Are you kidding me,"tweens and anorexia?"

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RKHenryposted 14 years ago
Has anybody read that article in Parenting, school years monthly addition?

Any thoughts?

My thoughts? Scares the hell out of me.

2009 National Statics for American Tweens-(as per the National Eating Disorders Assoc.):

42% of kids first through third grade want to be thinner.
81% of American 10 year olds fear being fat.
51% of 9 and 10 year old girls feel better when they are dieting.

Dieting? What the.....? Dieting? At 9 or 10 years of age. Com'on people- what gives here? Are we in that much in self denial that we are willing to let our children die for it? See I'm all about Hillary's taking a village to raise a child thing. Got no kids of my own. A younger sister with developing ta-ta's, but no kids yet. Maybe never with these statics. Anyways, when is it enough? Where do you suppose these kids are learning how to diet? Mark Stanford???

All I'm saying is parents please wake the f'up! Moms, you are beautiful the way you are. You're a mom!!! What's more beautiful than that??? Your dieting is killing your child in one way or another. Get over your own weight insecurities and think about that child instead. Please, as a man who loves and truly appreciates the woman's body, stop!

With these kind of statics becking at America's front door, pretty soon there will be no different between this and abortion. It is the woman's right to choose. But as many pro-lifers claim, the child is innocent!

Thanks.
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  bgamallposted 14 years agoin reply to this
  America is obese but there are always overreactions.
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  sciguyposted 14 years agoin reply to this
  The number of people who die every year from anorexia in the US is miniscule compared to the number of people who die from obesity-related problems. Maybe kids SHOULD fear being fat - there's a good chance it will prematurely kill them.
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  Maddie Ruudposted 14 years agoin reply to this
  "...obesity and extreme obesity cause about 112,000 deaths per year, but being overweight was found to prevent about 86,000 deaths annually. Based on those figures, the net U.S. death toll from excess weight is 26,000 per year. By contrast, researchers found that being underweight results in 34,000 deaths per year."
  
  Source
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  darksideposted 14 years agoin reply to this
  What a strange way to obscure facts.
  
  I don't agree with the whole extreme dieting and the unhealthy focus on being skinny, but 112,000 deaths per year is 112,000 deaths per year.
  
  I wonder if the excess weight that is alleged to have saved people from death was within a healthy range or if those people were actually morbidly obese.
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  Iðunnposted 14 years agoin reply to this
  I checked it. Even the source says the study is under investigation and considered iffy. The data is extrapolated oddly and it seems as if they are accounting for every anorexic to die yearly, every year, to come up with that figure.
  
  NAMI has some pretty accurate information on mental health and American Obesity Association has some really reliable stats on obesity illness, costs and death.
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  Iðunnposted 14 years agoin reply to this
  it's 54. again the data was extrapolated however the sources are better, universities and medical studies. approximately 54 women a year on average die of anorexia.
  
  "It should be possible to determine what the true facts are. Christina Hoff-Sommers did that ... and determined that around 150,000 women in the US suffer from anorexia nervosa and that only 54 per year die from health complications that arose from that affliction, a very far cry from figures that rival deaths from cancer of the prostate or from breast cancer."
  
  ""In Revolution from Within, Gloria Steinem informs her readers that 'in this country alone...about 150,000 females die of anorexia each year.' That is more than three times the annual number of fatalities from car accidents for the total population. Steinem refers readers to another feminist best-seller, Naomi Wolf's The Beauty Myth. And in Ms. Wolf's book, one again finds the statistic, along with the author's outrage. ...
  
  "Where did Ms. Wolf get her figures? Her source is Fasting Girls: the Emergence of Anorexia Nervosa as a Modern Disease, by Joan Brumberg, a historian and former director of women's studies at Cornell University. ... Professor Brumberg, in turn, attributes the figure to the American Anorexia and Bulimia Association.
  
  "I called the American Anorexia and Bulimia Association and spoke to Dr. Diane Mickley, its president. 'We were misquoted,' she said. In a 1985 newsletter the association had referred to 150,000 to 200,000 _sufferers_ (not fatalities) of anorexia nervosa.""
  
  So basically the figure of 54 comes from the American Anorexia and Bulimia Association. Some feminist and weightist groups use the stat of total people suffering from as deaths per year caused by. This is where the confusion lies, in part.
  
  Also, in that study on longetivity, the study basically said that more old average weight people die than old fat ones. The reason is probably because a lot of the fat ones never make it to old age, hence more old average weight people are around to die later.
  
  Give me a few minutes and I'll pull up the obesity death related stats off AOA.
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  RKHenryposted 14 years agoin reply to this
  That if they don't die first from starvation, or deformities like Rickets. Malnutrition causes the body to be undeveloped, brain and all. So your solution is that we should encourage children to starve themselves, live life deformed and brainless, all so that the Health care industry can pick on someone else their own size for once? Wow! How about the health care industry start helping women with insecurities and emotional eating disorders instead blaming them all the time, before it is too late for America's tweens?
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  Maddie Ruudposted 14 years agoin reply to this
  It's definitely a serious problem. A recent study I read found that the incidence of eating disorders in Australia has more than doubled over the past ten years, and experts attribute that mostly to propaganda about the "obesity epidemic."
  
  One in four anorexics dies of her disease. That's a heck of a lot more than the proportion who die of obesity-related problems. Trading a high rate of obesity for eating disorders would just be going from the frying pan into the fire.
  
  (I have quite a number of hubs on eating disorders and the dangers of crash diets, if you're interested. It's a subject for which I have a lot of passion.)
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  RKHenryposted 14 years agoin reply to this
  Yeah. Thanks. I'm very interested in this subject matter.
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  sciguyposted 14 years agoin reply to this
  According to this source, which compiled its data from World Health Organization reports, there are an average of 8 deaths/year from eating disorders in Australia. http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/mor_e … -disorders
  
  This seems like a fairly trivial number for a country with a population of over 20 million.
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  sciguyposted 14 years agoin reply to this
  Clearly being malnourished is also undesirable.
  No, I never said that. I said that perhaps children should be afraid of being fat, in the same way that they should be afraid of anything else this can ruin their health and kill them. Please read carefully and respond to what I actually write.
  
  I would fully support people with eating disorders getting help. But over 60% of americans are over weight. Some people think they are over weight when in fact they are too skinny. But statistically, if you think you are over weight you are probably correct.
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  girly_girl09posted 14 years agoin reply to this
  Being afraid of being fat is much more than being afraid of a medical problem. Since being fat is commonly looked down upon in today's society, let's say that kids should also be afraid of crooked teeth, acne, nerdy-like tendencies, being short, being hairy, etc. Obviously, you wouldn't say someone should be afraid of crooked teeth.
  
  Kids do not make themselves fat. It is not their fault at such young ages. I saw a little girl the other day who was 5 or 6 and must've weight at least 150 lbs. It upset me because her parents had to of contributed by providing her with unhealthy foods, or not having her properly treated for a medical condition.
  
  Children have no idea how to eat healthy - it is up to parents (and since this isn't always going to happen) , schools to educate them and encourage healthy eating.
  
  When I have kids someday, I will be obsessed about what they eat - but they will never know it. I will make sure to cook healthy meals and pack healthy, fun lunches. I won't discourage the occasional bag of potato chips, but I won't readily give it to my kids either. It makes me sick that people can feed their kids such garbage just because it's easy. Another common misconception is that 'poor people have to eat junk food because it's cheaper.' Last time I checked, veggies and whole grains are pretty cheap! You don't have to eat everything organic, that's just an added bonus.
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  LondonGirlposted 14 years agoin reply to this
  We aren't obsessed about it, but we're careful. Isaac's never had crisps, hardly ever had chips, and we don't give him chocolate or sweets much. He doesn't have fizzy drinks or too much sugar.
  
  But he does have lots of high-fat foods, such as olives, olive oil, cheese, nuts, avocado, etc. Young children need it, and Isaac does in particular, as he eats like mad but is still pretty thin. Like OH.
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  girly_girl09posted 14 years agoin reply to this
  Kid should NEVER fear being fat. I grew up with a father and a grandmother who constantly monitored and controlled what I ate. I don't think I'll ever have a good relationship with food. I focus on eating healthy now, but the guilt is always there, no matter what. I don't want other kids out there to go through the same thing. The fear of being fat is a very dangerous thing.
  
  Children should be taught to be healthy. Simple as that.
  
  Developing an eating disorder that will affect you one way or another the rest of your life is just as dangerous as obesity, in my opinion!
  
  Both eating disorders and obesity can be avoided, but a healthy, supportive education is necessary.
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  sciguyposted 14 years agoin reply to this
  Most doctors seem to agree that being fat is dangerous, and it's reasonable for children to fear dangerous things. Clearly we don't want kids developing psychological complexes over it though. Obviously emotionally scarring your child is something any sane parent should avoid.Most doctors seem to agree that not being fat is an important part of being healthy.
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  girly_girl09posted 14 years agoin reply to this
  You don't understand. If you raise children to be afraid of being fat, there will be inevitable consequences in the form of eating disorders. That's a given!
  
  Instead of being afraid, kids should be taught how to eat healthy and be encouraged to exercise - this will take care of the obesity problem while minimizing eating disorders as much as possible.
  
  We're in such a mess because kids barely get any exercise and eat all sorts of high-calorie processed foods. It's up to parents to start making changes, but sometimes it's hard for them to come to terms with their own weight problems, I think. Almost every obese child I see has an obese or overweight parent. People need to set better examples for their kids.
  
  I have a close family friend who was obese for many years. She never really did anything about it until her teen daughter started putting on tons of weight. This gave her the motivation to start eating healthy, thus encouraging her daughter to eat healthy, too. She knew she'd be hypocritical if she just instructed her daughter to eat healthy - she had to show her. Miraculously - they both lost weight and are now really healthy!
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  sciguyposted 14 years agoin reply to this
  This sounds reasonable. But suppose your child says something like "I would rather eat junk food and play video games all day! Why won't you let me? What's the harm?" You could give a vague and uninformative answer like "That wouldn't be healthy," but suppose your inquisitive child follows up by asking why it would be unhealthy? I'm not sure how you could explain it without resorting to saying that you don't want them to be fat because being fat is dangerous, and therefor to be avoided.
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  Maddie Ruudposted 14 years agoin reply to this
  No, I don't think weight needs to be brought into the equation at all. An answer involving an explanation that your body needs vitamins and minerals and other nutrients to work its best, and that you need to move around to keep your body strong seems perfectly adequate and much more helpful (not to mention accurate).
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  girly_girl09posted 14 years agoin reply to this
  Exactly!
  
  Why give negative feedback to kids when there are so many positives of being healthy to outline?
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  Maddie Ruudposted 14 years agoin reply to this
  From a psychological perspective, positive reinforcement works much better than punishment (scare tactics) anyway.
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  Ivorwenposted 14 years agoin reply to this
  Just what I was going to say! If parents have a healthy lifestyle, children will learn it.
  
  Teaching children to he healthy is not difficult. It takes having the right kinds of food readily available and teaching the children to listen to their bodies, so they know what they need to eat and how much. It takes running and playing with your children, so they know exercise can be fun.
  
  Most of my boys have a fair grip on this, and yes, I do get funny looks from other parents when my children ask if they can go get more vegtables before they get dessert at potlucks. They enjoy snack foods and desserts, but it is never what they want for a meal. In fact, if I get lazy and try to serve them cookies for lunch, they ask for a salad to go with it.
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  LondonGirlposted 14 years agoin reply to this
  It's more about showing than teaching, when they are young, anyway. I was a bit overweight a few years ago, and am now much fitter and a normal weight, and it's much better.
  
  We had a salad for dinner today, rice, red cabbage, beetroot, spinach, tomatoes, feta, parsley, and green and red peppers. All raw, all really healthy, but it tastes great, too.
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  Davinagirl3posted 14 years agoin reply to this
  This worries me about myself. My mother was always obsessed with her weight and now I am. I don't want my daughter to suffer from my poor body image. There is no way she could be anything but beautiful.
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Maddie Ruudposted 14 years ago
It's actually perfectly possible to be "overweight" according to a doctor's chart (which is really pretty irrelevant, since it doesn't take into account body type, bone density, muscle mass, etc) and be healthy. It's activity level and proper nutrition that matter, as far as lowering bad cholesterol and strengthening your heart, etc. I don't normally link to my own hubs in the forums, but there's one study I've written about here that you may find interesting. If you poke around, you can locate any number of articles about studies that show that BMI and weight are not reliable indicators of health. They just don't get as much hype as the diet propaganda because the diet industry has billions of dollars to spend on advertising to drown 'em out.
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Iðunnposted 14 years ago
I managed to raise three healthy weight children and I never thought about it at all. I just cooked normal meals and by normal I mean a meat, a vegetable and a starch and I cooked in most of the time. I didn't keep oodles of snack foods in the house, but we always had some and I didn't limit them.

I think not obsessing about food any direction at all probably helps.

It's nice to know in the face of alarming levels of American obesity that at least someone is worrying about the 10 anorexics in the U.S., though.
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  Mishaposted 14 years agoin reply to this
  You cracked me up
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  Iðunnposted 14 years agoin reply to this
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  Maddie Ruudposted 14 years agoin reply to this
  I, personally, know at least 10 times that number. I understand that this was sarcasm, but having nearly died of the disease myself, and having watched what that put my family and friends through... not to mention the high proportion of the girls I was in treatment with that are either dead or hanging on by a thread... I take offense to minimizing the gravity of this problem.
  
  You'll know, from seeing me around the forums, that I don't get upset often, and I'm rarely even serious, but this is one issue that's very near and dear to my heart.
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  Mishaposted 14 years agoin reply to this
  I am sorry about that Maddie. Since my circle of friends does not include too many young girls, and on the street I invariably see much more obese girls than slim ones, this joke made sense to me. Did not mean any harm, just some fun, and I am sure Idunn did not mean bad either
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  Maddie Ruudposted 14 years agoin reply to this
  Oh, I'm sure no harm was meant, and I'm not going to hold it against you or Idunn in the least. I think it's easy to make fun of something you don't understand, something that hasn't touched your life, so I was merely trying to put it in perspective. A lot of people think they don't know anyone who's affected, but probably do, since it's such a secretive disease. In any case, you can now say you know at least one.
  
  And feel free to check out my numerous hubs on the subject, if you're interested in learning more. I wrote quite a few of them in my early hubbing days. In fact, one of the reasons I joined HubPages in the first place, long before I joined the team, was to raise eating disorder awareness
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  Iðunnposted 14 years agoin reply to this
  I didn't realize you were a sufferer of a mental illness that makes you misperceive your body weight to a delusional level that interfered with your health, you have my honest sympathy. I'm sorry you've had to go through this and I'm glad you have come out the other side.
  
  I still think assuming all slender women are anorexic is simply false, however. But again, my best wishes to you.
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RKHenryposted 14 years ago
I think people are also forgetting about all those women suffering from fibroid tumors, loss of hair, rotten teeth, fatty tissue tumors, kidney failure............., all conditions drastically influence by low fat diets.

Women don't realize that their bodies require a certain percentage of fat, to function and maintain active balance.
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  Ivorwenposted 14 years agoin reply to this
  I had no idea that all of those problems were caused by low-fat diets! I knew they weren't healthy, but never suspected that the problems involved were so far reaching.
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Colebabieposted 14 years ago
Having friends who suffer from anorexia, and a boss who is a recovered anorexic, it is an extremely serious disease. Does it effect Americans as much as obesity? It doesn't matter when you know someone who suffers from it.

My friends had a mix of parents with different parenting styles. It definitely plays a part.
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earnestshubposted 14 years ago
Anorexia is still poorly understood by many, and is a very serious disease that is often fatal.
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  RKHenryposted 14 years agoin reply to this
  Yeah. Older sister Sherry. Died at 26 of a heart attack. Left a husband distraught and cold. She was a dancer. Nobody in my family talks about it. Nobody. Nobody, mentions her name. Nobody!!! No pictures. Nothing.
  
  I can barely remember what Sherry looks like. There is NO tombstone for her. She is in a box in my parents attic I guess. My parents I guess were beside themselves. Exhausted and devastated all the same. They were done. It is clear they couldn't take it anymore. Sherry Dawn- is gone.
  
  By the time she was 20, she had not had a period in 2 years. Now that can't be healthy for child bearing possibilities.
  
  I also have a kid sister. Mom isn't losing this one. I think that is why she has completely shut that portion of her life off.
  
  ____________________________________________________________________
  
  And now, "tweens" are on crash diets like they are over 18 something, and given all the facts in life. No 9 or 10 year girl needs to be dieting. Why is dieting a part of their vocab? Why?
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  earnestshubposted 14 years agoin reply to this
  It must stop. Kids of this age should not be taught to be skinny is good.
  I am so sorry to learn of your sister Sherrie dying so young. Please accept my sincere condolence at your sad loss. I do hope your family can speak of it sometime soon.
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  RKHenryposted 14 years agoin reply to this
  Thanks man, but its good. I only have 1 childhood memory of her. She was hospitalized most the time. My only memory of her is when she had just gotten out of the hospital and Tony brought her over to play cards with us. The whole time she cried because she weighed 150pds and was a size 6. When she died, my Grams said she weighed 92pds. She had apparently lost weight, and was trying to gain weight back and she died in the hospital. Her heart couldn't take it anymore. And the only reason she was trying to gain weight was because her dance company new of her condition and told she wouldn't be able to dance for them if she didn't weigh at least 106pds. So in their attempt to help her, after I guessed they had bashed her whole short career- killed her. Now mind you, my mom weighs over 200pds and she is a size 14. We are what you might call big boned people. My folks like to eat. Our culture calls for it.
  
  You will not find 1 Seventeen mag. with in 100 yards of my mother's house. Seriously. And my baby sister is healthy, vibrant, gorgeous black woman. Why weight affected Sherry so much is beyond me. Maybe my mom and pops were different back then. Maybe its my moms fault for not watching out for Sherry. Maybe its my moms fault for allowing Sherry to diet and not watching what she ate. I don't know. It isn't my sister's fault. Nobody bothered to tell her that dieting was wrong, and bad for her. Nobody. And now we have parents encouraging their daughters to lose weight to be cutier, sexier, more popular, etc... Wrong if you ask me.
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  Reena Daruwallaposted 14 years agoin reply to this
  That is an absolutely heart rending story, thanks so much for sharing.
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  LondonGirlposted 14 years agoin reply to this
  I'm so sorry to hear that.
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SweetiePieposted 14 years ago
My parents always taught me to eat healthy, but I did have a brief period of being on the anorexic side early on in college. Mostly it had to do with living in the dorms, being surrounded by people I really did not click with, and hating the food. When I first lost a little bit of weight I got addicted to losing more. However, my friends and family quickly put me in check, and I went back to eating normally soon after that.
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Lisa HWposted 14 years ago
I have often wondered if it isn't as much parents to blame as some think. I've often wondered if it's that childhood has become shorter, so girls grow up sooner. Heterosexual girls are going to think that slender, straight, builds (as compared to curvy) are more attractive; and if you have an awkwardly thickened up 13-year-old it would seem natural she'd hate what she sees in the mirror. Just my theory.

(Maybe it's worth mentioning that my own two sons and daughter were always very slender but without eating disorders when they were young. I just always offered them healthy foods, limited sweets to being the occasional treat, and tried to point out what healthy eating is. The girl who is already slender isn't going to be as worried about what she sees in the mirror than the girl who starts to look curvier, after a childhood of being "straight up and down".)
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SweetiePieposted 14 years ago
Many girls seem skinnier and leaner than when I was a kid, or at least where I live. Maybe they are just naturally built that way, but sometimes people eat less to look that way. I will always remember the time my friend and I were enjoying subs, and the girl next to us was just drinking water as her boyfriend ate his sandwich. Maybe she had already ate, but she was a little on the thin side to be quite frank.
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  LondonGirlposted 14 years agoin reply to this
  Some people just are, though. My next sister has always been thin. She was a thin baby, and thin child, a skinny teenager, and is now a thin adult. She's never been that interested in food, but neither has she ever had an eating disorder, she's just thin.
  
  And people can and do comment on it in a way they don't about a child who is a bit chubby.
  
  2-3 years ago, she started feeling unwell and tired, with a constantly upset stomach, and ended up extra skinny, even for her (she's 5 ft 8, and was down to 7 stone, or about 100lb). And lots of people kept trying to press fatty food on her, telling her she looked awful, and it was very upsetting for her.
  
  She was then diagnosed as a Coeliac, and once on a very strict diet for that, she's miles better, has gained a stone (14lb) at least, and looks healthy. But she's still slim, it's just the way she is.
  
  So don't assume someone thin is anorexic!
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  SweetiePieposted 14 years agoin reply to this
  I never assume anything, was just sharing what I had seen. Please do not chide me with asking what I thought first lol. First off I just said it was interesting, and I feel totally singled out by the way. Sure you did not mean it though .
  
  Also, you are taking what I said out of context because earlier on in the post I said I assume some people are just naturally thin though. By the way I never would have commented on the girl's weight to her face, it was just something I had seen in passing. I have noticed LG from time to time you comment on things that I do not always agree with, but I most certainly do not call you out on it. So you are free to comment on things, and so am I without a lecture. I am one of the nicest people you could meet and I would never say anything about the way someone looks to their face, it was just something I thought.
  
  My sister had her own grandparents make comments about the fact she was chubby, even though she was a healthy kid, so it can go both ways just to be frank.
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  Ivorwenposted 14 years agoin reply to this
  Very true. I was always thin, yet healthy, and rarely interested in food until I had children. Now I am still thin, always hungery, and have been acused on multiple ocations of having an eating disorder or drug problem... until poeple get to know me.
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HealthCare Basicsposted 14 years ago
Anorexics....... To be honest, if you see someone who is extremely thin then you should mention to them of their thin-ness. Not saying anything is just like a certification to the individual that they do not look "perfect" in the mirror and they will continue their starving behavior.

Anorexics do not see a perfect image of themselves when looking in the mirror. They internalize the image they see for imperfections and continue to lose wieght, never seeing the perfect self. It takes rude awakening, structured behavior maintenance, modification, and love to make a dent in this wasting disease. My emotions truly go out to the families who have no idea or support how to manage this problem.
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  LondonGirlposted 14 years agoin reply to this
  I don't think so. My poor sister hated this, it made her feel even worse.
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  Aya Katzposted 14 years agoin reply to this
  LG, I agree. There are so many different reasons why someone might be unusually thin. Anorexia is just one of them. We should stay out of other people's weight issues unless we are asked to help.
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  Iðunnposted 14 years agoin reply to this
  I think going up to tell slender people they are all anorexic is about as decent as going up and tell all people over 200 pounds "you're going to die! you're going to die because you're fat!"
  
  perhaps RKHenry was right and someone does need to tell these slender AND obese women they are eating themselves to death, but it won't be me because it's rude.
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  Maddie Ruudposted 14 years agoin reply to this
  I don't think it's a good idea to walk up to anyone on the street and comment on their weight. And, in cases both of compulsive overeating and of anorexia, food and weight are not the real problem, just the symptom.
  
  As far as rates of obesity vs rates of anorexia, this may be true, but anorexia is more dangerous than obesity, in terms of the average health of an overweight person vs the health of an anorexic, as well as a higher death rate among anorexics than that of overweight people.
  
  I don't think anyone is saying "Let's all get fat." What I am saying is simply that it's not a good idea to exchange a culture of obesity for a culture of disordered eating (including obsessive dieting, bulimia, anorexia, exercise addiction, etc).
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  Iðunnposted 14 years agoin reply to this
  I agree with this. I also think there is a fair leeway both directions which is simply normal.
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Reena Daruwallaposted 14 years ago
The problem is that thin is equated to beautiful or sexy, if message that youngsters got is that healthy is sexy, that would get rid of many of the problems. IMHO : http://hubpages.com/hub/Sexy-at-Any-Size-Really
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  girly_girl09posted 14 years agoin reply to this
  That is one factor, but it's also about having stress in your life that you can't control. You can control your eating. You begin to feel very powerful (yet physically weak!) because you're "above all of those people out there". You watch others eat and become judgmental and feel above them. All the while, your body is beginning to shut down and work against you.
  
  Another scary thing is that some young girls think it's trendy or cool to "have an eating disorder". I think you'll find there are a lot of young teen copy cats out there. That terrifies me. If only they knew. Once you have an eating disorder, it's always there. Always. You can start eating healthy, but it will always be in the back of your mind. It's not something you can cure, just something that you can treat. Similar to alcoholism.
  
  The internet is a dangerous place for people with eating disorders. Sharing tips, supporting each other's negative habits and viewing 'thinspiration' photos of sickly models is a very dangerous trap for developing EDs or existing ones. Parents should check their kids web history for dangerous sites like those. I know I had a favorite one growing up. Once my therapist told my mother that I was using sites like that, she took measures to restrict my internet use (something parents should do for all teens, anyways!). I am proud to say that I haven't been on one of those sites in about 5 years.
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RKHenryposted 14 years ago
51% of 9 and 10 year old girls feel better when they are dieting.
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Reena Daruwallaposted 14 years ago
I did not know about concepts such as Pro Ana, Pro Mia, Thinspiration until recently. http://hubpages.com/hub/Pro--Ana--Pro-- … on---Scary
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  Maddie Ruudposted 14 years agoin reply to this
  I have a hub on that as well. I'm afraid this thread is getting a little link-happy though, so I'm not going to post it here.
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  Reena Daruwallaposted 14 years agoin reply to this
  I wish you would Maddie, I'd really like to read it.
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  Maddie Ruudposted 14 years agoin reply to this
  Go to my profile and put "pro-anorexia" in the search box.
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  Reena Daruwallaposted 14 years agoin reply to this
  I actually got the link from my hub, because it showed up next to it as a related hub
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  girly_girl09posted 14 years agoin reply to this
  The sad thing is that I found sites like that when I was 16 just by searching on the disorder that I had been diagnosed with. I wasn't looking for them, they found me.
  
  They should be banned. I thought I heard that search engines ban them now, but realistically I don't know how they could keep up with all the new content.
  
  Hopefully there are more helpful search results that come up these days instead of pro ana/mia sites.
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  Iðunnposted 14 years agoin reply to this
  Well apparently this mass obsession with anorexic hasn't resulted in much thinness for America. 70% of our country is overweight and only half of one percent is anorexic.
  
  NAMI Mental Health Institute (which is quite credible):
  
  "Conservative estimates suggest that one-half to one percent of females in the U.S. develop anorexia nervosa."
  
  http://www.nami.org/Template.cfm?Sectio … entID=7409
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Ms Chievousposted 14 years ago
Obesity- Anorexia.. it can all realte to self esteem and how we view ourselves. Sometimes (as alluded to in comment above) things can happen to affect ones self concept. If we can be the role models for our kids instead of celebreties then we can teach them to accept differences in people. When we are parents our children become little mirrors of us and we quickly pick up on our bad habits. I am changing some of my habits to become more healthy for my son's sake. But my son is only four so what i say and do is his world.
With teens it is harder because of peer influence. I have worked with teenage girls before and they can be just plain mean.
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LondonGirlposted 14 years ago
If I say something you don't agree with, feel free to say so, I don't mind at all.

I used your comment to add to the thread, rather than wholly responding to it, I think. Sorry if I hurt your feelings.
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  SweetiePieposted 14 years agoin reply to this
  I think it just touched a sore point because you know I was actually anorexic for four years of my life. I was able to overcome it because people were able to get through my head that not eating sufficiently was destructive, but I guess I will be more careful about how I state things in the future.
  
  My comment probably came across as I thought the girl watching her boyfriend eating the sandwich was anorexic, but what I should have said was I remember times purposely not eating to maintain a certain weight, so when I saw her doing the same thing I was just curious.
  
  My mom always had healthy attitudes about eating, but my grandparents were actually the harsh ones. My grandma constantly made comments about how her daughters were always thin, and my sister and I never did live up to her expectations.
  
  I realize I am just way too sensitive when it comes to these topics, so I apologize if I seem too touchy.
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  LondonGirlposted 14 years agoin reply to this
  I just wanted to put another side to it - that people (like my sister) can be very thin and losing weight, not because of an eating disorder, but because of something else. In Eleanor's case, because she was a Coeliac. And it did upset her when people commented on it. I'm not saying that you would have done, but for some reason, more people seem to think it's OK to tell people they are too thin than too fat.
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  SweetiePieposted 14 years agoin reply to this
  I do see what you are saying, so I probably did not think about it clearly. Yes people should not make comments about people's bodies whether they are too skinny or too fat. I can see how that would have annoyed your sister since she was naturally skinny.
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Iðunnposted 14 years ago
A couple of interesting new articles about eating disorders were front page yahoo last week.

The first one deals with lawsuits filed by morbidly obese trying to restrain doctors from telling them their weight is unhealthy and suggesting forms of losing weight. The AMA has responded:

AMA objects to calling obesity a disability

"Tue Jun 16, 7:20 pm ET

CHICAGO – The American Medical Association has taken action to support doctors' ability to discuss obesity with their overweight patients.

Under a new policy adopted Tuesday, the AMA formally opposes efforts by advocacy groups to define obesity as a disability.

Doctors fear using that definition makes them vulnerable under disability laws to lawsuits from obese patients who don't want their doctors to discuss their weight."

Applied to anorexia, that would mean that doctors couldn't suggest anorexia treatment either, nor could they bring it up or offer suggestions. I think the fat lobby is on the wrong road here. Just not having it mentioned by your doctor doesn't help with the weight/health problem, either direction. One can only hope the AMA is successful in allowing weight to be dealt with by their profession.

The other article is on bariatric surgery:

Obese Poor Shut Out From Weight-Loss Surgeries
http://news.yahoo.com/s/hsn/20090626/hl … ssurgeries

The gist of the article is that medicaid can cover this surgery under certain circumstances but that the rules are applied haphazardly and many people are turned down. I support medicare/medicaid covering weight loss surgery. I think it is highly unfair to discriminate against people with a legitimate health issue. Everyone should have a right to be healthy.

Of course this also goes back to the other article, doctors have to be able to bring it up to even consider solutions.
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Mishaposted 14 years ago
LOL Some people here are really obsessed with the topic
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  Iðunnposted 14 years agoin reply to this
  :p
  
  I just hate to see wrong information repeated until it's believed, like the neonazis do about jews and blacks. a thing is either true or not.
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  Mishaposted 14 years agoin reply to this
  Well, sometimes things are gray, but yeah, in general I do agree
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  Iðunnposted 14 years agoin reply to this
  opinions can by gray. facts are not gray.
  
  main problem with the earlier quoted study is they were using bad data on death rates, which had been passed around by people with agendas who knew they were false, to represent part of the facts they were extrapolating from to come up with their slanted theory.
  
  I simply researched until I found the source of the figures.
  
  I do love researching, so one could say chronic researching is MY obsession. I love facts, too. :p
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  girly_girl09posted 14 years agoin reply to this
  As for being obsessed with the topic: Yes, but you see that is the nature of eating disorders.
  
  As for "wrong information being repeated", the only thing I'm reading here is that eating disorders are dangerous and they can kill and/or greatly reduce the quality of ones life. This is absolutely, without a doubt, 100% correct. To relate our beliefs to the beliefs of neonazis is pretty unbelievable to me. Wow.
  
  All statistics are always interpreted differently. Give me any set and I can spin them to sound awesome or totally negative. This isn't even about statistics - it's about eating disorders and how they negatively are affecting people's lives!
  
  Anyone who has dealt with one or has loved ones who are dealing with one knows how real the problem is and how education, awareness and most importantly understanding is everything.
  
  Passion surrounding any disease or disorder is very common. Eating disorders are no different than alcoholism, obesity, peanut allergies, depression or even cancer. All claim victims and all greatly affect thousands of lives on a daily basis.
  
  Again, there is no cure for eating disorders, just treatments. Once you have had one, you will think about it almost everyday the rest of your life. That doesn't sound healthy, but it's a reality for those affected.
  
  It is obvious to me that you haven't been affected by or have a loved one affected by an eating disorder (that you know of). I'm genuinely glad that is the case for you, personally.
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  Iðunnposted 14 years agoin reply to this
  girly, on this, it's fine with me if this is important subject for you. everyone gets to choose from a wide world of information what is important to them. for me, it's poverty, politics, economics and languages. then I get to pick from like, iraq, bangladesh, the middle east etc which things I priortize in my mind to pay attention to.
  
  there is nothing wrong with you having a different selection of priorties.
  
  however the death rates of american soldiers in iraq annually as a result of bush's fiasco is far higher than the 54 women a year who die of anorexia, so that's more important to me, personally.
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  Maddie Ruudposted 14 years agoin reply to this
  I know people who died in Iraq. I know people who died of eating disorders. I don't like to put levels of importance on causes of death. Any death is sad, no matter what the cause. We are all biased, of course, based on our personal experiences. Both of these causes are near and dear to my heart. I lost a boyfriend to Iraq. I almost lost my life to anorexia. I think it's important to prevent death from war, death from anorexia, death from obesity... I don't see efforts to prevent any one of these as mutually exclusive to prevent any other.
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  Iðunnposted 14 years agoin reply to this
  not mutually exclusive, but again, what to pick? there is simply not enough time in the day to activate for every good cause. we all pick and choose and I greatly respect your choice to advocate actively for those things which are high priority for you. that's great!
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  girly_girl09posted 14 years agoin reply to this
  There is no reason to 'pick' anything. You don't have to 'pick' eating disorders as one of your causes; none of us expect you to. You say you respect our choices to activate eating disorder awareness, but yet you have been minimizing the reality of eating disorders throughout the entire thread, stating that the statistics are released with an "agenda" by feminists and what not. Many Iraq statistics are released with an agenda, too. That doesn't mean that I'm going to rip into that area and say that deaths in Iraq are not as important to me.
  
  The fact of the matter is why try to minimize the importance of other's personal convictions that are equally noble? The war in Iraq and eating disorders are both important topics.
  
  One innocent life is not more important than the other.
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  Iðunnposted 14 years agoin reply to this
  I get to choose what is important to me and I allow you to do that for yourself. You can put that off as selfish, as you seem to want to do, but then the problem would lie with your perception, not with me.
  
  If you really wish to worry about eating disorders, why not activate on behalf of the 400,000 a year that die of obesity for being in denial?
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  girly_girl09posted 14 years agoin reply to this
  Of course you get to choose what is important to you. I didn't say otherwise. Please don't twist my words. I'm not viewing you as selfish, my perception is based upon how you are making statements about the statistics and agenda of the proponents of eating disorder awareness.
  
  By making statements such as the ones that you have made in this forum, it would (understandably) appear to me and many others that you are trying to minimalize the true nature of eating disorders. I'm not sure why, but to those affected, we know that downplaying the true nature can be very dangerous and sometimes, even deadly. That is why we are so passionate about this.
  
  If you started a forum on "Are you kidding me: The Iraq War and all of it's deaths", I would not go into the forum and try to minimize the situation by tearing into statistics. It would not benefit any of the men who have died or that have been traumatized by the war. My statements wouldn't really contribute to the issue at hand. The issue here is that eating disorders do affect people and reverting to the original topic, are starting to affect more and more tweens.
  
  Again, you're not selfish. You have different priorities. That's fine. I just don't understand why it seems so important to you to mince statistics about eating disorders. I don't think it's productive and I know it doesn't benefit anyone.
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  Reena Daruwallaposted 14 years agoin reply to this
  I think it is about more than 54 deaths a year; it is about a million (just a random number not quoting any statistics) individuals' self esteem, their sense of self and ability to lead happy productive lives.
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Iðunnposted 14 years ago
Here's the CDC (center for disease control) estimate:

"In 2004, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ranked obesity as the number one health risk facing America.

Obesity currently results in an estimated 400,000 deaths a year in the United States and costs the national economy nearly $122.9 billion annually."

http://www.obesityinamerica.org/underst … /index.cfm

Of course, those are 2004 figures and specifically American.
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SweetiePieposted 14 years ago
Some people are really obsessed with religion, politics, or movies - so why does it matter?
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Mishaposted 14 years ago
Just an observation Sweetie, no harm intended
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SweetiePieposted 14 years ago
I know, and to be honest yeah I am maybe a little obsessed with this topic, I would definitely not deny it .
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Mishaposted 14 years ago
We all have our own agendas
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  Iðunnposted 14 years agoin reply to this
  haha, that makes us human. now we're into religion. :p
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  Mishaposted 14 years agoin reply to this
  I thought it was health forum?
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  Iðunnposted 14 years agoin reply to this
  yes, but now we're off into what humans are like and I find that best explained via religion. "all humans are sinners" yada. hehe
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Mishaposted 14 years ago
Umm, let me understand it Girly, common obesity (not caused by some kind of known disease) is not an eating disorder, but anorexia is, right?
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  girly_girl09posted 14 years agoin reply to this
  There are all types of eating disorders. Many many forms.
  
  Some obesity could certainly be the result of an eating disorder. Many people that are obese have a very unhealthy relationship with food. I.e. overeating and binging. Most think that these people should just "cut back" or "stop eating all sorts of junk" but there are many obese people out there who got in their situation because of their strong attachment to food, eating to make them feel better, etc.
  
  I'm not saying that all obese people have an eating disorder and I'm not saying that overeating occasionally and binge eating can be diagnosed as an eating disorder. Only a physician can correctly ascertain that. However, I am quite confident that many obese people who have no other underlying medical conditions do suffer from emotional eating and binge eating.
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  Mishaposted 14 years agoin reply to this
  Thank you
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  girly_girl09posted 14 years agoin reply to this
  No problem.
  
  At the end of the day, extremes in either direction are typically very unhealthy.
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darksideposted 14 years ago
Thanks for that Iðunn. You certainly know how to dig for facts!
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  Iðunnposted 14 years agoin reply to this
  Idunn = OCD researcher. :p
  
  oh, and you're welcome.
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Iðunnposted 14 years ago
From the news today:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090701/ap_ … y_rankings

"Mississippi's still king of cellulite, but an ominous tide is rolling toward the Medicare doctors in neighboring Alabama: obese baby boomers. It's time for the nation's annual obesity rankings and, outside of fairly lean Colorado, there's little good news. In 31 states, more than one in four adults are obese, says a new report from the Trust for America's Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

And obesity rates among adults rose in 23 states over the past year, and no state experienced a significant decline.

"The obesity epidemic clearly goes beyond being an individual problem," said Jeff Levi, executive director of the Trust, a nonprofit public health group.

It's a national crisis that "calls for a national strategy to combat obesity," added Robert Wood Johnson vice president Dr. James Marks. "The crest of the wave of obesity is still to crash."...

...Health economists once made the harsh financial calculation that the obese would save money by dying sooner. But more recent research instead suggests that better treatments are keeping them alive nearly as long — but they're much sicker for longer, requiring such costly interventions as knee replacements and diabetes care and dialysis. Medicare spends anywhere from $1,400 to $6,000 more annually on health care for an obese senior than for the non-obese, Levi said.

"There isn't a magic bullet. We don't have a pill for it," said Levi. "It's not going to be solved in the doctor's office but in the community, where we change norms."..."

And whoever thinks I don't care about people with eating disorders would be wrong. These statistics are frightening and the waste of human potential is very sad.
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Reena Daruwallaposted 14 years ago
I received a couple of comments on my pro-ana, pro-mia hub, that just demonstrates this mindset among teens and even younger children:

One said: "nothimg the matter with your bones showing bones are beuatiful fat is not"

Another said "its so beuatiful bones are beautiful fat is nasty and it jiggles gross"
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