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Thursday, 19 November 2009
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Obama Is a Starving Starlet: From President to 'Anorexia?' Tabloid Bait in Five Easy Steps
Accused of skipping meals and wasting away, the leader of the free world protested: Am not, I have naturally fine bones, and I'm under a lot of pressure. Hey Barack, quit stealing Nicole Richie's lines.Now that The Daily Mail is giving Obama the "Lindsay Lohan in 2005" treatment, Barack Obama has landed among the privileged few—along with Oprah and Kirstie Alley—whose weight fluctuations are cause for international headlines. How did the American president's girlish figure become a topic of international fascination, you ask? Five easy steps:
1. We See Obama with His Shirt Off Surprisingly defined pecs and debatable nipples lead everyone to recategorize the Illinois senator from "sexless political entity" to "objectified hunk of burning flesh" in their minds. Barry's body is now kitchen table conversation, and we see the glimmer of too-skinny judgment in The Wall Street Journal: "Too Fit to Be President?"
2. His Peers Express Concern Did you know that, after models and actresses and famous singers and high school cheerleaders and sorority sisters, politicians are basically the second most at-risk group in America for eating disorders? In the pressure-cooker world of ruling the nation, the line between intervention and bullying can become blurry:
He was even teased by Republican California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger almost exactly one year ago for having such skinny legs.
I'm going to make him do some squats"' the former Terminator star told a campaign rally for Mr Obama's presidential rival John McCain.
He also teased the president about his "scrawny little arms."
3. Matt Drudge Starts Using Him for Thinspiration The right-wing rabble-rouser leads November 4 with photos of a slender-looking post-workout president, with the headline BARACK N BONES. Steps 1 and 2 have already primed us to see this story and evaluate it on it merit, instead of reacting with the appropriate "I don't care if he eats nothing but birch bark and mildew, as long as North Korea doesn't nuke Hawaii, let's roll with it." Besides, obsessing about weight is fun. Which leads us to...
4. Lindsay Is Healthy and Nicole Had a Baby. Who Else We Got? The noise over skinny models and starving starlets has died down a bit, leaving a hole in the tabloid press' A-list skinny-watch. Thus, the growing concern over Obama's waistline hits its peak at the most opportune moment possible, media-wise.
5. Michelle Is Obsessed with Health, Too. Could this be one of those cases of collective body dysmorphia, like how groups of teenage girls all go on obsessive diets together, like how all the female cast members of 90210 got super skinny all at the same time? We return to The Daily Mail:
Mr Obama is often pictured playing basketball or returning from the gym with aides, while Mrs Obama's infamous vegetable garden in the grounds of the White House promotes healthy eating on top of exercise.
The First Lady's gym-toned arms have also been the topic of much discussion.
And there you have it: From political powerhouse to pro-ana teen clique.
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Thinspiration: Do Web Sites Encourage Anorexia?
Recently there has been increased concern over hundreds of "pro-eating disorder" Web sites that provide "thinspiration" to legions of young women who want to become stick-thin. These sites provide an online community to swap tips on how to fast, disguise disordered eating, and generally "encourage" anorexia (though people don't really need to look far for information on dieting tips or how not to eat).
Following public complaints and concerns, many such "pro-ana" sites have been shut down. In 2001, for example, the search engine Yahoo purged over 100 pro-anorexia sites. French officials have recently threatened to criminalize groups they believe encourage eating disorders, arrest their members, and shut down Web sites hosted in France. People posting images of thin women or sharing dieting tips could face up to three years in prison and more than $70,000 in fines.
The concern is surely well-meaning, but is it misplaced?
For as much concern and furor as these "pro-ana" sites have generated, there is very little evidence of harm. As Kenyon College psychology professor Michael Levine told the International Herald Tribune, "You're going to be hard pressed to demonstrate in a very clear way that these sites have a direct negative affect."
There has been little research on the effect of "pro-ana" Web sites, and what there is shows no cause for alarm. A 2006 study, "Surfing for Thinness," published in the journal Pediatrics, examined nearly 700 families of patients diagnosed with eating disorders. Among their conclusions, "Pro-eating disorder site users did not differ from non-users in health outcomes," and those visiting "pro-ana" Web sites were not hospitalized any more often than those visiting Web sites promoting healthy recovery.
It's not surprising that researchers found little evidence of harm, since eating disorders such as anorexia nervosa and bulimia are biological diseases, not voluntary behaviors. The idea that a person, image, or Web site can "encourage" anorexia is not supported by science or research.
Images of thin people cannot "encourage" anorexia, any more than images of cancer patients "encourage" cancer, or photos of diabetics "encourage" diabetes. Ordinary, restricted-calorie dieting can be encouraged, but anorexia cannot.
The concern over "pro-ana" Web sites stems from the popular myth that simply seeing images of thin people causes eating disorders. Anorexia is a very rare and complex psychological disorder with a strong genetic component. Genes, not Web sites, cause anorexia.
Ironically, mainstream anti-eating disorder materials may do more harm than "pro-ana" Web sites. Research shows that depictions of bulimic behavior actually encourages young women in their disordered eating. Experts suggest that televised depictions showing girls bingeing and purging (such as might be seen in after-school specials) serve as a behavior model.
The idea that a serious disease such as anorexia is being encouraged by Web site communities is rightly alarming to doctors and parents. Fortunately, the danger seems more myth than reality.
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Kate Moss criticised over 'skinny is best' motto
Model Kate Moss has been criticised by campaigners after saying she lives by a slogan which encourages people with anorexia not to eat.
In an interview with fashion news website WWD, Moss said one of her mottoes was: "Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels."
Eating disorder charity Beat described the comments as "dangerous" and "very unhelpful" for sufferers.
A spokeswoman for Moss said the comment had been "completely misrepresented".
In the interview, Moss adds: "That's one of them. You try and remember, but it never works."
The saying is widely used by anorexia and bulimia sufferers on websites.
'Irresponsible'
A spokeswoman for Beat said it was "a very unfortunate phrase" particularly as it was widely used on pro-anorexia websites.
"She probably doesn't realise how dangerous such comments can be. It's difficult enough for young people who are struggling to beat eating disorders, without comments like this which are very unhelpful," she said.
Katie Green, a former Ultimo underwear model who has launched a Say No To Size Zero campaign with Liberal Democrat MP Lembit Opik, said the comments were "irresponsible".
She said: "I think Kate Moss should really have thought before she spoke like most of us do before giving interviews. Kate is a mother herself and how would parents with children suffering from eating disorders feel reading something like this?
"We are trying to get the government to put something in place to stamp out size zero models and comments like this aren't doing anything to help that."
A spokeswoman for Moss's model agency Storm said: "This was part of a longer answer Kate gave during a wider ranging interview which has unfortunately been taken out of context and completely misrepresented.
"For the record, Kate does not support this as a lifestyle choice."
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BULLYING 'LINKED TO EATING DISORDERS'
A national charity has today released research that shows almost half of young people diagnosed with eating disorders said that bullying was a contributing factor to their problem.
Beat, the national campaigning charity supporting people affected by eating disorders, carried out the survey, which it claims is the largest survey of its kind to date. A total of 600 young people with eating disorders were questioned for the survey, of which 91% said they had experienced bullying and 46% felt it contributed to their eating disorder.
Nearly half of those questioned said they were bullied over a period of two to five years, while 11% had suffered for six years or more.
Susan Ringwood, Beat chief executive, said: "These results show just what a traumatic effect this sort of behaviour among peers can have.
"Bullying undermines young peoples' self -confidence and lowers their self-esteem, raising the risk of eating disorders. Eating disorders are complex with no single cause but bullying is a significant factor for too many people.
"Beat is calling for urgent, detailed research into links with eating disorders - to try to help pupils walk away from bullies without any side-effects."
Sam T, 23, one of the young people who took part in the survey, said: "I only had one friend in high school, but even he bullied me when the others were around.
"A lot of my classmates didn't want to associate with me in case they got picked on too. As the bullying grew worse and more kids joined in, I would run out of lessons to escape the abuse.
"I hid in the boy's toilets where I knew I wouldn't be found. There I would comfort eat to ease the tension and anxiety that had built up inside me throughout the day and I began to make myself sick.
"Over time, it developed into bulimia and it took me many years to recover."
Beat is a UK charity for people with eating disorders and their families. Eating disorders are a serious mental illness affecting 1.6 million people in the UK. Beat provides helplines for adults and young people, online support and a UK-wide network of self-help groups to help people beat their eating disorder. For more information, go to www.b-eat.co.uk.
http://www.communitynewswire.press.net/article.jsp?id=6302783
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University helps students with eating disorders
Although eating disorders disclosed among SJSU students are relatively low, the university offers a variety of resources for those who are suffering, a Student Health Center official said.
Jennifer Waldrop, wellness and health promotion coordinator and nutritionist at the center, said that college is a time of profound change in students' lives.
She said that through college, some students thrive and others become overwhelmed, which she said is a cause of eating disorders, in addition to depression and anxiety.
Freshman English major Katherine Reed said she doesn't want to eat when she's emotionally drained.
She said the pressure to feel attractive leads people to start changing their eating habits.
On the other hand, Tina Nguyen, a junior health science major, said that when she overloads herself with things, she starts to eat more.
"I didn't realize I had a problem until more people talked about it," she said.
Nguyen said cultural pressure also contributes to the need to be thin.
"A lot of Asian girls don't eat a lot because they like to keep slim," she said, "Asian girls are used to being told they should stay thin. Even if you advise them to eat, they get used to refusing food to keep their image of looking thin."
Waldrop said bulimia and binge eating are the most common eating disorders among college students, compared with anorexia.
A bulimic student purges by vomiting, using laxatives or compulsive exercising, while an anorexic student severely restricts food intake and strives for weight loss, she said.
Waldrop said binge-eating is characterized by episodes of eating large quantities of food.
"Binge eating often occurs in secret and is followed by feelings of shame and disgust," she said. "Binge eating disorder often occurs with depression."
According to the Department of Mental Health Web site, it is estimated that 8 million Americans have an eating disorder - 7 million are women and 1 million are men.
Eating disorders at SJSU<\b>
According to the 2009 National College Health Assessment survey, which asked SJSU students if they've been diagnosed with an eating disorder by a doctor, 0.4 percent of students said they were diagnosed with anorexia and 0.2 percent of students said they were diagnosed with bulimia, out of the 30,000 students surveyed.
Waldrop said the numbers are low because the survey asked students whether they've been diagnosed with an eating disorder, rather than asking whether students had symptoms of an eating disorder.
"Students may have symptoms of an eating disorder, such as restrictive eating, loss of periods, using laxatives, vomiting or overexercising, but do not recognize these behaviors as red flags," she said.
Troy Rabanal, a junior computer science major, said he is surprised about the percentage of students with eating disorders.
"I thought it would be higher, because students are really conscious about their image, and their peers also pressure them to be conscious of their image," he said.
Nguyen said the university shouldn't be concerned about eating disorders because the numbers are relatively low.
"The percentage of students with an eating disorder shows we're not in a danger zone," she said.
Waldrop said individuals with eating disorders often try to hide their eating disorders.
"Some may hide it by becoming a vegetarian or a vegan, which is a socially accepted means of restricting food groups," she said. "Of course, this is not the case for all vegetarians or vegans, but if someone you know is a vegetarian or vegan and has lost weight and shows other red flags of an eating disorder, this is cause for concern."
She said from her experience, fewer than 5 percent of students at SJSU are vegetarians.
Waldrop said the survey does not include students who suffer from binge eating, because binge-eating disorder has not been officially diagnosed as an eating disorder.
"Binge-eating across the U.S. is about 1 to 5 percent of the population," she said. "We can assume the statistics are similar at SJSU."
Waldrop said there are several resources on campus that address eating disorder issues. "At San Jose State University, we understand that eating disorders are serious, and complex illnesses that affect the mind and body," she said. "For this reason, we use a team approach to treat eating disorders. The clinicians and registered dietitian at the Student Health Center collaborate with the psychiatrist and psychologists from counseling services. By working as a team, we can address eating disorders on all levels."
Ellen Lin, assistant director of clinical services, said the counseling service at SJSU offers one-on-one counseling, as well as workshops to help those struggling with eating disorders.
"Somebody who suffers from eating disorders usually has some kind of body image issue … and it's really a symptom of some underlying struggles," she said. "There's often self-esteem difficulties, and not having effective coping skills to sort of self-soothe. So we have workshops that may not directly be addressing eating disorders but on helping with stress management and learning coping skills."
Lin said a student with an eating disorder would have to come into the counseling office to get assessed.
The assessment, which is available Monday through Friday, takes about 20 minutes, she said.
"During the initial assessment, the student will fill out paperwork to give their background and history, and it will ask what's been going on that has brought them in and whether or not they've had previous counseling," she said.
Lin said the counseling service will give the student an idea of how counseling works.
"Usually, counseling sessions are 50 minutes, and depending on their severity, the counselor may want to meet weekly at first, and depending on how the student is doing, the counselor and student could decide on how frequently they do meet," she said.
Lin said sessions are not more than once a week.
"They would also have to follow the session limit that we have for counseling," she said. "That is six sessions per semester with a senior staff and eight with a trainee."
Lin said the counseling service then refers the student to the Student Health Center.
"We usually do refer them to get a physical over at Student Health to get a baseline of their health or if they've been struggling for a long time to get a clearance that health-wise they're OK to continue," she said. "Sometimes the students don't realize that they have some symptoms that may not be visible."
Lin said the student in question would be asked to go to the campus nutritionist.
"Often, students will have misconceptions about what they can and cannot eat and how the food will impact their body size," she said. "So our counselors here try to work as a team with the Student Health professionals."
Lin said that in 2008, 307 out of 1,392 students who visited the counseling service reported that they had body-image issues, while 109 students said they had eating disorders.
Lin said counseling is important in the recovery process because eating disorders are essentially psychological disorders.
"It has a lot of physical ramifications and negative physical consequences including death … but the physical part is more the symptom of the eating disorder," she said. "There is usually an underlying psychology component that is very important. Even if you force-feed somebody, they can continue the behavior once they leave the force-feeding environment, unless we address the psychology component of it …You have to help them see that their body size, or body shape or the way that they look is not representative of who they are."
Causes and Consequences of Eating Disorders<\b>
Jennifer Waldrop, the wellness coordinator, said the causes of eating disorders are complex.
"One of the things that can trigger an eating disorder is a big change in life," she said. "So a lot of times, the transition that goes along with moving away from your home and starting a completely different life in college can sometimes just provide that spark or trigger that can start an eating disorder."
Waldrop said there are also genetic, psychological and social components involved with eating disorders.
People who are depressed or have anxiety or mental-health issues put themselves at risk of developing an eating disorder, she said.
Waldrop said the emphasis on being thin or having a certain body type also contributes to the development of an eating disorder.
"Once you have all of that in the background - those risk factors - then you have that life event that triggers, that starts the process," she said.
Waldrop said eating disorders are also coping mechanisms.
"Sometimes when you get to college, you don't have those old support networks that you used to have, and you just become overwhelmed," she said.
Waldrop said health consequences depend on the eating disorder, but some can be life threatening.
"Anorexia has the highest mortality rate of any psychiatric illness," she said. "Bulimia can be life-threatening. Any time you're purging, you're losing electrolytes in your body that helps keep your heart beat regulated."
According to the Department of Mental Health Web site, a study by the National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders reported that 5 percent to 10 percent of people suffering from anorexia will die within 10 years of having the disorder.
Sidebar: A San Jose native shares her struggles with eating disorders
Lindsay Newman, a San Jose native and Chapman alumna, said she struggled with eating disorders at a young age.
Newman said that when she was 9, she started becoming a compulsive eater.
"I have always had an odd relationship with food," she said. "I simply used food to express my emotions, and I used food as a symbol of happiness, and I was someone who didn't know how to turn that off."
When Newman was 15, she developed anorexia and bulimia, which continued on and off into her 20s.
Newman said she is 5 feet 8 inches tall, and her lowest weight was 114 pounds.
She said bulimia is an awful, messy and haunting disorder that can lead to anorexia.
"It's truly the feeling of 'Oh my God, I messed up, and I feel like I ate too much, and I need to get it out of me,'" she said. "And you don't feel good doing it … you hate the bulimia so much that you almost teach yourself to be anorexic, so that you never have to feel like you have to go through that again."
Newman said she's been in recovery for a year and a half.
"Recovery is difficult, because the physical actions of the disorder are different from the mindset," she said. "They told me during recovery that sometimes it will never fully go away … there is always a chance of relapse, and I keep that in mind and my personal goal is to never relapse."
Newman said she likes being in control of things and having an eating disorder was her way of taking control of her body in an extreme way.
"When you can control something, and you see the effect of it in yourself, it's a very interesting feeling," she said. "And I know for me, I lost control of it and it developed into an eating disorder."
Newman said she didn't seek help until her junior year in college, when her well-being was at stake.
"I'm very prone to having ovarian cysts, and I had one that burst," she said. "I was rushed to the emergency room, and they were trying to flush the toxins out of my system, and my body was so weak from the eating disorder that it was essentially dying."
Newman said she recovered, but the ordeal scared her to the point where she decided to seek assistance.
"It sounds very weird to say, but I just kind of got scared and I knew it was out of my control and I was going to die - if I kept going as I was going, that I wasn't going to survive, or that something permanent was going to happen," she said.
Newman said asking for help was a hard thing to do, but that when she did, it was empowering.
She said she is now stricter with her eating and workout habits.
"I have to preplan 10 times more than I ever did having an eating disorder or overeating, because I want to keep myself organized and on track, so I really am super strict about what I'm eating," she said. "I like to plan it out the day before to make sure I'm getting the correct supplements and vitamins."
A year after Newman began her treatment, she started getting involved in the Miss America Organization.
Newman said pageants are controversial, but from her experience, she found that the organization has helped her with her body image.
"(The organization) really encourages you to be the best version of yourself," she said. "It gives me back that control in a very different way."
Newman said she was Miss Redwood City last year and competed at Miss California last summer.
Newman said her platform to compete in pageants is about body-image issues.
She said she partnered with the Eating Disorder Resource Center in San Jose to put together a presentation on issues about body image.
The Eating Disorder Resource Center is a nonprofit organization that serves the Silicon Valley area, said Katie Clark, assistant to executive director of the center.
Clark said the organization's mission is to raise awareness and promote recovery of eating disorders.
Clark said a support group is a vital tool in the recovery process of an individual suffering from eating disorders.
"Many people who are suffering from eating disorders face a great deal of stigma and shame," Clark said. "This can make it particularly difficult to seek treatment and work toward recovery. A support group can provide relief, options, hope and a sense of community through connection and sharing experiences with others who understand."
Newman said it's been great working with the Eating Disorder Resource Center to come up with a presentation that could help others struggling with eating disorders.
"I feel like if I had seen my presentation in high school, I probably would have had the courage to seek out help much sooner," she said. "It's been a long journey, but the thing about eating disorders that is hard to understand is that it's a disease, and you can always relapse, so you have to stay very tight on recovery … and that's kind of where I am right now - just keeping myself on track and trying to reach out as much as I can."
http://media.www.thespartandaily.com/media/storage/paper852/news/2009/11/18/News/University.Helps.Students.With.Eating.Disorders-3835444.shtml
AnaInTheNews
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- Name: AnaInTheNews
- Member Since: 9/12/2006
