That’s the way you’re built my father said

i’ve just recently heard about the pro-ana movement for the first time. i really should have expected that there would be a ‘movement’ for everything online, but this is truly dillusional and bizarre. from ana’s underground grotto :

“This is a pro-ana website. That means this is a place where anorexia is regarded as a lifestyle and a choice, not an illness or disorder. There are no victims here.

If you believe in the myth that something can rule over you without your consent, if you regard “ana” as a disease rather than a lifestyle or choice, and especially if you see yourself as the victim of an eating disorder, in need of recovery, seeking recovery, or having recovered, it is strongly suggested that you leave this site immediately. IF you choose to ignore this warning, you WILL be triggered by the content of this site and I will NOT be responsible for your decision to play with a loaded psychological gun. There are reasons why firearms are kept locked away from children. So grow a spine if you don’t have a will, and get lost. ”

apparantly, though unsurprisingly, this has a large following with dillusional celebrities like lindsay lohan and is signified by the wearing of a red bracelette (on the opposite wrist from the kabbalah one.)

good grief. not to denigrate the complex and painful condition that is anorexia but must there be a celebrity cult for everything? must they seek so many mental crutches to prop their skinny pins on? truly celebrity is a continued state of arrested development. the self justification of anorexia as a ‘lifestyle choice’ is certainly a long and windy road frought with many a feminist/freedom of speech/psychiatric debate on either side – but please to goodness can’t the stars just KEEP OUT OF IT AND GET SOME THERAPY THAT WORKS!

(as a sidebar, i wonder if they’ve heard about joel and marie)

meanwhile:

from the bbc news :
Parents ‘unaware children obese’

The role of parents in tackling obesity is essential, experts say
Parents are often unaware when their children are overweight or obese, a study says.
Researchers surveyed parents of 277 children and found only a quarter of them recognised when their offspring were overweight.

Where children were obese, a third of mothers and 57% of fathers thought they were “about right”, the team at Derriford Hospital in Plymouth found.

Denial and desensitisation to excess weight were to blame for the lack of parental concern, the team said.

The report comes at a time when child obesity rates are soaring.

Among youngsters aged two to four, obesity almost doubled between 1989 and 1998 from 5% to 9%, according to World Health Organization figures.

Rates

Among those aged six to 15, obesity rates trebled from 5% to 16% between 1990 and 2001.

The study also said parents were less likely to recognise overweight boys than girls.

Only 27% of overweight or obese boys were classed as at least “a little overweight” compared with 54% of overweight girls.

Overall, 19% of the children, 52% of mothers and 72% of fathers were either overweight or obese.

It is almost impossible for children to address this issue on their own
Professor Sarah Stewart-Brown

Measures to cut obesity revealed

Parents were also unaware of their own weight problems, with 40% of overweight mothers and 45% of overweight fathers saying their own weight was fine.

Report co-author Alison Jeffrey, a senior research nurse at the hospital’s EarlyBird Research Centre, said acknowledging excess weight was “essential” to tackling the problem.

“The reasons for poor awareness might include denial, reluctance to admit a weight problem, or desensitisation to excess weight because being overweight has become normal.”

She also said the study, published on the British Medical Journal website, showed obesity was a problem across all social groups.

Dr Ian Campbell, president of the National Obesity Forum, said he was surprised by the findings.

“Previous research had suggested parents were quite good a picking up on the problem.

“The pertinent point is that if parents do not identify that there is a problem, then children are less likely to get help.”

A separate survey of 319 parents commissioned by Norwich Union Healthcare found more than 80% of parents intend to be more accountable for their child’s weight.

Professor Sarah Stewart-Brown, from Warwick Medical School, added: “What happens in the family is extremely important.

“It is almost impossible for children to address this issue on their own.

“While children are responsible for what they put in their mouths, parents are responsible for what is put on their plates.”

She said the traditional assumption that excess weight was just “puppy fat” was wrong.

However, she said people would become more aware of the dangers of obesity following the Public Health White Paper but it would take time.

The paper, published last week, proposed a range of measures to combat obesity, including a coding system for food and a ban on junk food TV advertising before 9pm.”

it’s the statistic that “Where children were obese, a third of mothers and 57% of fathers thought they were “about right” that i find most frightening. whilst obesity is currently america’s number one health threat

i may write a diet book. it will have three chapters:

chapter 1: don’t eat too much crap
chapter 2: do a bit of excercise
chapter 3: err.. that’s it really

i’m being flip of course and i fully realise that its not as easy as that for those with any of the multitude of physical and psycological food issues kicking around the 21st century but its the way it all filters down to every bridget jones in the country that gets to me. we are a nation of people hoping for mental illness blame lables.

no slimfast, no atkins, no cabbage soup, no skinny soya latte ya ya

don’t live on fried breakfasts and chippies. don’t spend all your money on beer and fags.

you are not kate moss

you are not henry the VIII

this is not the coluseum

do not binge

do not purge

stop blaming starbucks for your problems.

sorry

must stop typing, slipping into tyler durdenisms. must lie down with cold compress over eyes. i hear damp tea bags are good.

mm tea.

yes, a nice cup of tea i think…