Eating Disorders

An eating disorder is a compulsion to eat in a way which disturbs physical health. The eating may be excessive, too limited or may include normal eating mixed with periods of purging. It may include cycles of binging and purging or it may encompass the ingesting of non-foods. The three most common and best known eating disorders are anorexia, bulimia and binge eating disorder. All three have severe consequences for a person’s health and can even cause death.
Cultural factors like media promotion of thinness as the ideal female form are thought to play a role in causing eating disorders. In recent years, the internet has enabled anorexics and bulimics to contact and communicate with each other outside of a treatment environment, with lower risks of rejection by mainstream society. While most support the view of eating disorders as conditions to be cured, some have formed online communities that argue that it is a ‘lifestyle choice’.

Pro Anorexia (Pro Ana) and Pro Bulimia (Pro Mia) sites are online movements that use websites, chat rooms and message boards to promote this.

Using the Internet for mutual support, these resources typically contain online journals, tips and tricks for successful anorexia or bulimia, motivational pictures of thin women, quotations, and chat rooms or message boards where users can communicate and to swap weight-loss tips. They can also contain competitions for weight-loss and methods to avoid detection.

These online activities may help to reinforce, legitimise and make eating disorders seem healthy and normal. They can play a role in encouraging or maintaining eating disorders and potentially interfere with treatment. By doing this they may pose possible physical health risks which could ultimately end in death. Worries about weight, shape and eating are common, especially among teenage girls. A lot of young people, many of whom are NOT overweight in the first place, want to be thinner. For some, these worries about weight can develop through obsession into a serious eating disorder. Any kind of material which encourages, legitimises or helps maintain this is a potential problem. For these reasons a number of eating disorder related web-sites have already been taken offline.

What can I do?
If you think that you or someone you know might be suffering from an eating disorder, the first thing to do is try and talk about it. There are also links at the top of this page to organizations that you can contact for anonymous advice. It is also important to try and seek professional medical advice if possible. Your general practitioner will be able to advise you about what specialist help is available locally and be able to arrange a referral for further treatment. If an eating disorder is causing physical pain or ill health, it is essential to get medical help as quickly as possible. These are some signs to look out for if you are worried about anorexia or bulimia:

• Weight loss or unusual weight changes
• Periods being irregular or stopping
• Missing meals, eating very little and avoiding `fattening’ foods
• Avoiding eating in public, secret eating
• Large amounts of food disappearing from the cupboards
• Believing they are fat when underweight
• Exercising excessively
• Becoming preoccupied with food, cooking for other people
• Going to the bathroom or toilet immediately after meals
• Using laxatives and vomiting to control weight.