-
-
'Predatory' nurse targeted women with eating disorders
More than 20 vulnerable women battling eating disorders were manipulated into sexual relationships by a “predatory” senior nurse because of inadequate management by his NHS bosses, an investigation concluded today, the Times reports.
David Britten, former manager of the Peter Dally Clinic, in Westminster, preyed on at least 23 patients over a 20-year period before allegations of sexual misconduct emerged. They only came to light after the nurse - now 54 - was sacked by the centre for unrelated matters.
Alison McKenna, who chaired the investigation, said: “The effect of David Britten’s abuse of these vulnerable women cannot be overestimated. David Britten was a specialist in eating disorders and would have known that affected individuals can be very compliant and eager to please. He deliberately targeted vulnerable patients, grooming them for his own sexual gratification.”
Mr Britten was portrayed as a romantic hero among patients and staff - but in fact he was behaving like a paedophile, Sarah Harman, the lawyer representing some of the 23 victims, said. She added: “Their lives in some cases have been ruined by the way he behaved.”
Mr Britten has has not faced any criminal charges, with the Criminal Prosecution Service claiming there was insufficient evidence. The report also raised questions over four other members of staff at the clinic, all of whom left the centre in 2001.
How can this have gone unchecked for so long? And how can vulnerable patients be better protected from this kind of horrific abuse?
More than 20 vulnerable women battling eating disorders were manipulated into sexual relationships by a “predatory” senior nurse becau... more -
'Dangerously thin' climbers face ban
There are concerns that a number of rock climbing athletes are shedding unhealthy amounts of weight in order to gain a competitive edge, and could be more prone to eating disorders, reports the Independent today.
In endurance climbing, where every spare gram of unwanted weight could sap valuable energy during a climb, there are fears that female athletes in particular may be prone to dangerous eating disorders such as bulimia and anorexia.
In Austria, the problem has become so acute that the country's climbing federation has banned any dangerously underweight athletes from competing until they put on an adequate amount of weight. Those athletes with a body mass index (BMI) reading of less than 17 when the rules are introduced next year will not be allowed to compete. Until then, those on the borderline have been ordered to see a doctor for advice about the effects of low weight and anorexia.
Earlier this month, Jens Larssen, who runs 8a, the world ranking organisation for rock climbing, announced his system might also introduce some sort of regulation. "I know for a fact that some of the very best female climbers are either anorexic or have been anorexic," he said. "It exists just as much at the top level of climbers as anywhere else. I know many of these people personally; they're my good friends but I don't want them to become role models."
Should governments or regulatory bodies be able to limit who takes part in sport, based on their body shape or size? Do other sports that require tiny, thin bodies take the same action? Do other sports lead to competitors developing eating disorders in this way? Is this a telling example of where eating disorders come from in the first place: simple competition amongst women and men to have the 'ideal' body?
There are concerns that a number of rock climbing athletes are shedding unhealthy amounts of weight in order to gain a competitive edg... more -
Kristin Shares Her Secret Life And Obsession With Food: Binge Eating Disorder Expo...
Kristin hid her binge eating disorder for a few years from me (yes, I'm her husband). In fact, she hid it from everyone. After a lot of trial and error, she finally beat her disorder a few years ago, and she's been helping others overcome Binge Eating Disorder ever since.
We decided to create a short video about her struggles and showed the food she ate during a typical binge in an effort to reach out and help more people.
Binge Eating is the # 1 eating disorder in the US. It's also the most lonely. I'm really proud of how far my wife has come and amazed at how many people she's helped overcome Binge Eating as well.
Kristin (my wife) is the one in the video and I'm the one recording it and talking to her in the video.
Kristin hid her binge eating disorder for a few years from me (yes, I'm her husband). In fact, she hid it from everyone. After a lot... more -
Accountant for Rachael Ray show claims anorexia bias
NEW YORK (AP) -- A former accountant for Rachael Ray's TV cooking show has filed a $1 million lawsuit saying he was forced out of his job because he has an eating disorder.
Aaron Ferguson says in papers filed in Manhattan's state Supreme Court that he has suffered from anorexia for about six years. He says his supervisor repeatedly exhibited "hostile behavior" and made "vile," discriminatory and hurtful comments.
The comments included, "Anorexics are sick in the head," and, "Anorexics should not be able to work," his court papers say.
Ferguson's lawyer, William H. Kaiser, said Thursday, "The things that were said in front of my client were hurtful, and once they knew he had a problem with it they should have stopped."
Ferguson says he repeatedly complained about his supervisor's use, in his presence, of discriminatory language regarding anorexics but their superiors did nothing that improved his situation.
Ferguson said he began working in July 2007 for CBS Television Distributions Inc., a CBS Corp. unit and the producer and owner of the "Rachael Ray" show. After he complained about his treatment, he says, he was forced out in October 2007.
Kaiser said the firing was retaliation: "He was punished for complaining."
The lawsuit, filed late Wednesday, names CBS Corp., CBSTD Inc. and three employees of the show as defendants. Ray is not named as a defendant.
A CBS spokesman referred calls to show spokeswoman Lauren Nowell, who said she could not comment on pending litigation.
NEW YORK (AP) -- A former accountant for Rachael Ray's TV cooking show has filed a $1 million lawsuit saying he was forced out of his ... more -
Anorexia 'overlooked in boys'
Disorders such as anorexia are much more common in girls - only one in ten diagnosed cases are in boys.
Almost half of all child mental health experts asked by the BBC said they felt that more boys were coming forward with the problem.
However, they said that GPs and parents were missing vital clues that boys had developed an eating disorder. Disorders such as anorexia are much more common in girls - only one in ten diagnosed cases are in boys. ... more -
Girls want to be anorexic
"Some teenagers think "if they become thin, or get an eating disorder, they will be popular," said Kreipe, the medical director at the Western New York Comprehensive Care Center for Eating Disorders in Rochester.
While Kreipe had seen this phenomenon before, only recently has it acquired a name: wannarexia.
Most commonly found among teenage girls, wannarexia is a label describing those who claim to have anorexia, or wish they did. While wannarexia hasn't been studied, experts say a growing number of girls have a misguided desire to be anorexic to gain popularity or to lose weight." "Some teenagers think "if they become thin, or get an eating disorder, they will be popular," said Kreipe, the medical director at the... more -
Fighting back against ultra-skinny lies
There's nothing new about TV and fashion magazines giving girls unhealthy ideas about how thin they need to be in order to be considered beautiful. What is surprising is the method psychologists at the University of Texas have come up with to keep girls from developing eating disorders. Their main weapon against super skinny (role) models: a brand of civil disobedience dubbed "body activism."
Since 2001, more than 1,000 high school and college students have participated in the Body Project, which works by getting girls to understand how they have been buying into the notion that you have to be thin to be happy or successful. After critiquing the so-called thin ideal by writing essays and role-playing with their peers, participants are directed to come up with and execute small, nonviolent acts. They include slipping notes saying "Love your body the way it is" into dieting books at stores like Borders and writing letters to Mattel, makers of the impossibly proportioned Barbie doll.
According to a study in the latest issue of the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, the risk of developing eating disorders was reduced 61% among Body Project participants. And they continued to exhibit positive body-image attitudes as long as three years after completing the program, which consists of four one-hour sessions. Such lasting effects may be due to girls' realizing not only how they were being influenced but also who was benefiting from the societal pressure to be thin. "These people who promote the perfect body really don't care about you at all," says Kelsey Hertel, a high school junior and Body Project veteran in Eugene, Ore. "They purposefully make you feel like less of a person so you'll buy their stuff and they'll make money."
As part of the program, Hertel and a friend posted signs in a school bathroom saying YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL. DON'T BE SOMEONE THAT YOU'RE NOT. BE YOURSELF. The girls then watched their classmates react. "They'd see the signs and say things like 'That's encouraging because I always feel so fat and gross and ugly,'" Hertel says. The study's lead author, Eric Stice, designed the Body Project betting that a crucial element in preventing eating disorders lay in getting a participant to critique a fashion ad or other negative influence in front of her peers. "If I write down 10 things bad about it and post it on MySpace so anyone can view it, I'm accountable for it," says Stice, now at the Oregon Research Institute.
Psychologists are excited about his study because there's not a lot of other data measuring the effectiveness of such programs, let alone their long-term impact.
"This is a good start," says Dr. Walter Kaye, a board member of the National Eating Disorders Association. But Kaye cautions that eating disorders are much more complicated than researchers first thought. For starters, the disorders can't be blamed solely on environmental factors. Brain-scan studies show that the neural circuitry that normally responds to the pleasurable, rewarding aspects of eating doesn't seem to work in anorexics.
The Body Project study, which is funded by the National Institutes of Health, recruited participants by distributing flyers outside classrooms and posting them in school bathrooms. Now sororities and other groups are beginning to launch peer-administered versions of the program. But even if one is not available in your community, there are things parents can do to help with body-image issues. Be aware of what signals you might be giving your children when you talk about your own desire to lose weight. Pay attention to the stereotypical body image your kids are watching on TV. And perhaps most important, talk with them about it.
Sanjay Gupta's Fit Nation series airs on House Call on CNN, Saturdays and Sundays, at 8:30 a.m. E.T.
—With reporting by Shahreen Abedin There's nothing new about TV and fashion magazines giving girls unhealthy ideas about how thin they need to be in order to be consider... more -
The Dark Side Of Healthy Eating
Do You Suffer From Orthorexia Nervosa?
An obsession with eating healthy foods can lead to an eating disorder known as orthorexia nervosa.
Eating healthily is something many of us try to do, but is it possible to take it too far? WRS’s Pete Forster spoke to an eating-disorder specialist about an increasingly common condition know as Orthorexia Nervosa.
Do You Suffer From Orthorexia Nervosa? ... more -
John Prescott: 'I had bulimia'
Former deputy prime minister John Prescott has told a British newspaper that he has suffered from bulimia, the eating disorder which causes victims to gorge on food and then vomit.
Prescott, who is remembered by most for punching a protester in the face in 2001, writes, “I’ve never confessed it before. Out of shame, I suppose, or embarrassment or just because it’s such a strange thing for someone like me to confess to. People normally associate it with young women - anorexic girls, models trying to keep their weight down, or women in stressful situations, like Princess Diana. I could sup a whole tin of Carnation condensed milk, just for the taste, stupid things like that. Marks & Spencer trifles, I still love them, one of my favourites. I can eat them for ever. Whenever I go to Mr Chu’s in Hull, my favourite Chinese restaurant in the whole world... I could eat my way through the entire menu. I thought, of course, I was being clever, and no one would ever know, but Pauline realised in the end. The signs in the toilet gave it away, and all the missing food”. Former deputy prime minister John Prescott has told a British newspaper that he has suffered from bulimia, the eating disorder which c... more -
Should the French make it illegal to encourage anorexia?
Is the answer regulation or education?
-
France takes up body image law
Wow some of these chicks need to eat! Maybe this law will help.
-
France takes up body image law
PARIS - The French parliament's lower house adopted a groundbreaking bill Tuesday that would make it illegal for anyone — including fashion magazines, advertisers and Web sites — to publicly incite extreme thinness.
The National Assembly approved the bill in a series of votes Tuesday, after the legislation won unanimous support from the ruling conservative UMP party. It goes to the Senate in the coming weeks.
Fashion industry experts said that, if passed, the law would be the strongest of its kind anywhere. Leaders in French couture are opposed to the idea of legal boundaries on beauty standards.
The bill was the latest and strongest of measures proposed after the 2006 anorexia-linked death of a Brazilian model prompted efforts throughout the international fashion industry to address the repercussions of using ultra-thin models.
-----
Boyer said she was focusing on women's health, though the bill applies to models of both sexes. The French Health Ministry says most of the 30,000 to 40,000 people with anorexia in France are women.
Didier Grumbach, president of the influential French Federation of Couture, said he was not aware how broad the proposed legislation was, and made no secret of his strong disapproval of such a sweeping measure.
"Never will we accept in our profession that a judge decides if a young girl is skinny or not skinny," he said. "That doesn't exist in the world, and it will certainly not exist in France."
Marleen S. Williams, a psychology professor at Brigham Young University in Utah who researches the media's effect on anorexic women, said it was nearly impossible to prove that the media causes eating disorders.
Williams said studies show fewer eating disorders in "cultures that value full-bodied women." Yet with the new French legal initiative, she fears, "you're putting your finger in one hole in the dike, but there are other holes, and it's much more complex than that." PARIS - The French parliament's lower house adopted a groundbreaking bill Tuesday that would make it illegal for anyone — including fa... more -
Eating disorder websites declared a health hazard
Websites that offer forums for people with anorexia and advocate extreme weight loss can be very dangerous, says psychology professor Michael Levine, but banning them won't cure anyone of an eating disorder.
... more -
Baby born to near-death anorexic girl
Five years ago, weighing just 5st 1lb, Hayley Wilde was told by doctors she had only days left to live.
So sick her hair fell out, the skeletal teenager, who had suffered from anorexia since she was 11, was hospitalised and brought back from the brink.
But it was not the end.
Over the next three-and-a-half years, the teenager from Blackpool was hospitalised five times.
At her lowest ebb, she was fed through an intravenous tube. In 2005, she spent just seven weeks out of hospital.
But in March this year, Hayley - now 20 - defied the odds by giving birth to a healthy baby boy. Five years ago, weighing just 5st 1lb, Hayley Wilde was told by doctors she had only days left to live. ... more -
Italy to launch anti-anorexia campaign targeting schools
Rome, Mar 26 : Italian authorities will launch a campaign to counter a growing epidemic of anorexia and other eating disorders in a country known for its fashion industry and the “Bella Figura.”
The Italian ministries of Health and Sports are targeting the project worth USD 1.54 mn on schools and the media, providing guidelines for magazines, television, radio and internet sites to discourage ultra-thin beauty ideals.
Anorexic individuals starve themselves voluntarily to control body weight.
The project, which begins next month, will also provide training for dance instructors and coaches of such sports as gymnastic and swimming and it will include a website to encourage teens to discuss healthy eating habits and to counter websites where anorexics share tips in starving themselves.
“Aorexia and Bulimia are diseases that have not been recognised for many years as such. It was sort of a veil of unspoken and unrecognised problems,” said Giovanna Melandri, the minister for Young People and Sports.
“So what we really needed to do was to take away the veil to make sure young people, young girls and young boys, know that they can die,” she told reporters. Rome, Mar 26 : Italian authorities will launch a campaign to counter a growing epidemic of anorexia and other eating disorders in a co... more -
The latest buzzword: drunkorexia
Substance abuse is hardly a new companion for eating disorders. Do these buzzwords help people identify their illness?
-
Skin Deep
Eating disorders can control peoples lives. What are these strange disorders and why are they so dangerous. A short documentary film.
-
You Can't Catch Anorexia From Looking At Skinny Models
"Anorexia may be caused by inherited differences in the way a sufferer?s brain operates, leading to obsessive behaviour, according to research.
Rather than being triggered by images of super-thin models and celebrities, the eating disorder could be brought on by the in-built way in which the brain responds to pleasure and reward. It has been argued that images of unhealthily thin stars in the media have encouraged anorexic behaviour in impressionable young women. But a study published in The American Journal of Psychiatry suggests that the brains of anorexia sufferers behave differently to those of the rest of the population and that certain people are born with a susceptibility to develop the condition."
So maybe certain people are wired to put them at higher risk. And force-feeding them images of skinny models is not going to improve matters. Recognizing these biological differences is important, but it doesn't mean that it's ok to promote dangerously low body weight. Such images may not 'cause' anorexia, but I would argue that they certainly influence warped body image even in 'normal' girls. "Anorexia may be caused by inherited differences in the way a sufferer?s brain operates, leading to obsessive behaviour, according to ... more -
Schools Secretary Ed Balls says Spice Girls are Good Role Models for Young Girls
Gordon Browns Secretary of Schools Ed Balls claimed that the Spice Girls are good role models for young girls. Hi comments came as he prepared for Wednesday's launch of the Government's ten-year Children's Plan. I wonder if he's talking about Vicrtoria and Emma's anorexia or Scary's baby mamma drama with Eddy Murphy?
http://www.tmz.com/2006/10/17/scary-spice-pregnant-with...
Gordon Browns Secretary of Schools Ed Balls claimed that the Spice Girls are good role models for young girls. Hi comments came as he ... more -
A 6-Week Journey to the Land of Thin
Most women aren't naturally slim. But that doesn't stop many of them from keeping that way (take a look through any fashion mag or celebrity red carpet and you know what I mean). So what does it take a normal girl to be a size 0? Check out this personal account from a reporter who put her body, mind and soul to the test... with less than appealing consequences.
"Even though my head was a mess my female friends all thought I looked great when I was at my thinnest. The cult of thin is a powerful one and, truth be told..."
I'm not sure I would participate in something like this in the name of work. In fact, I can't believe it was given the ok by her boss. t's just setting up for a downward spiral into madness. I don't think they would support a 6-week journey to the land of alcoholism or drug abuse. Why was anorexia and bulimia supported? Yikes. Most women aren't naturally slim. But that doesn't stop many of them from keeping that way (take a look through any fashion mag or cel... more
-
related topics
Eating Disorders
Contributors (154)
Eating Disorders
