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Eating Disorders: (Info supplied by: www.lifedevelopment.info) 

1. 3% of adolescent and adult women and 1% of men have anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, or binge-eating disorder.

2. 15% of younger women have disordered eating attitudes and behaviour.

3. In a study of children aged 8 - 10, approximately half the girls and one third of the boys were dissatisfied with their size, the girls wanting to be thinner, while the boys wanted to be heavier.

4. In a study of girls aged 9 - 15, slightly more than half reported exercising to lose weight, eating less to lose weight, or using diet pills or laxatives to lose weight.

5. Findings indicate that girls who smoke to suppress their appetite are the highest group of new nicotine addicts. The cigarette industry is aggressively targeting the vulnerability of girls who want to lose weight.

6. Girls who participate in elite competitive sports where body shape and size are a factor (ice skating, gymnastics, crew, dance) are three times more at risk. Boys who participate in similar sports, or in wrestling, are also at increased risk.

7. An eating disorder requires professional attention.

8. The mortality rate from anorexia nervosa is twelve times higher than that of other younger women.

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Anorexia Nervosa... The name literally means "nervous loss of appetite", but this is misleading. People with anorexia are, in fact, suppressing the desire to eat, for fear of becoming fat. Sufferers fear that if they give in to their appetites they will lose control and be unable to stop eating. Although, typically, sufferers are 15% or more below normal body weight, they do not recognise that they have a serious problem, often feel physically quite well, and are convinced that they are in fact overweight. Despite avoiding eating at all costs, they are often obsessed with food and its calorie content, and this dominates their lives. General feelings of insecurity, dissatisfaction with themselves, and the obsession of thinness, will reduce them from previously happy people to irritable, obstinate and depressed near skeletons. Many people suffering anorexia may also develop bulimia.

Bulimia Nervosa... A variation of anorexia, bulimia ranges from excessive food intake, to an out-of-control compulsive cycle of binge eating where extraordinary amounts of any available food, usually high carbohydrate content, may be eaten. Once having gorged themselves, the person is overcome with the urge to rid themselves of what they have eaten by purging themselves, usually by vomiting, and sometimes by taking massive doses of laxatives. Unlike the anorexia sufferer, the typical bulimic individual is not emaciated, but usually maintains a normal body weight and appears to be fit and healthy. However, the obsessive binge/purge cycle causes them deep distress, shame, guilt, self-loathing and social isolation, and many will go to any lengths to hide their "shameful" secret from family and friends.

Typical sufferers... Most sufferers come from middle and upper income families and are usually highly intelligent, often perfectionists, with unrealistically high expectations and low self-esteem. They often become socially isolated as they dare not let people get too close to them in case their problem is discovered. They cannot tolerate any disruption of their rigid daily routine, which often includes long periods of physical exercise, fixed eating times, and carefully-hidden arrangements for binging and purging. Shared meals and social occasions are shunned for fear of exposing the problem. For the same reason, sufferers will often reject offers of help. Many sufferers have similar control problems with money. Some overspend and get into debt, some will be excessively thrifty. Some may become involved with shoplifting or stealing.

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Physical effects... Anorexia and bulimia are serious disorders, which in extreme cases can result in death.

Physical effects include...

1. Loss of menstruation

2. Low blood sugar

3. Severe dehydration

4. Dizziness

5. Lack of protein leading to loss of hair and teeth, with growing of downy hair on face and body

6. Ruptured facial blood vessels from repeated vomiting and occasionally ruptured stomach and oesophagus

7. Gum disease / tooth decay

8. Kidney damage

9. Abdominal pain and constipation

10. Severe electrolyte imbalance which can lead to neuro-muscular problems including muscle spasms and cardiac arrest

11. Increased incidence of epilepsy

12. Chilblains

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Treatment... Sufferers of both anorexia and bulimia require encouragement to admit that they have a problem and to take personal responsibility in seeking their help. They must learn to accept their strengths, weaknesses, successes and failures. In extreme cases, if the person with anorexia has reached a dangerously low weight, they may require hospitalisation to enable nutrition to be monitored. Treatment of both conditions requires expert help from a specialist centre. Various forms of treatment are available, such as psychotherapy (individual, group of family), counselling, self-help groups, medical and non-medical practices.

Are you suffering? ... Be your own resource... 

1. Learn to resist the manipulation of the media image creators. The images we see today are created with all sorts of technology that make it difficult to know what is real in what you see. Be a sceptical consumer. Remember the Body Shop Quote: "There are 3 billion women who don't look like super-models and only eight that do." (The Body Shop, Full Voices, Issue One.) Learn to identify the myths in media messages such as: "If I look perfect, I'll feel perfect."

2. Watch out for gender stereotypes that make you think you must have a perfect body in order to get a boyfriend/girlfriend, and to have a perfect life. Think about people you love and respect, and about real people with real lives that you admire. Learn to accept and appreciate yourself for what you are... If you do, others will, too...

3. Understand the "weightism" is a form of prejudice similar to racism. Weightism idealises people who have tall, thin bodies, and looks down on people who come in short, round bodies. Weightism is reinforced by media messages that if you "work on your body" you can dramatically alter its size and shape. The most powerful determinant of your size is your genes! Realise that only 5% of the female population are genetically pre-disposed to look like today's fashion models. This means that 95% of us are left out of the picture... Get Real!

Actively practise self-acceptance... Practise the radical act of body- and self-acceptance. When you wake up, start your day with a loving check-in with your body. When you hear friends putting themselves down because of their looks, help them to stop. "Don't weigh your self-esteem!"

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Daily check-in: Am I eating to feed emotional hungers?...   Have you ever found yourself eating unconsciously or starting a new diet when you are under pressure, upset, lonely, sad, mad, nervous or bored? Everyone eats for emotional reasons now and then; it's normal. But when binging, dieting or over-exercising become your main coping strategy, it's a warning signal that you might be headed into unhealthy territory. The challenge is to stay connected to all our various appetites ... emotional, spiritual, creative, relational, as well as physiological "belly" hunger... as we learn to nourish our whole selves.

Eat healthfully: Don't diet ... Unless you want to gain weight... Non-medically-supervised dieting leads to weight gain more often than not. If you don't eat enough, your body thinks it's starving and, so to stay alive, adjusts its set-point higher and fights to defend its fat. Many people become overweight due to yo-yo (repeated) dieting and irresponsible weight-loss programmes.

NetHealth: ... Eating disorders on the Internet... There are many websites dealing with eating disorders, here are a few:

www.somethingfishy.org is devoted to the awareness of and recovery from eating disorders. It includes personal experiences, stories and sections on treatment and self-esteem.

www.mirror-mirror.org is an especially good resource for those who may be concerned about someone whom they suspect of having an eating disorder.

www.cybertowers.com/selfhelp/articles/eating contains questionnaires, exercises, examples, a discussion zone and links to other useful sites.

ALSO:

www.anorexiabulimiacare.co.uk 

www.edauk.com www.pale-reflections.com

USEFUL PUBLISHING:

www.ananova.com www.lifedevelopment.info www.life.info www.totalhealth.org.uk