theagingofanorexia

Ultra Thin Promote Pro-ana Websites

Pro-ana refers to the idea of promoting anorexia nervosa, the eating disorder characterized by extreme low body weight and body image distortion. The sites have photos and videos of very thin women and girls plus tips for crash dieting, fasting and forced vomiting. Most visitors to the sites are women but men visit them also. Most are young, 20 something and younger, but there are many who visit who are in their 40s and 50s.

According to Dr. Roberta Peebles of Stanford University, people suffering from eating disorders go to these sites for emotional support because they tend to feel depressed and isolated.

One teen age girl explains how she heard of these sites while watching Oprah. She was 17 at the time, 5 foot 7 inches and weighed about 80 pounds. Then she had a heart attack.

As part of her heeling process she created a web site called Ana Death to help other anorexic sufferers recover. This website mimics the style of the thin inspiration sites where people post tips on crash dieting and controlled eating. Check it out here and let me know what you think.

Celebrating your efforts for a healthy life style.

Ruthan Brodsky

The Desparate Housewives Effect

Women responding to the thin, sexy characters depicted in the show “Desperate Housewives" is having a growing impact on women in their thirties and forties. More women of this age are being treated for eating disorders and many are blaming the TV show.

Women are saying they feel greater pressure to be thinner as they get older, to look youthful regardless of age, and to take whatever steps are needed to achieve all of this. Aging gracefully has fallen out of fashion.

Most of us know people who have weight and diet challenges. We have friends who are constantly on a diet, friends who never seem to eat, and friends who take pills – lots of pills. That doesn’t mean, of course, these friends have an eating disorder, but their patterns of behavior could easily lead to one.

Researchers are now finding that younger women and middle aged women share many of the same triggers that lead to eating disorders such as low self esteem and high anxiety. Menopause, however, increases the middle-aged woman’s negative perception of her body and the possibility of succumbing to compulsive eating or dieting. 

It appears that the circumstances and triggers for anorexia are very personal and varied regardless of age, Some find social pressures for appearance to be their cause for compulsive behavior. Others report that their appearance and their perceptions about their ability to perform at work are tightly linked. The fact that some women might have spent decades without treatment also speaks to the lack of resources and understanding.

To understand anorexia, we need to examine the context of a particular person’s disorder and make sure there are resources available to him or him.  We also need to pay more attention to the messages we send our children, personally and through the media. If we know how these patterns of low self esteem and negative appearance develop, maybe we can figure out how to stop them.

Would love to have your thoughts on this topic.  Share your comments with our readers by scrolling down to comments and writing in the blank box.  Or send me your story by email to ruthanb@balanceyourhealth.com

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To your successful lifestyle,

Ruthan

Searching for the Perfect Body

I believe my concerns about the media and the images they portray representing success and wealth and sex are all valid and do have an impact on eating disorders.

I also think there is more pressure than the media about being thin. As parents we praise our toddlers for being ‘so cute’. Children are spending more time in front of the TV and playing video games, watching images of men and women that may be heroic but aren’t your average mom and dad. Overweight characters are usually portrayed as lazy and not very bright.

In newspapers, on TV, and in magazines we are continually told that if we lose weight we’ll e happier – buy 4 DVDs for this exercise program, and 6 DVDs for this diet and find happiness. It would be nice, but it doesn’t work that way.

What we should be teaching our children is not only how to live healthy lifestyles but why they should feel proud of their bodies regardless of shape. Adults aren’t very good at this. We often associate shame with weight refusing to wear a bathing suit, asking a spouse "does this outfit make me look fat?’, or greeting a friend with ‘oh, you’ve lost weight’ emphasizing the idea that how we look and what we weight is very important.

Groups of people that have more than their share of eating disorders are dancers, especially ballet dancers, gymnasts and figure skaters, teens and college students.

Ballet dancers are extraordinarily thin, practice and rehearse for hours, and are encourage to maintain a low weight. In 1997 a young ballerina by the name of Heidi Guenther died of a fatal heart attack as the result of her eating disorder. She was 22.

Gymnasts and figure skaters are at increased risk for eating disorders because encouraged to fit the thin profile to please the judges. Similar to dances, they also practice long hours. Nadia Comaneci, Cathy Rigby and Kathy Johnson all admitted to battling with anorexia and bulimia.

Teen years can be confusing as the youngsters are given more independence, make more life choices, and receive more pressure to succeed while dating and seeking acceptance from the opposite sex. Even as their bodies and hormone systems change, they become more at risk for eating disorders.

If you know another group that you think is at higher risk for eating disorders, let us know. Identify the risk group and describe the factors that put them at higher risk.

To your healthy lifestyle,

Ruthan Brodsky

Freelance content marketing for medical professionals and business.

www.theagingofanorexia.com

www.balanceyourhealth.com

www.upsideofaging.com

Starving for Perfection Influenced by Media

Pick up any woman’s magazine and you’ll find an article promising you a diet that can’t fail. You’ll also find dozens of advertisements with photos of women whose body types represent maybe two percent of the population and half of those had cosmetic surgery on one or more party parts.

Have you ever watched TV early on week-ends. Dozens of channels advertising diet programs or exercising programs showing sculpted models with small hips and pronounced breasts all giving testimonials. And just in case you didn’t get the message, handsome males are shown smiling lovingly – or lustingly- at the models.

The message:

To be happy and successful in life and in love, you have to be thin.

A perfect background for eating disorders.

A major problem about all this is that the message is getting to the kids as well as to adults:

• ·In 1970, the average age of a girl starting to diet was 14. In 1990 the average age dropped to 8.
• One half of fourth grade girls are on a diet.
• 81% of ten-year-old girls are afraid of being fat.
• One out of 3 women and one out of 4 men are dieting at any given time.
• Diet and diet related products are a 33 billion dollar a year industry.
• A study found that adolescent girls were more fearful of gaining weight than getting cancer, nuclear war or losing their parents.
• In a Glamour magazine survey (December, 2005), 61% of respondents said they were ashamed of their hips, 64% were ashamed of their stomachs and 73% were ashamed of their thighs.

While the images of child-like women have certainly contributed to an increased obsession to be thin, the media obviously doesn’t cause everyone to develop anorexia or other eating disorders. The media certainly contributes a great deal to dieting and size discrimination but anorexia is not a diet. It’s a lot more complex than just blaming the media.

What do you think? Who’s to blame for the increase in anorexia and other eating disorders among older populations as well as kids.

Scroll down to "comments’ and let us know what you think.

To a healthy lifestyle,

Ruthan Brodsky

Marketing content for health professionals and business.

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High Fashion Combats Anorexic Thinness

I was browsing the nutrition blogs and came across this news – news to me – that France was going to pass legislation to stop fashion houses from promoting anorexia as a lifestyle.

I researched the story and found out it’s happened. This April members of the French fashion industry signed a government-backed charter at fighting anorexia. The charter asked participants to work toward presenting diverse body images and not publicizing images that promote extreme thinness.