to safeguard children on the Internet through the UK Council for Child Internet Safety (UKCCIS).

Nearly 90 percent of eating disorder sufferers in Britain are teenage girls, and experts report that one in 10 repeatedly visit pro-eating disorder websites.

Labels: pro-ana, online, pro-mia, websites

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A website that supports anorexia nervosa as a lifestyle choice has used a picture of British TV presenter Fearne Cotton as a role model, and Cotton said she is horrified. She discovered the picture while filming a documentary about the dangers of eating disorders.

Viewers [of the documentary] see her shriek: 'Oh my God, what the hell's my name doing there? That's the worst thing I've ever seen. ... To think girls would use that is horrific. ... I don't want to be associated with anything like this.'

Filming of the documentary also took Cotton to a West London school where elementary school girls complain to her about being fat or needing to diet. Cotton said she learned a lot about the complexities of eating disorders and hopes that her documentary will help one or two girls shift their attention from weight to something more positive.

Source: The Mirror (UK)

Labels: anorexia, pro-ana, celebrities

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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: media_influences, awareness, pro-ana, positive_messages

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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: pro-ana, self-destruction, encouragement

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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: media_influences, legislation, pro-ana

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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: trends, support, pro-ana

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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: pro-ana, prevention

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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

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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: self-esteem, pro-ana, body_image

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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: pro-ana, networking_websites, responsibility

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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: pro-ana, pro-mia, influences

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A study conducted by the government of Germany has found a dramatic increase in the number of web sites that promote and encourage eating disorders. According to a report titled “Youth Protection on the Internet,” the government found 328 pro-eating disorder sites in 2009, a huge jump from the 250 that were found the year before.

“[The study] noted that operators of the websites were often young people with eating disorders who were not interested in therapy. The websites used slogans like ‘being thin is more important than being healthy,’ and showed pictures of extremely thin women.” [Source: Earth Times]

The study also found that these web sites primarily attracted girls who were 16-years-old and younger.

 

Labels: pro-ana, pro-mia, internet

Posted By: Stefanie Hamilton 1 Comment

Despite a 10-year effort by search engines such as Yahoo and MSN to shut down websites that promote eating disorders, many are still operating and promoting anorexia and bulimia as positive lifestyle choices.

According to a new study published in the American Journal of Public Health, over 90 percent of these websites are open to the public, 83 percent provide advice on how to engage in eating disordered behaviors, and only 38 percent include links or information on how to recover from eating disorders.

"Pro-ana," "pro-mia," and "thinspiration" websites usually have pictures of emaciated young women, often attractive celebrities and models. Contributors often discuss the themes of success, control, perfection, and solidarity, according to the study. Most advise people who criticize the lifestyle to leave the website.

Labels: pro-ana, pro-mia, websites

Posted By: CRC Health 1 Comment

Pretzel Crisps are gaining popularity. The light, pretzel-like snacks are lower in salt, fat and calories, making them a good choice for people who are trying to be healthy. Unfortunately, in its attempt to build market share, Pretzel Crisps maker Snack Factory released a controversial ad campaign -- and a "replacement" that wasn't much better than the original one.

"You can never be too thin" [the ad] reads. Well, one quick Google search and we could find you at least one hundred or so people who are – and hundreds of people have taken to telling the crisp company exactly that by defacing its ads with "actually, you can" and other things that are far too naughty to print on here.” [Source: My Fashion Life]

The company got the hint and changed the ad. Snack Factory Vice President of Marketing Perry Abbenante issued an apology, saying the company didn’t intend to advocate unhealthy weight loss.

Unfortunately, the company’s second advertising attempt wasn’t much better. The new slogan? “Tastes as good as skinny feels.” Complaints are already pouring in.

 

Labels: advertising, pro-ana

Posted By: Stefanie Hamilton 1 Comment