Teenage eating disorders could be triggered in the first few years of life
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 The government's recent 'Body Image' summit chaired by Tessa Jowell, Minister for Women' majored on the so-called 'media obsession' with using images of skeletal female body types blamed in a recent report produced by the British Medical Association for being one of the main causes of eating disorders among young teenagers. Delegates in attendance included representatives from the BMA and the Advertising Standards Authority, leading editors of women's 'glossies' as well as individuals from national and regional women's and girl's groups. Discussions pointed to a direct link between the ubiquitous use of unnaturally thin catwalk and photographic models and the increased incidences of anorexia and bulimia in the UK.

Moves such as establishing a voluntary code for editors, stylists, photographers preventing them from allowing anorexic models to get widespread exposure in newspapers and magazines were discussed at length. These included replacing images of wafer thin women with those of more 'diverse' sisters. Interestingly enough, and very telling, this concept has since been rejected by editors who seem to be horrified at the prospect of having to feature anyone over a size 8 in their pages. However, who's to say this would do the trick anyway? As Steve Bloomfield of the Eating Disorders Association commented during the summit, 'Changing the content of the magazine would help - but not solve - the problem. There are further issues that need addressing.' A point borne out by Tessa Jowell's comment that 'The belief that to be beautiful is to be thin is often passed from mother to daughter.' How much this is actually the case is impossible to quantify - but there is no doubt that attitudes to food and how issues surrounding them are handled from a very young age are highly influential in years to come.

While eating disorders are nothing new, they seem to be on the rise - research indicates there are currently 60,000 people with such disorders in Britain. What is particularly interesting is that only 10% of them are male. With the onset of puberty starting at a younger and younger age - an acknowledged trigger for the desire to control body shape - parents need to be on the look out for signs and symptoms of any physiological or emotional factors that could be influencing their children's relationship with food. It has never been more important to instil a healthy attitude to eating and appetites at a very young age - especially since, in rare cases, anorexic eating patterns may be established as early as three or four years of age. This is a complex issue and one which we cannot do justice in such limited space as this. Suffice to say that well-meaning maternal exhortations to 'clear your plate', bestowing lavish praise when this is achieved or using of threats such as 'you can't get down until you have eaten your greens' are not necessarily in a child's best interest. Such behaviour on the part of parents can ultimately make a child feel under considerable pressure and sow the seeds for a tendency to food avoidance or purging in future, which can often come to the fore many years later, frequently triggered by emotional overload, peer pressure, a careless comment from a well meaning adult or a cruel taunt from a playground bully. The only thing parents can do is stay loving, supportive, observant and arm themselves with as much information as they can find on the conditions in question, seeking professional help and guidance as soon as they are concerned that something is wrong.

For more information on eating disorders, contact:

Eating Disorders Association
1st Floor, Wensum House
103 Prince of Wales Road
Norwich NR1 1DW
Helpline: 01603 621414 Mon-Fri 9am-6.30pm
Youthline: 01603 765050 Mon-Fri 4pm-6pm

A national charity providing information, help and support for people affected by eating disorders, especially anorexia and bulimia nervosa.

Anorexia & Bulimia Care.
Christian organisation that offers support to sufferers of AN, BN and compulsive overeating.
Tel: 01695 422 479

Overeaters Anonymous.
Voluntary based organisation. Main contact number is 07000 784 985, which then refers you on to individual regional carers.

British Association of Counselling
1 Regents Place
Rugby CV21 1PJ
Tel: 01788 578328
Will provide a list of counsellors who can deal with eating disorders. Specialists in children's eating disorders are also available.
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