Is there Media on my Mustache?: Media & Eating Disorders

AND THE MEDIA

"Any of various disorders, as anorexia nervosa or bulimia, characterized by severe disturbances in eating habits."
-Dictionary.com

A pressing concern in contemporary medicine is the ever-increasing problem of anorexia nervosa. According to the Diadnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV), "a diagnosis of anorexia nervosa is contingent on a person displaying all four of the following characteristics:

Refusal to maintain body weight at or above a minimally normal weight for age and height.
Intense fear of gaining weight or becoming fat, even though underweight.
Disturbance in the way in which one's body weight or shape is experienced, undue influence of body weight or shape on self-evaluation or denial of the seriousness of the current low body weight.
Amenorrhea, or, the absence of at least three consecutive menstrual cycles, in postmenarchal females. A woman is also considered to have amenorrhea if her periods occur only following estrogen administration."

Based on this definition, researchers believe there only to be eight cases per 100,000 people per year. However, researchers Hoek and van Hoeken believe the DSM-IV calculations' "to be too stringent, and as a result, the actual incidence of the disease is underestimated."

According to www.nationaleatingdisorders.org, "In the United States, as many as 10 million females and 1 million males are fighting a life and death battle with an eating disorder such as anorexia or bulimia. Millions more are struggling with binge eating disorder."
That sounds like a lot more than eight in 100,000 cases per year!

The website further states: "Because of the secretiveness and shame associated with eating disorders, many cases are probably not reported. In addition, many individuals struggle with body dissatisfaction and subclinical disorderedeating attitudes and behaviors. For example, it has been shown that 80% of American women aredissatisfied with their appearance."

For females between 15-24 years old who suffer from anorexia nervosa, the mortality rate associated with the illness is 12 times higher than the death rate of ALL other causes of death.
Anorexia nervosa has the highest premature fatality rate of any mental illness.

"American Journal of Psychiatry"

According to reaserch there has been growing criticism of a novel use of one medium to disseminate information and images that may help develop and perpetuate anorexic behaviors and other eating disorders in some teen girls and young women. More specifically, websites that are "pro-Ana," or pro-anorexia, and "pro-Mia," or pro-bulimia appear to be growing, despite efforts by groups led by former sufferers and eating disorder organizations to push them off mainstream venues.

According to an article written by Grace Overbeke of "Mind Matters: The Wesleyan Journal of Psychology," there are many reasons why users are drawn to eating disorder sites. According to Overbeke, those who were interviewed reported that their visititation to such sites was purely a hobby. Others said that the pro-anorexia movement in general was a way of "eschewing the fast-food loving, alcohol swilling, materialistic nature of contemporary Western Society." Still others find pro-ana sites to be a coping mechanism to deal with the emmotional stress of going through an eating disorder. In the "Sociology of Health and Illness," Emma Rich states, the reason why pro-ana sites are so popular is because "outsiders perceive anorexia as an 'irrational and self-inflicted' disorder, so those with eating disorders must seek sympathy elsewhere.

I agree with Rich that anorexia is a disorder, but her rationale is pathetic. A true eating disorder victim loves and hates their disorder at the same time. In fact, the disease latches on to a person and seemingly overtakes them mentally, where one struggles not only physically but pyschologically as well. If one were truly striving for freedom from the disease, one would be visiting sites such as EatingDisordersBlogs.com, where one can obtain recovery support, nutrional news, and tips on life after recovery. A site with a three-day diet plan is
not a site to seek sympathy and help, but on to promote and enable. Moreover, in one easy search I found the following "ana-plan" to help lose weight:

According to the website, "with this diet you eat exactly what is listed for three days of the week. The calories for the food for each day equals out to approximately 968. You can either only do the diet three days out of the week and eat healthy the rest of the week, either three days in a row or alternating days. Or you can do the diet twice each week and give yourself a free day between each set of three days. And remember, you can always alter some of these things to go for an even lower cal or fat version if you want to."

The Three Day Diet
Day One
Breakfast	1 Slice dry toast (whole wheat)	2 TBS Reduced Fat Peanut Butter	½ Grapefruit, or 6 oz. grapefruit juice
Lunch	4 oz. water-packed tuna, drained	1 Slice dry toast
Dinner	4 oz. meat, fish, or poultry, broiled	1 cup green beans	1 cup carrots, steamed	1 small apple	1 cup low-fat frozen yogurt (I’d go fat-free here)
Day Two
Breakfast	1 Slice dry toast	1 Boiled egg	1 Banana
Lunch	1 Cup cottage cheese (I’d go fat-free here, too)	5 Crackers
Dinner	4 oz. skinless chicken breast, boiled	1 Cup broccoli	1 Banana	½ Cup low-fat frozen yogurt
Day Three
Breakfast	5 Saltine crackers	1 oz. Cheddar cheese	1 apple
Lunch	1 Slice dry toast	1 Boiled egg
Dinner	6.5 oz. water-packed tuna, drained	1 Cup carrots	1 Cup Cauliflower	1 Cup melon	½ Cup low-fat frozen yogurt

"So there you have it. I think the most important part about this diet is the portion sizes so make sure to measure everything as best you can. "

WHY ARE THEY SO POPULAR?

A 2007 study by Williams and Reid had particularly interesting results in terms of analyzing the use of pro-ana sites. They found that the pro-ana sites were popular because, "in initial stages, anorexia gives desired results, such as feelings of control, a thinner body, sense of achievement, and for some people, the desire for self destruction."

The study also recommends looking at eating disorders and the pro-ana movement as an addiction, and suggests that the popularity of pro-ana sites is a response to "health, as an absolute good value in the place of religion" confusion about what constitutes proper nutrition, and the conflicting messages of the media about obesity.

Bullshit.

That theory is a pile of...

In spite of the variance in theories of why pro-ana sites are so popular, three trends have become clear:

Nearly all the studies stated that the people accessed the sites to get advice on how to lose weight,
Maintain their eating disorder, or
Improve their eating disorder.

An alarming 17 percent of the studies conducted by Williams and Reid said the sites were popular because they created a sense of community for those with eating disorders; while, five percent of the studies found that the sites were popular because they gave the user a sense of identity.

According to a workbook dedicated to "ending food obession and body hatred," authors and Andrea LoBue and Marsea Marcus contend, "Many people with food and weight issues are experts at appearing strong, 'together,' and problem-free." And although most addictions have some element of secrecy, food addictions and obessions tend to be more hidden than most which is why I believe there is such an inflation of pro-ana and pro-mia sites. Alcoholics and addicts congregate at bars and parties where they can socialize with their addicitions. There is a feeling of camaraderie between them, even though it is rooted in the denial of their self-destructive behavior. However, most food-related behaviors, like sneak-eating, bingeing, frequent checking of weight, vomiting and examining one-self in the mirror are all done alone, or now through pro-ana and pro-mia sites.

What is the Impact?

In 2006, A. M. Bardone-Cone and K. M. Cass pulished a pilot study they conducted on the investigating the impact of pro-anorexia websites. They found, "only the women who viewed the pro-ana site experienced a decrease in self-esteem or appearance self-efficacy." The women who viewed the control sites, which consisted of one site advertising women's clothing using average-sized models and another site about interior decorating, showed "no change." Moreover, "after only one viewing of the sample pro-ana site, the women showed an increase in their perceived weight status and decrease in their perceived attractiveness." And what about the women in the control group? "Who who viewed the control websites showed no change in perceived weight status, or perceived attractiveness to the opposite sex."
"The pilot study concluded that viewing pro-anorexia websites has a negative effect on young women's self-perception."

One year later...
A year later the experiement was expanded. According to the study, "participants who saw the pro-ana site rather than the control sites were more likely to experience greater negative affect, lower social self-esteem, lower appearance self-efficacy, and reported themselves as heavier than the women in the control groups, despite no significant differences in pre-website perception of weight or BMI."

The study also found, "the women were more likely to exercise and think about weight that day or the next, and more likely to compare themselves with the website images of women than those in the female-fashion control group." The study again cites these results as...

"systematic evidence that viewing a pro-anorexia website has significant negative consequences."

EATING DISORDERS

AND

MUSIC

Music and song lyrics are one aspect of "Pro-Ana" and "Pro-Mia" agents that have flown under the radar for years. The research on it is very slim (no pun intended) due to the aspect of artistic license and intent. Some of the artists that have made "Pro-Ana" or "Pro-Mia" music are Silverchair, Fiona Apple, Jill Sobule, Lisa Loeb and King Andora. The Lyrics to Jill Sobule's "Lucy at the Gym" are as follows:

Jill Sobule is an American singer-songwriter.
Her folk-inflected compositions alternate between ironic,
story-driven character studies and emotive ballads.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FxeyolDf6w8

Lucy at the gym
She's there every time I go,
and I don't go that often, so she must live at the gym
I stare at her ribs they show through the spandex
Her little legs are working, she's going somewhere
She's climbing up the stairs
And when she reaches the top her dreams will be there

Lucy at the gym
Lucy on the scale for the third time
Thru thick and thin, Lucy's at the gym
She's staring at the clock and like the 2nd hand she never stops
She's Lucy at the gym

When she takes a shower, after all the hours
Does she have a place to go
Is there someone waiting
Or is Lucy all alone

I'm at the gym and Lucy's not there
It's got me kinda worried so I imagine the worst
She's made it up to heaven
And when she met her maker, he said "come right in"
"I'll show you around the gym"
"Everyone's beautiful and thin"
"And here there's no sin, and your life can begin
Lucy at the gym"

"Ana's Song (Open Fire)"
-Silverchair

http://www.bing.com/videos/watch/video/daniel-johns-talks-about-%20anorexia/7b9fa4d8015cc18c99c67b9fa4d8015cc18c99c6-280969413188?q=daniel%20johns%20anorexia&FROM=LKVR5&GT1=LKVR5&FORM=LKVR14

Daniel Johns of Silverchair

Please die Ana
For as long as you're here, we're not
You make the sound of laughter
And sharpened nails seem softer
And I need you now somehow
And I need you now somehow
Open fire on the needs designed
On my knees for you
Open fire on my knees desires
What I need from you
Imagine pageant
In my head the flesh seems thicker
Sandpaper tears corrode the film
And I need you now somehow
And I need you now somehow
Open fire on the needs designed
On my knees for you
Open fire on my knees desires
What I need from you
And you're my obsession
I love you to the bones
And Ana wrecks your life
Like an Anorexia life
Open fire on the needs designed
On my knees for you
Open fire on my knees desires
What I need from you
Open fire on the needs designed
Open fire on my knees desires
On my knees for you

Daniel Johns, Silverchair

Silverchair, named after C. S. Lewis' novel, "The Silver Chair," is a post-grunge, rock band from Austrailia. In late 1997, during the "Freak Show" tour, Dainel Johns, lead vocalist and guitarist reported that he was suffering from depression. When the band's next album, "Neon Ballroom," was released in early 1999, it was obvious to the public that something went wrong. After rumors that he was suffering from a drug addiction/eating disorder, Johns decided to clear the air and gave an interview with "Rolling Stone" Australia to finally explain that he had developed anorexia nervosa. At his thinnest, Johns claims that he weighed less than 50 kilos, or 110 pounds. With "Neon Ballroom" came the single "Ana's Song (Open Fire)" about Johns' battle with anorexia. According the Johns, he only ate when he needed to stay awake.

So, what is being done about this problem???

The media has been quick to condemn pro-ana sites. According to CNN's Entertainment division "Showbiz Tonight," they are "scary sites that glamorize eating disorders." In October of 2001, the "Oprah Winfrey Show" aired a program discussing the sites as forces that "encourage dangerous behavior relating to eating disorders."

However beneficial these hosts were trying to be on "pro-ana" awareness, all they have done is opened a can of worms in the United States, while other countries are actually trying to ban-ana.

According to an article published on www.nytimes.com, "In the capital of high fashion and ultrathin models, conservative French legislators adopted a pioneering law...aimed at stifling a proliferation of Web sites that promote eating disorders with 'thinspiration' and starvation tips."

The bill, "would aim at any means of mass communication--magazines, blogs, Web sites--that promote eating disorders like anorexia or bulimia with punishment of up to three years in prison and $71,000 fines."

With such a bill passed, French legislators are trying to wade through the ocean of some 400 sites with "ana" and "mia" nicknames. According to the article, "Web sites have multiplied in different languages with blunt tips on crash dieting, bingeing, vomiting and hiding weight loss from concerned parents."

And where is the United States with these alarming statistics????

Over one-half of teenage girls and nearly one-third of teenage boys use unhealthy weight control
behaviors such as skipping meals, fasting, smoking cigarettes, vomiting, and taking laxatives.
Girls who diet frequently are 12 times as likely to binge as girls who don’t diet.
42 percent of 1st through 3rd grade girls want to be thinner.
81 percent of 10 year olds are afraid of being fat.
The average American woman is 5’4” tall and weighs 140 pounds. The average American model is 5’11” tall and weighs 117 pounds.
Most fashion models are thinner than 98 percent of American women.
46 percent of nine to 11year olds are “sometimes” or “very often” on diets, and 82 percent of their families are “sometimes” or “very often” on diets.
through dieting, 22 percent dieted “often” or “always.
91 percent of women recently surveyed on a college campus had attempted to control their weight
95 percent of all dieters will regain their lost weight in 15 years.
35 percent of “normal dieters” progress to pathological dieting. Of those, 20 to 25 percent progress to partial or full-syndrome eating disorders.
25 percent of American men and 45 percent of American women are on a diet on any given day.
Americans spend over $40 billion on dieting and diet-related products each year.

"International Journal of Eating Disorders"

According to author Leslie Regan Shade: "In 2001, the American media became aware of the Pro-Ana sites and several newspaper and magazine articles were published, warning parents and teachers of the dangers of these sites, particularly when Holly Hoff, Director of Programs at the U.S. National Eating Disorders Association, appeared on the Oprah Winfrey show to talk about Pro-Ana websites and her association's campaign to ban them from the Internet."

She goes on to further cite Hoff in her article, "Weborexics: The Ethical Issues Surrounding Pro-Ana Web sites," that with the pressure to be thin in our society so pervasive, the Pro-Ana sites [are] 'like placing a loaded gun in the hands of someone who is feeling suicidal.'" Hoff was finally successful in having Yahoo shut down the Pro-Ana Web sites, but many of the sites simply went "underground," resurfacing under different names or hosted on different homepage sites. Pro-Ana chat rooms, where discussion of dieting tips and Pro-Ana survival strategies is common, are also prevalent, often circulating under assumed names and different identities.

The article goes on to further state that "many Pro-Ana members reacted negatively to Yahoo's action, yet resolute to maintain their community." Someone at Anorexic Nation wrote: "If you are making your own Pro-Ana, Diary or Journal site…try not to host it on any of the free home page services such as MSN, Yahoo/Geocities,

Angelfire, Homestead, Talkcity, etc, etc, Since they are free they can and do censor and remove them at their whim. Always back up your sites to disk so you can move them elsewhere at a moment notice!"

As other free homepage websites joined in taking off-line Pro-An a sites, many argued that the actions targeting Pro-Ana were censorship.

Another Pro-Ana argued: "Yahoo sites' are not promoting people to be anorexic!! They aren't sending out fliers or ads to join these groups, which is what promoting is. These clubs are not making or forcing people join them in being anorexic. The clubs are simply a place for people with anorexia to talk to someone, whether they want to give up anorexia or live with it. They aren't nearly as bad as other Web sites that promote things like pornography or cults or other things of this nature…Overeaters have as big of an eating disorder, if not a worse disorder than anorexics, so try bothering them for a change!!! And leave us alone!!!"

The article goes on to further state, "the inflamed passion and determination of Pro-Ana sites led a California woman known as Sahara…to raise $1 million to lobby on behalf of anorexics' right to choose to be skeletal."

An online petition was started which argued "for the right to create Pro-Ana sites with disclaimers that express why we, as a community, should be allowed to discuss and express our illness/lifestyle on the internet, as long as we provide links to recovery sites, without our sites being deleted without our permission or knowledge."

"Critiquing the pervasive media images of women, the creator of the petition, Broken Angel, wrote under the U.S. Bill of Rights, "There is little done to protect the rights of women over the size of 12 from being harassed for her size, or anything done to police morality and change society's view of thinness and beauty. Until this changes, we want our equal say about how to live with society's image of beauty that is forced upon us, and how we are attempting to attain that."

The article states, "Although many Pro-Ana sites became temporarily disabled due to censorship, failure of the creator to maintain subscription, or abandonment, other Pro-Ana Web sites sprung up with legal disclaimers."

"Ana's secret grotto wrote: 'If you are under the age of 18, current laws in your geographical region may require you to obtain parental consent to view the contents of this Web site. There is NO pornographic content in this website. However, various regions may have laws concerning types of *literary* content considered " adult". Therefore, by entering this site, you automatically certify that you are 18 or older, or have obtained parental consent to do so. In the event anyone unde r 18 should enter this site *without* obtaining parental consent, I will NOT be held responsible for their choice to do so, nor any federal, state or local law they may violate by said choice, nor liable for ANY resulting consequences to their physical, mental, emotional or spiritual health.'"

"Thinspiration"

Shade further states, "Ana by Choice also provided similar warnings: 'This site does not encourage that you develop an eating disorder. This is a site for those that ALREADY have an eating disorder and do not wish to go into recovery. Warning! Some material here may be triggering. If you are thinking about becoming anorexic, click here.'"

Was the Pro-Ana community unfairly targeted and censored?

MY ANSWER

January 4, 2008 - Admitted to Memorial Hospital due to seizure associated from electrolyte imbalance due to seven year relationship with ED. ED is not an abusive boyfriend or a negligent father, ED is an eating disorder and he tried to kill me.

December 3, 2010 - Almost two years into recovery, and I have never been happier.

Throw away the scales and put this on your mirror!