Lori Henry's Blog

Posted by Lori Henry

In order to treat suicidal patients who are being cared for in eating disorder treatment, scientists have studied this in patients aged 12-17 years old. 37 teenagers from the Center for Eating Disorders and Odene University Hospital participated in this study.

By giving them each a questionnaire and putting them through an interview, researchers found that suicidal behavior was more prevalent in teens also dealing with an eating disorder like anorexia, bulimia or compulsive overeating.

The findings also showed that the rates were higher for the younger set of teenagers, which they will do further testing on. On top of the physical dangers of suffering from an eating disorder, there is the fatality rate from suicide.

Posted by Lori Henry

Shirley Enriquez’s Maxine holiday 2006 collection was created for women of all shapes and sizes. From casual pieces to chic fabrics and stretch materials, women are calling it “sexy” and “fresh.” She calls it Maxine.

The smallest size is a 10 and she says, “We had to understand the real needs of our market. With their body type, for example, it was especially difficult to find jeans that fit just right. We realized that it’s not enough to provide trendy, casual clothes. What’s important is the fit.”

Shirley herself is a petite woman, but her desire to make sexy clothing for larger women is due to the fact that she realizes how hard it is to find the right fit for women who aren't built like sticks.

The line now has 20 branches in major department stores and Ayala Trinoma Mall in Quezon City will be home to the collection’s first boutique. The future holds an accessories line for bags and shoes.

“I want to build their confidence and encourage them to come out and say, ‘I’m beautiful. “It’s all a matter of believing in oneself and redefining the real essence of beauty. Maxine aims to create a strong positive image for the full-figured Filipina.”

Posted by Lori Henry

But not in the way that one might think. She is still determined to tell the public that she is healthy and does not suffer from anorexia.

"I think there's a big difference between someone having an eating disorder and someone who is controlled about what they eat. There's a big difference, and every now and then of course I go out and eat what I like. But I do try to be quite disciplined in the way that I eat," she tells People magazine.

"I eat really healthy, I love Japanese food, lots of fish, any sort of fish, any sort of vegetable, lots of fruit, that kind of thing."

She also defends today’s models because they are so thin, saying they are just naturally skinny.

"All of the girls– I know quite a few models and they actually eat, they're just naturally thin girls. And just because you're thin it doesn't mean you have an eating disorder. What is more of a concern is the age of the girls. Some of the girls on the catwalk are 13 years old and that is more worrying to me than the size of the girl, to be honest."

Posted by Lori Henry

Women’s bodies have always been a source of beauty and inspiration. But their idyllic size has altered throughout time.

In the mid-1600’s, women were celebrated for their curvy bodies and childbearing hips. Paintings from that era show females as having “normal imperfections” like sagging skin, fat and round bellies.

This continued throughout the 1800’s, where tapestries show the female form with ample curves and weight. They’re usually naked and seem comfortable in their natural glory.

The 1920’s brought the flappers and women were used in advertising to promote products. They are fully clothed here and more demure then their former counterparts.

Along came Marilyn Monroe in the 50’s, whom most compare models of today with. She was reportedly a size 14 or 16, which would roughly translate to a size 8 of today’s standards.

But then Twiggy came along and became the first underweight woman to be an inspiration to millions. Some say this landmark was the beginning of the end. Karen Carpenter followed suit with her famous struggle and death to anorexia in 1983.

The 21st century continued with very thin models and upheld Gisela Bundchen as the new “curvy” woman. She has a tall, lanky frame and was praised for encouraging people to eat junk food and not starve themselves.

Today’s runway models can be compared to starvation victims and are gaining worldwide attention for recent deaths. But a shift is beginning as designers are starting to feature larger women. Let’s hope this trend continues.

Posted by Lori Henry

Brazilians have had their share of news on eating disorders after a model from that country, Ana Carolina Reston, died of anorexia this year. The news sent shockwaves through the country as the up and coming runway model was living off of only a few handfuls of food each day.

Beatriz Cristina Ferraz Lopes Bastos, a Brazilian teacher and only 23 years old, died of anorexia this week. She was reported to be 5’2” and 77 pounds at the time of her death.

The local newspaper, Globo, reported on its web site, “Another Anorexia Victim” as a photo of Bastos was featured. As well as being a teacher, she was also a pianist, amateur historian and writer of a literature column.

Beatriz was the fourth highly publicized death from anorexia in Brazil this year.

Posted by Lori Henry

Recently, Italy stepped up its commitment to stop models from walking the runway who were too underweight. The bold move is gaining attention worldwide and other countries are looking to them to see how it will affect the fashion industry.

With minimum Body Mass Index (BMI) of 18.5 and a minimum age of 16 years old, models are being taken through health tests before being hired.

This new initiative is a daring step in a world where thin is always in. If we begin to see heartier looking women on the runways, what will change? How will designers have to look at their creations?

Or will people eventually get used to the fact of seeing more curvy models on the catwalks? Although this is only a small step in helping sick models seek treatment instead of larger contracts, I do believe it’s a step in the right direction.

For news about the death of model Eliana Ramos, click here.

Posted by Lori Henry

The end of the year is a time of reuniting with family and friends and, along with those sometimes fulfilling, sometimes stressful visits, comes the overindulgence of food. People in North American culture are supposed to stay thin and nonchalant about holiday meals, but we obsess about them instead.

Mealtimes become a time of fighting within ourselves of trying to enjoy the abundance of good cooking and the shame of eating “too much.” Our inner dialogue pushes out the holiday spirit and focuses on the guilt we feel for not being able to control ourselves.

Binge eating is a common occurrence at this time. With so much food and choice, high stress levels and a pressure to make the time off something special, we focus on the food and our weight gain to help numb the anxiety.

By reaching for another handful of goodies rather than talking to our detestable mother in law (or other person!), we give up our sense of power to the feeling of blame.

Why not be present in every moment this Christmastime and ask ourselves why we are reaching for that bag of chips or holiday candy when we have just finished a hearty meal? Why not share our discomforts and stress with those around us who can help us to deal with them?

Holiday time doesn’t have to be an occasion for binging and feeling guilty. They are time for connecting with good company and leaving the self-reproach behind.

Posted by Lori Henry

Some people indulge in holiday sweets and an over abundance of food without guilt or second thought. But most people feel that pang of remorse for their “bad” behavior and spend their vacation time feeling fat and shameful.

For those who sufferer from Compulsive Overeating, Christmas time can seem like a disaster waiting to happen. With all of the festive food and holiday dinners, some feel their cravings are too much to handle.

Compounded with the excess of cooking is the emotions that go along with it. Holiday time is emotional for most and can drive them to eat more as a way to numb the overwhelming sensation of feelings.

The key is to deal with the emotions as they come up, share them with trusted friends or family members and keep doing things just for yourself that will keep you calm and centered.

Posted by Lori Henry

Darlene Rockey, who was on Dr. Phil about a month ago, lives in Palm Springs and suffers from Anorexia Nervosa. She is known in her community as the “lady who walks,” as she has a morning ritual of running 20 miles everyday.

Her story spurred many to offer their support and best wishes for her recovery and health.

"I have been overcome by everybody being so helpful that I wanted to let them know," she said.

But even after being admitted to the Center for Change treatment center in Utah, she has relapsed and survives off of very little food and coffee each day, as well as over exercising to the extreme.

She is now advocating with the Eating Disorders Coalition for Research, Policy and Action, to pass the “dream bill.” This bill provides recommendations for a national public policy regarding eating disorders treatment.

“That's going to be my treatment," she said.

"Maybe I can get over my disease, maybe I can't. But if I can help just one person, maybe I can see some hope with me."

Posted by Lori Henry

Store like La Senza Girl are catered to the Tween age, those between the ages of 6-12 years old, a title which has been created only within the last 15 years. These young girls can now buy padded bras for their non-existent breasts, play dolls who look trampy, and look up to role models who have celebrity status for starring in a hit film or two.

The marketing manager of Mattel, the company who produces Barbie dolls, Julie Keanrs, commented: "Someone identified this gap in the marketplace between the girl who is still a child under the age of about nine, and a real teenager of 13 or 14 who has reached puberty. They identified this girl getting older younger, [and thought] 'here's a market we could cater for in the right way and increase our sales'."

Dr. Michael Carr-Gregg, a psychologist and author of Bitchface Syndrom: Surviving Adolescent Girls, believes that the loss of childhood is taking a step backwards, instead of forwards: “It's all about sexualisation and the objectification of women… about being attractive to boys- and I hope there are generations of collective feminists rolling in their collective graves looking at his stuff because it's so retrograde.

“There is absolutely nothing positive about it, and I think it's sending all the wrong messages to an already confused and bemused bunch of kids- and what worries me is that it's the parents who are very often talked into buying these things".

Posted by Lori Henry

Aftercare is an important step after a patient with an eating disorder has gone through treatment. It can help prevent relapse and offer a safe bridge between therapy and an independent life.

Scientists have conducted a study called "Aftercare intervention through text messaging in the treatment of bulimia nervosa- feasibility pilot" in the UK.

They say that, “Even with the best available treatment, most bulimia nervosa sufferers are not symptom free at the end of therapy and, for those who have achieved remission, risk of relapse is high. Thus, there is a need for aftercare or relapse prevention interventions after therapy."

This study was published in the International Journal of Eating Disorders this month after researchers concluded that "Levels of use of the program were relatively low and attrition high, indicating limited acceptance of the intervention. This study suggests that the SMS-based intervention would benefit from further adaptation to make it a more useful tool for the aftercare of patients after outpatient treatment for bulimia nervosa."

Professionals are always looking for new ways to give greater aftercare and prevent relapses in their patients and these scientists believe they might be on to something. They took 21 patients with bulimia after having participated outpatient therapy. The 6 month study explored the “feasibility, acceptability, and efficacy of a text messaging-based intervention.”

Posted by Lori Henry

A new study has found that women of all races are susceptible to eating disorders and weight dissatisfaction. Not only a “white girl’s” disorder, body image issues affect everyone.

"There has been a widespread belief among clinicians that black women simply don't develop eating disorders, and they have proceeded clinically along this line, dismissing the possibility for black women," says Alan Roberts, the lead researcher in the study.

"The findings from this study suggest it may no longer be acceptable to make assumptions on body dissatisfaction based on ethnicity. In terms of the study's weight measures, which are most closely linked to eating disorders, the difference is diminishing."

The research was done between 1966 and 2002 (mostly after 1980) and studied body dissatisfaction and eating disorders in women. He found that anorexia and bulimia peak in high school and early college years.

Posted by Lori Henry

I recently visited Remuda Ranch Treatment Center for Anorexia and Bulimia in Wickenburg, Arizona. I was floored by the level of care and extensive programs they have available for women and children. Their programs are for females only, include both inpatient and outpatient care, and deal with emotional eating, as well as co-occurring conditions.

All of the staff members whom I met were gracious and some of the top professionals in their fields. I have nothing but wonderful things to say about my experience there.

This week I will be publishing a series of 3 articles written about the facility: an overview of the programs they offer, how they incorporate biblically based treatment into the programs and the equine therapy component of care.

Whether religious or not, horseback rider or not, I highly recommend this treatment facility for those who are looking for thorough, quality care for someone suffering from an eating disorder.

To read the first article, please click here.

Posted by Lori Henry

Diane von Furstenberg, fashion designer and president of the Council of Fashion Designers of America, has been watching the debate on skinny models in Spain, Italy and the UK of late.

She has joined others who want to encourage the industry to take steps in reducing the number of sick models on the runways. She sent a letter to all of the members of the association after a meeting with such notable names as Anna Wintour of Vogue, designers Derek Lam and Vera Wang, along with health and nutirition experts.

In her letter, Diane refers to super skinny models as a “global fashion issue” and noted that “as designers, we cannot ignore the impact fashion has on body image. We share a responsibility to protect women, and very young girls in particular, within the industry, sending the message that health is beauty."

Posted by Lori Henry

Sharon Kirby runs a web site about eating disorders in the UK and covers the issue from around the world.

She “specialises in writing about health and fitness and holds a Master of Science degree in Sports Science/Fitness and Health from the University of Essex (The Centre for Sports and Exercise Science) in addition to a Bachelor of Science (Hons) degree in Psychology from the same university.”

The site covers the types of eating disorders, like anorexia, bulimia and binge eating disorder, as well as the signs, causes, diagnosis’, treatments and therapies. Links to other web sites, books and DVD’s round out her coverage.

Visit the site at www.disordered-eating.co.uk

Posted by Lori Henry

Sex Talk With Mum and Dad will focus on teens talking about sex with their parents. Dutch sexologist, Maria Schopman, will lead the show.

Fat Boy To Slim follows a 16 year old overweight boy as he goes to America to lose weight byway of an operation. The camera has followed him since he was 13 years old and at fat camp and will monitor his decisions as he tries to fit in with a world focused on thin.

The program will also feature a show called Teens Addicted To Porn, as well as a story about Britain’s youngest transsexual.

Posted by Lori Henry

Eating disorders twist the mind of those who suffer from them in dangerous ways. The black and white thinking patterns are taken to the extreme and individuals often have a form of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.

Disordered eating is full of rituals and regimes that are kept in strict order and followed to the mark. OCD traits follow a similar path and compliment the harsh schedule that these individuals put themselves on.

The anxiety that they feel can be overwhelming and by focusing on simple things and actions that are repeated, the person can find a greater sense of order in a world they find chaotic.

Compulsion that is a part of eating disorders is also similar to that of the compulsive disorder. While some people are compulsive in other ways, like shopping or stealing, those who have an eating disorder are compulsive with food.

These 2 disorders often have to be treated together in order to help the individual find balance and lessen their anxiety.

Posted by Lori Henry

Kate Winslet has been outspoken about her opinions on too-thin celebrities, including models and actresses. She believes in maintaining her “normal” figure because it’s healthy for her.

She said only days ago, "I hope that in some small way I'm able to say 'I'm a normal person, I'm doing all right, I've got a lovely husband and children and I didn't lose weight to find those things, and those things are what should be important’.

Her six-year-old daughter, Mia, is her biggest concern, not wanting her to become appearance-obsessed. She has decided to publicly ban fashion magazines from the house in order to have them influence her daughter less.

“It is unbelievably disturbing what’s going on at the moment. Young girls are impressionable. What I resent is that there is an image of perfection that is getting thinner and thinner.

"It’s only a matter of time before Mia becomes aware of it and that frightens the life out of me.”

Posted by Lori Henry

Shoppers are either horrified or fascinated by the window display at the new Victoria Secret store in Tysons Corner Center. The racy exhibit features mannequins dressed in thigh-high black nylons, stiletto heels, bras, garters and posed in, some say, sexual positions.

This has led church groups, parents and shoppers to send disgusted letters to the press and the head office of the large retail store. As the Washington Post reported, one woman walked by and huffed, “Little Shop of Whores,” while a father of a teenager daughter commented, “Slut wear.”

But others love the display and walked out of he store with bagfuls of purchases, confused as to why others are getting so incensed over it. But with some of the Victoria Secret displays of late, the mannequins are dressed in feathery thongs and bent over as if adjusting their heels- are these appropriate images to be in a family mall?

Some longtime customers refuse to make any more purchases until the display is taken down, while still others comment that it is semi-pornographic and insulting. This referring to the an inside store display of a mannequin crawling towards another who is lying down and her hip and leaning back on both hands. But others like the "dark side" of the store and think it's important for women to have that freedom of choice.

The biggest complaint is not the display itself, but the fact that it’s put in such a high traffic area in the public mall. Children and teenagers are frequent patrons and mothers are having a hard time believing that they would ever knowingly let their daughters go to the store to shop.

What do you think? Do you shop there? Will you continue to shop there?

Posted by Lori Henry

As with the Spain, Italy will be banning ultra thin models from their fashion season in Milan which starts this January. They will use the same body mass index guidelines and will not hire any model with a BMI under 18.5.

They have named it The National Manifesto of Self-Regulation in order to govern "models' size that will be signed by designers, big brands, model agencies, photographers and make up artists."

Other actions they will be taking is to set a minimum age limit of 16 years old, as well as prohibiting models from using makeup with dark shadows under their eyes that promotes what they call the “anorexic” look.

Click here to read the original blog post about the ban on thin models this year in Spain.

Click here to read the update on the ban of underweight models in Italy.

Posted by Lori Henry

Aiming to be “the clearing house for eating disorders news, research, reports, conferences and opinions,” Lucy Serpell has been running a resource like this one since 1994. She is a clinical and research psychologist based in London, UK.

Although she aims at eating disorder information for the United Kingdom and Europe, North Americans can also find news about updates in the field.

You can find her site at: http://edr.org.uk/

Posted by Lori Henry

A growing number of chat rooms and web sites dedicated to promoting eating disorder behavior are on the rise. Teenagers can hide their on-line searching from their parents and Doctors, but the information on the Internet can be deadly.

"Parents and physicians need to realise that the Internet is essentially an unmonitored media forum," explained Rebecka Peebles, an eating disorder specialist at the Packard Children's adolescent medicine.

But "It's just not possible to completely control the content of an interactive site," she added.

Even those searching for recovery sites or other positive resources for anorexia, bulimia or compulsive overeating often stumble upon these dangerous sites.

And although search engines have made a small effort to ban these sites, they are still easily accessible.

Posted by Lori Henry

The Joy Project, an eating disorders organization, is fighting for changing the diagnostic criteria for identifying anorexia. They want to specifically “delete weight requirements and judgments of physical characteristics.”

Because eating disorders cannot always be visible, this restriction in diagnosing individuals is lacking and missing out on the many who are in as much pain but don’t fit the physical requirements to get treatment.

The petition will be submitted to the American Psychiatric Association along with a formal review-of-current-research paper. The committee in charge of making changes to the criteria is now accepting feedback, so this is an important time to speak your voice.

For more information and to sign the petition, please visit: http://www.joyproject.org/Petition.html

Posted by Lori Henry

Christmas time brings out the cooks in most people, baking Christmas cookies and breads. But for someone with an eating disorder, this is one of the most difficult times of the year.

They may use cooking as a way of filling up their friends and families without partaking in the delicious food themselves. Or they may cook and then binge on the food they have just made.

"Many persons with eating disorders love to cook and will constantly cook and bake for their family or friends," said Theresa Fassihi, PhD, a psychologist at The Menninger Clinic in Houston. "They may bake all day, but not eat a single thing themselves."

Vicarious pleasure from watching others eat is common in anorexia and becomes increasingly noticeable during the holiday season. Bulimics will tend to feel guilty for the whole period, as they indulge on the many sweets and fattening food on offer.

Posted by Lori Henry

Dutch psychiatrists have completed a study that suggests that living in a town or city increase a person’s risk factor of becoming bulimic. This is not the case with anorexia.

The research found that the incidence rate is almost 2 and a half times higher than in rural areas of the world, and 5 times higher in large cities.

The study suggests that young, independent people turn to bulimia because they don’t necessarily have the traditional family support that rural areas have. The availability of food and the anonymity of living in a city also contribute to the increase.

Posted by Lori Henry

A new study released by the University of Minnesota’s “Project EAT” (Eating Among Teenager) program studied 2,500 teens and their dieting behaviour. The results about diet pills were startling.

When it came to dieting, 62.7% of teenage girls said they use “unhealthy weight control behaviours” and 21.9% admitting they use “very unhealthy weight control behaviours.”

“Unhealthy weight control behaviours” are such things as using diet pills, laxatives, vomiting or skipping meals. Half of the teenage boys studied disclosed their methods.

“We have found that teenage females who diet and use unhealthy weight control behaviours are at three times the risk of being overweight,” said Dianne Neumark-Sztainer, one of the study researchers. “Teens who feel good about their bodies eat better and have less risk of being overweight. Parents can play a key role in helping their children to build a positive body image and engage in healthy eating and physical activity behaviours.”

What was also surprising about the results was the fact that teenage girls’ physical activity levels dropped dramatically to only 3.93 hours a week. Their male counterparts spend 6.11 hours a week.

“It’s not just diet pills. It’s about accepting yourself and liking who you are. At the teen age it’s very hard to do this,” said Paula Triana, Nutrition Services Team Leader for the Palm Beach County School District. “But we educate them in a positive way about accepting who they are.”

Posted by Lori Henry

Girls as young as 7 years old are taking these, sometimes dangerous, pills.

“We’re seeing issues with body image and perception in elementary school,” says Paula Triana, the leader of the Nutrition Services Team at the Palm Beach County School District.

“Teens do have a concern over body weight and image. That age is very hard with peer pressure. We try to cycle them away from this dieting which includes diet pills because they are very risky.”

A study done by the University of Minnesota, under the title “Project EAT” (Eating Among Teenagers), studied 2,500 female teenagers over 5 years. The use of pills in high schools has almost doubled from 7.5% to 14.2%. By the time young women reach the age of 20, 20% of them will have used diet pills.

“These numbers are startling, and they tell us we need to do a better job of helping our daughters feel better about themselves and avoid unhealthy weight control behaviours,” states researcher Dianne Neumark-Sztainer simply.

Diet pills are a gateway into eating disorders and disordered eating, fostering the mindset that you can take a pill to “cure” what you don’t like about yourself.

Posted by Lori Henry

The opening night of A Christmas Carol began with a bang as the white curtain covering the carolers was suddenly dropped. The lights came up and the fun began on a perfectly snowy Vancouver night.

James Fagan Tait’s production of the show keeps the dark humour but adds lots of devilish fun. The staging is done in such a way that all actors are also doubling as furniture.

They move around the space and fill in the stage with their bodies. Two people, for instance, stand in as Scrooge’s bed, which he then proceeds to lie upon. Dubbed as “poor theatre,” it is refreshing to see this technique used by such a large theatre company.

The set is a simple white backdrop sheet from the back of the stage to its tip, with live musicians playing on the sides. The cast fills in the rest, playing all characters of this much-loved classic while also delivering the choral speeches and songs in Joelysa Pankanea’s electrifying score.

Lighting design takes its cue from Itai Erdal, lighting most of the show from the side and back to create the heightened atmosphere of the play. The shadows provide haunting glimpses into the characters complex faces. The appearance of the show is stunning.

The cast fleshes out this unique take on a favourite with absolute perfection. Alex Diakun (of TV’s Da Vinci’s Inquest-fame) plays Scrooge, and some of Vancouver’s hottest stage talent chip in: Patti Allan, Camyar Chai, Aidan Drummond, Dean Paul Gibson, Andrew McNee, Tom Pickett, Sarah May Redmond, Kyle Rideout, Donna Soares and Maiko Bae Yamamoto.

Don’t miss out on this exhilarating run.

The Vancouver Playhouse

November 25-December 23, 2006

December 2- Pay-what-you-can Matinee

December 4 & 12- Post-show Q&A session with cast

December 6, 13 & 14- Tea Matinees (tea 1 pm, curtain 2pm)

December 9- Olay Definity Salon Saturday with playwright and director James Faga Tait (1 pm)

NOTE: December 5 evening performance is sold out

www.vancouverplayhouse.com for more information.

Posted by Lori Henry

Although it seems preposterous, there are millions of people online who are encouraging each other to be sick. Not only that, they congregate on the Internet to share tips and tricks on being anorexic.

The sites show “thinspiration” pictures of models and celebrities who they admire for their ultra-skinny frames. Examples such as Victoria Beckham, Lindsey Lohan, Mischa Barton and Nicole Richie are some of the top-used images.

Also scary is that they give each other advice on how to hide their disorder from family and friends, making it a competition to see who can be the sickest. They compare weight, numbers, calories and, eerily, the number of bones that can bee seen through their skin.

“They’re very tempting on how to be the best at the disorder,” says Dr. Joy Armillay, a nutrition therapist.

“That’s why it’s so important to be in treatment, to recognize and verbalize that they’re issues. When I hear people mentioning them, they’re aware that it isn’t a good thing. Isn’t it frightening that you could have a how-to site for something so bad?”

Posted by Lori Henry

I did not believe it when I heard about this show. Was it for real? Would celebrities (or those just in need of some publicity), really go on national television and participate in a “fit camp”?

Yes siree.

Going into its fourth season, Celebrity Fat Camp is a one-hour show where 8 stars compete in 2 groups of 4 to lose weight. They take part in activities both physical and motivational that are designed to shed pounds quickly. They are supposed to work with team spirit and win prizes for their effort.

To be even more degrading, the next day consists of a “weigh-in ceremony” where they are weighed individually in front of the cameras. A “panel of experts” join the show and include a psychologist and fitness trainer.

The contestants on this season’s show will be: Bone Crusher (Rapper), Ted Lange (Actor, known for his role as a bartender on The Love Boat), Angie Stone (R&B Singer), Vincent Pastore (Actor, Big Puss on the Sopranos), Erika Eleniak (Playboy model and Baywatch), Nick Turturro (Actor from NYPD Blues), Tina Yothers (Actress from Family Ties).

Yes, again, I am serious about this show.

Posted by Lori Henry

Maureen McCormick, who played Marcia Brady on the Brady Show, suffered from bulimia, although not while she was filming the show.

"Back on the show, I could eat whatever I wanted," she remembers. "Things changed. I am 5-foot 3-inches. At some point I stopped growing, and it is harder when you are small. We never dealt with [eating disorders] on the show. I really don’t think Eve [Plumb] or Susie [Susan Olsen] were dealing with a weight issue."

But fear helped Maureen stop purging and start taking care of herself.

"I had some friends going through the same thing with me at the same time," she states. "I am really stubborn and really strong-willed when I put my mind to something. When I do, I can say no and turn things around."

Unfortunately (in my opinion), she has now agreed to participate in VH1’s reality TV show “Celebrity Fit Club,” where celebrities go to a fat camp and strive to lose weight.

She says about joining the show: "For the past few years, I had been totally out of exercising, just eating and going crazy. I thought, ‘What a great opportunity to do something positive.’"

Posted by Lori Henry

Plymouth University is holding a research study to find out how people can actually feel good about their bodies. Michael Hyland, the lead professor of health psychology at the university, says that this research is much-needed.

"People sometimes feel dissatisfied with the way their body looks. Cosmetic surgery is on the increase and people are pressured by the media to fit to an ideal, which, in the majority of cases, is unattainable and can be unhealthy.

"In our research, we are comparing two self-help ways of encouraging people to feel better about their bodies. In many cases, the problem isn't with your body but with the way you think about it- in other words, you don't need to change yourself, just the way you think about yourself."

Who they need:

- volunteer male and females

What they’ll be required to do:

- complete a brief questionnaire on-line

- download a workbook and do the exercises (5-10 minutes each day for 3 days)

- a scientist will then contact participants by email to see if the book was effective in any way

You can get more information at: holistichealth@psy.plymouth.ac.uk

Posted by Lori Henry

Come to the last 2006 Movement Matters

in Vancouver, B.C., Canada

Marvelous Monthly Event

At Forufera, 505 Hamilton at Pender

7:30 - 9:30

$10 for members / $15 for general public

$30 annual membership can be purchased at the door

Saturday, December 2nd

Vancouver, B.C., Canada

Seeing Our Selves - An Introduction to Authentic Movement

Authentic Movement is a moving meditation in the presence of a supportive witness. It is used for personal growth, creativity and spiritual reflection. This evening Tannis Hugill will guide us to learn and practice the form to discover and inhabit our Selves with trusting acceptance. When we are moved by the wisdom of our bodies, we discover our power, our passion, and the gifts of life¹s sacred journey.

Healing artist, Tannis Hugill, RCC, RDT, ADTR, is a registered dance and drama therapist, BC Clinical Counsellor and creator of ritual theatre. Trained by Janet Adler, she has been devoted to Authentic Movement for seventeen years. Now she teaches this form with special focus on its application to embodied creativity and spirituality. She has a private practice and teaches

throughout Vancouver.

For Information call Marcia at (604) 291-0911 or view www.movementmatters.com

Posted by Lori Henry

Boys have raging hormones and short attention spans, combined with the challenge of fitting into a society that represents the men they will grow into as strong and ripped. But a new camp for boys and their dads is aiming to make the transition a little bit easier.

The father and sons join about 20 other couplings as they sit around a camp fire and discuss the things that the boys want to know. They can bring up issues such as sex, drugs, love, embarrassing moments and body image.

"It shows them that men can have feelings and not be embarrassed about it," says Robert Grant, who leads the program. "I admire the courage of the boys to ask questions in front of a group of men and the fact that there are genuine attempts to answer them so honestly."

The course is called “Boys to Men” and is a 3 day project headed by Wesley College’s campus near Ballarat.

"It gives the boys the opportunity to talk about issues affecting men in a totally male environment. It's about them trying to find out who they are and why they are. They are learning what it is to be a man and they see what that means from their own father."

Studies have shown that if young guys have a male role model they can look up to, they are better able to succeed in their future. The recent national youth survey taken by Mission Australia, has highlighted this point and provoked schools to add programs such as the one above to their curriculums.

Posted by Lori Henry

The controversial ban on junk food ads by Ofcom, the media regulator in the UK, has garnered a mixed reaction from the public. Health groups have been lobbying for such a proposal for years, while broadcasters and food companies moan that the rules are too stringent.

Ofcom’s proposal targets ads with products heavy in salt, fat and sugar, to protect children under 16 years old, whereas the preceding rule was to target children under 9 years old. More consultation will take place before policy takes effect before the end of January next year.

The estimated loss from broadcast revenues are $73 million, with satellite channels losing 8.8% and children’s channels losing 15%. Although the numbers are large, OfCom has received a large amount of feedback from other countries interested in implementing these strict guidelines.

So far, Sweden, Norway and the province of Quebec in Canada, have applied bans like the UK, and 10 large food companies in the United States announced last week that they would self-impose guidelines to try and limit their junk food advertising to children.

The companies include: Cadbury Schweppes, Campbell Soup, Coca-Cola, General Mills, Hershey, Kellog, Kraft Foods, McDonald’s, PepsiCo and Unilever, some of the most prominent names in advertising in order to “promote healthier dietary choices and/or to messages that encourage good nutrition or healthy lifestyles.”

Posted by Lori Henry

Fitness First Lifestyle network is an in-house program watched by gym members as they exercise. The problem is, between music clips, they show commercials promoting breast implants, liposuction and nose jobs. And the members are getting a little irate.

One of the members comments, "I go to the gym to exercise and to stay fit and healthy. But some women feel under pressure to have the perfect body and these ads suggest that to have a perfect body you need to have breast implants.

"I think that they have a responsibility to promote health and well-being in a more positive way than that.'

Nikki Goldstein agrees. She is the author of Girlforce, and an expert on self-esteem issues in women.

"I think this is advertising by stealth- it is beating women up when they are most vulnerable. They are in their gym gear, looking at other women's bodies and then comparing themselves. I feel uncomfortable about that form of advertising.'

But plastic surgeon Howard De Torres says that his ads are subtle.

"We're just putting our name in the marketplace. It is no worse than putting it in a magazine or the telephone book. These ads are very low key and they don't go through any particular procedure- they just portray me as a very capable person.

"We are not aiming to belittle anybody, we just know that people who do think about [plastic surgery] go to gyms and that is where they see the name.'

But the gym has recently released a statement that it will stop playing the ads after the existing contracts have finished.

Posted by Lori Henry

Bruna Menegotto, a model with Elite Agency, says that it is common for aspiring models to feel fat and ugly after being rejected from a modeling call.

"[A model] goes to a test, gets a "no" and thinks: oh my God I`m ugly, I have to lose weight, I`m not well, they didn`t want me for the job. But it`s not that, everybody gets a "no" for a job. When [models] are younger they still don`t have that conscience, they aren`t used to it."

An agent from Elite in Rio de Janeiro, Luis Lobo, comments that the ban of underweight models is an emergency measure, but that other things need to be changed.

"It can work at the moment, but what will be the duration of this prohibition, until when will it be effective. We need to change in a certain way the route of these people`s work, of the brands, of the designers, of the models, of the agencies," he said.

But not only agencies and designers are to blame, says designer Silvia Tcherassi, it’s also photographers and advertising campaigns.

"More than designers, I would also include the photographers and advertising campaigns because with only one button, they ‘photoshop’ and change the image of a woman. They erase the cellulite, take away the fat that normally woman may have, take away the skin lines, take away the cellulite, stretch legs in an incredible way simply by moving a button.

“So all the girls are looking at an image of a woman that doesn’t exist, while in the runways we are seeing a woman that exists, a real woman. But the majority of these girls, from what I have seen with my own eyes, have a photo on their refrigerator of an advertising campaign with which they want look like and it ends up that this woman is not real."

For a list of all coverage, click here.

Posted by Lori Henry

Purchases support the National Eating Disorders Association and their efforts to expand public awareness and prevention of eating disorders, promote access to quality treatment and support for families, through education, advocacy and research.

There are a number of amazing fashion-related items up for sale, including jewelry, handbags, several offerings from Marc Jacobs, and a pair of Kasil jeans customized and autographed by The Sopranos' Jamie-Lynn Sigler.

Jewelry designer Karin Collins donated three of her one-of-a-kind SpoonFed Art spoon pendants to the NEDA fundraising project - and they're all currently ranked in the auction's "Top 10 Items" NEDA commissioned Karin to design one very special SpoonFed Art pendant featuring their own logo- and it's currently listed as the Number One most popular item of the entire auction!

Click here to find out what's available in the auction.

www.SpoonFedArt.com- Karin originally started making her SpoonFed Art necklaces as a personal art-oriented therapy to overcome a serious eating disorder she'd been battling for almost 20 years. Karin continues to actively contribute to and spread awareness of the National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA) to keep the focus of her SpoonFed Art business on the reason it was started - to help heal.

Posted by Lori Henry

Younger guys are trying to slim down on a progressively larger degree. Whereas men usually suffered from disorders such as “bigorexia,” where the individual pumps up to get larger muscles, and “orthorexia,” where the person is obsessed with healthy eating to an unhealthy degree, they are now being seen with a diagnosis for anorexia.

An 18 year old was interviewed as saying that trimming down was better than bulking up because thin is in, and not for just women.

"It's more socially acceptable to be too thin, rather than being too fat," he said.

"Generally, males are uncomfortable seeking help. Men may not be aware that they're suffering from an eating disorder. They may attribute their behaviors to normal exercise," stated Urszula Kelly from the Presbyterian Hospital.

Posted by Lori Henry

The Tyra Banks Show is dealing with body image today and has titled the show, “Do I Look Fat?” Women will be brought on the show who have severe negative images about their bodies.

Tyra will conduct “eye-opening” experiments to help the women gain a more realistic sense of their bodies and shape. She also reveals the results of a focus group that determined how men and women viewed women’s bodies.

Joined on the show will be Ant from “Celebrity Fit Club,” and Jessica Weiner, who will discuss body dysmorphic disorder and how damaging having a poor sense of self can be.

Check out www.tyrashow.com for times in your city.

Click here for an update on the controversy surrounding Tyra's "fat photos."

Posted by Lori Henry

Twiggy, the British modeling icon, says that models should be let off the hook a bit when it comes to fueling girl’s low self-esteem, as Hollywood actresses are really the culprits. Most models, so says, are naturally thin, tall and lanky, but actresses are the ones going to the extremes to be thinner.

"They go on about banning size zero, but I think Hollywood stars are the worst perpetrators," she said. "Most models are naturally long and gangly, while a lot of these young girls in Hollywood have gone on extreme diets.

"Their concave chests and bony arms are terrifying. It's scary to think that normal teenagers are tempted to copy them.

"I'd love there to be more larger models, but it's just not going to happen. Designers love to design for slim girls."

Posted by Lori Henry

It is believed approximately 80,000 people in Scotland suffer from an eating disorder. Recent deaths from these disorders have provoked NHS Quality Improvement Scotland to make a review.

It has recommended that adult treatment for anorexia and bulimia, as well as for teenagers, needs better care. It warns of inaccurate information that can be found on the internet and campaigners are rallying for more funding.

Dr Harry Miller, consultant psychiatrist with the Grampian Eating Disorders Service says that the problem lies in lack of specialist services: "For large parts of Scotland there were no clinicians around.

"In addition to that, even where there are services, they are all out-patient services. There has been no specialist in-patient provision within Scotland. This is in contrast to most parts of England where they have developed specialist services.”

Mark Reilly, from the Eating Disorders Association charity, agrees: "Treatment [in Scotland] is sadly lacking. When you compare that to England, even in areas like Cornwall has its own specific eating disorder service with inpatient and outpatient provision."

Posted by Lori Henry

The mother of Brazilian model Ana Carolina Reston, who died on Tuesday of kidney failure due to anorexia, has sent out a few words for others. Her daughters diet reportedly consisted of only apples and tomatoes before her death and her BMI hung at only 13.8.

A BMI below 17.5 is part of the criteria for anorexia nervosa, and if it falls near 15, it is a sign of starvation. But many models fall under the later end of the spectrum.

"Take care of your children ... No money is worth the life of your child. Not even the most famous brand is worth this," Mrs. Reston told O Globo newspaper, after explaining that Ana was using the money she made from modelling to take care of her family.

Click here to read the original blog post about Ana Carolina Reston.

Posted by Lori Henry

Because of the seemingly easy option to change parts of your body that you don’t like, disorders such as Body Dysmorphic Disorder are on the rise. This disorder is an obsession with outer appearance, to the detriment of their social, academic and/or daily occurrences.

"Patients have a distorted image of themselves and of their body. Their preoccupation with a non-existent or slight defect in appearance causes them significant distress and impaired social, personal and academic functioning.

"The face- particularly, moles, freckles, acne, shape of the nose, excessive facial hair or facial asymmetries- is the most common focus of these anxieties, as also are the skin and hair,” explains Dr. Monica Chib, a Psychiatrist at Indraprastha Apoll Hospital in New Delhi.

”BDD is believed to be related to Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. For instance, a person could be preoccupied about the shape of his/her nose or weight. The whole world could reassure them, all to no avail. Many times, eating disorders like anorexia and bulimia are also the result of this."

What can start out as a simple preoccupation with looks can turn into Body Dysmorphic Disorder and even into a full blown eating disorder.

Dr. Chib continues, "To a certain extent, BDD is a fallout of low self-esteem. It is also a reflection of loss of control in some part of the patient's life. He or she usually requires counselling and, in severe cases, might require medication as well.”

Posted by Lori Henry

"It's shown that mom's who diet all the time and are chronic dieters will have daughters who may start dieting as early as age 9 or 10," said Sonia Angel, a dietician with Memorial Hospital, or even spawning an eating disorder.

Young teenagers and children look up to their parents for guidance and eating habits are a common behaviour to emulate, whether conscious or not.

"There are certain foods they may not like but they will like others," said Angel. "Prepare things differently because maybe they don't like something raw but they'll like something cooked, and vice versa."

Ways to help young children retain a positive body image:

- don’t diet

- don’t focus on food as good or bad

- speak positively about your own body in front of them (and with yourself, too!)

- don’t focus on weight and calories

- don’t value fad dieting above good ol’ common nutrition

Posted by Lori Henry

Ana Carolina Reston, a 21 year old Brazilian model, has died this week from reported complications due to anorexia. She modeled for Ford, Elite and L’Equipe.

So far the reports and media surrounding her death have been mostly in Portuguese, but I’m sure this will spark another controversy about models being too skinny. Her mother is also speaking out about her daughter's death.

News such as this just keeps breaking my heart. Countless people say that they don’t feel sorry for these models, as they chose their profession and make their own decisions, but eating disorders are so much more complex than that.

Please, educate yourself about these disorders so we can all be well informed and make our own knowledgeable decisions.

Click here to read the blogs about the ban on underweight models in Spain this year.

Click here to read about the deaths of Luisel Ramos and Eliana Ramos.

Posted by Lori Henry

“Highly competitive colleges probably have more individuals who are highly competitive and elicit more environmental stress, thus leading to a higher prevalence of eating disorders within certain academic institutions,” said Dr. Daniel le Grange, a faculty member in the department of psychiatry at the University of Chicago.

Dr. le Grange has published research on anorexia and bulimia and currently sits on the clinical and scientific advisory council of the National Eating Disorder Association.

He is quoted as saying, “Highly competitive environments may significantly raise an individual’s stress and anxiety level, but this may be a relative phenomenon. It may not be competition per se, but instead a perfectionist attitude that contributes to the development of an eating disorder.

“Since stress and anxiety seem to contribute to the development and maintenance of anxiety disorders, feeling constantly pressured may exacerbate symptoms of an already present eating disorder.”

The Doctor sites the statistics at the University suggest that 1 in 4 students have an eating disorder, although no formal study has been conducted. This includes people who might not necessarily be diagnoses with an eating disorder, but participate in many of the behaviours.

Posted by Lori Henry

Ecstatic Body Postures and Authentic Movement

Tannis Hugill, a wonderful teacher and professional, is hosting the following workshop that is extremely beneficial for people recovering from disordered eating.

Saturday, December 9

10 am to 5:30 pm

Pacific Mountain Centre

3309 Dunbar at 17th

$85 - $65 for students

Open to the wisdom of the body, the earth, our ancestors, and spirit.

Learn to journey to the realms of Non-ordinary Reality using ŒEcstatic Body Postures¹ and integrate the teachings of spirit into conscious awareness with Authentic Movement.

Discovered by anthropologist Felicitas Goodman, ŒEcstatic Body Postures¹ are a sacred technology used by our elders thousands of years ago to commune with the world of spirit for healing, divination, and ritual celebration. Now, to regain access to these realms, practitioners hold a posture from an early indigenous culture, accompanied by drum or rattle, and enter a visionary trance state.

Authentic Movement is a moving meditation which brings deep levels of experience to embodied understanding.

In this workshop, we will explore both ways to connect with our ancient roots and the guidance of spirit. Transformed by these gifts, we will feel our place in the web of life and a compassionate acceptance of all being.

Contact Tannis at 604-267-9951 or

tannisis@shaw.ca, www.awakeningbodywisdom.com for information and registration

Healing artist Tannis Hugill, RCC, RDT, ADTR is a Certified Practitioner of Ecstatic Body Postures by the Cuyamungue Institute. Also a registered dance and drama therapist, BC Clinical Counsellor and creator of ritual theatre, she has been devoted to the healing arts for over 20 years. In Vancouver, her private therapy practice includes teaching workshops in Authentic Movement, and Moving Prayer. Her passion is helping others experience the healing pleasure of knowing the presence of spirit in their bodies.

Posted by Lori Henry

The Academy for Eating Disorders (AED) has created a bill of rights for people suffering from eating disorders. It draws upon the responses from 1,730 people with or recovered from an eating disorder, family members, professionals and other stakeholders from 46 countries.

The web-based survey helped to define the rights and expectations that people affected by eating disorders seek from the professional world of treatment. The purpose of the charter is to form a united coalition that will persuade policy makers to, not only take notice of the millions of people suffering from this disease, but to also affect change by committing to the actions set out.

The charter came about after the first initiative of the World Summit on Eating Disorders, which AED plans to sponsor annually. This summit is presented each year to discuss concerns from people affected by disordered eating and people are encouraged to actively participate in the activities organized.

You can read the charter at: http://www.aedweb.org/public/WorldCharter.cfm

Posted by Lori Henry

Austrian researchers have completed a study on 475 women, aged 60-70 years old, to find out how satisfied they were with their bodies. More than 60% reported to be dissatisfied and 4% almost met the criteria to be diagnosed with a full blown eating disorder.

The majority of these women would have been diagnosed with an EDNOS (Eating Disorder not Otherwise Specified), which means they don’t meet “all” of the criteria for anorexia, bulimia or compulsive overeating, but may purge, use laxatives and binge eat.

Almost 90% of the women studied said that they felt fat to some degree. Dr. Barbara Mangweth-Matzek, the lead author of the study, says that there has been little research done on older women and body image.

Most Doctors were surprised at the results of the study, which was published in the International Journal of Eating Disorders, because of the lack of research. The study supports the notion that the desire to attain a slim figure doesn’t go away with age.

As Dr. Mangweth-Matzek stated, “…ideals, wishes, preferences stay the same.”

Posted by Lori Henry

Kristie Alley, once on “Cheers” and “Veronica's Closet,” then as the star of “Fat Actress,” decided to fulfill her pledge made around a year ago to wear a bikini on Oprah’s show.

After having her weight gain documented in the tabloids and in gossip columns, Alley came out last week in a bikini to the Commodores’ “Brick House.”

She said in a follow up interview: "I don't think we ever feel like we're good enough. We don't feel like we're thin enough or pretty enough or smart enough or work hard enough. And we are good enough.

"The bikini thing is neither here nor there, other than the fact, you know, I am 55 years old. So I thought come on, we are all good enough. And we look good enough. And we are not our bodies."

Posted by Lori Henry

They began by speaking to young women at Ohio State about positive body image and eating disorders on November 6th.

Rachel said, “As women on the MTV network, we felt we needed to put a speech together that had something to say aside from gossip about our shows. We need to address this subject matter here on campus. We can’t ignore it.”

Veronica, who admitted to starving herself by only eating an apple a day, added, “I found strength by traveling the world (on the show) and seeing how women are celebrated for their bodies. That was how I found inspiration.”

Ironically, she was cast by the MTV show when she was at her sickest. By talking about her experience now and the pressure to be thin by TV execs is a great way to get teenagers attention who otherwise wouldn’t be listening.

Rachel will do another talk at the Southern Conneticut State University in New Haven on November 17th and believes, “Confidence is the key to success. Media images are not reflections of reality. As individuals, we decide how to experience the media messages we encounter. [These images] are always going to exist. They won’t stop. It’s up to us to become a critical viewer and a smart viewer.”

Posted by Lori Henry

She has been accused of having an eating disorder because of her super-skinny frame, but Mischa tells the press that she doesn’t necessarily want to be that thin. She goes on to state that Hollywood should cast women with more womanly curves.

“It's so wrong to try and stifle womanly curves, it shouldn't be promoted. This unhealthy look should be abandoned.”

Barton confesses that images of ultra skinny celebrities in magazines on the screen are damaging to the psyches of young women and can cause eating disorders such as anorexia or bulimia.

But this comes after she said that her co-star on the OC, Rachel Bilson, had curves that she was scared of.

“I feel tall and lanky next to her, but I'd be scared of having her boobs and voluptuousness! I would never have a boob job. I like being understatedly sexy. Rachel's curves make her more overtly sexual than I am.”

Posted by Lori Henry

She talked to People magazine this week and said that at her worst, she was purging up to 7 times a day, which she compares as, “putting a sledgehammer to your vocal cords.”

After auditioning and making onto Idol last fall, she knew she had to get help.

“When I made it onto American Idol, I knew that food- my eating disorder- was the one thing really holding me back,” she says. “I was bingeing my whole life away for days at a time… So when I got on the show, I said, ‘You know what? I can do well in this competition. Let me give myself a chance and just get a hold of this thing.’”

She committed herself to Los Angeles’s Eating Disorder Center of California and spent 3 months there undergoing both individual and group therapy 6 days per week.

“I knew I had put off going to a treatment centre long enough- I'd been struggling with bulimia since I was 17. Growing up in Los Angeles and spending all those years in dance class, I'd been conscious of body image at a young age, and I went through phases of exercising compulsively and starving myself… Food was my crutch; it was how I dealt with emotions and uncomfortable situations.”

She has now left the program and gained a better relationship with herself, and with food.

"I really had to surrender and give up having a free life to do the program, because I'd be there from 9 in the morning until 7 at night… I remember that first night, my dad holding me, crying and saying, 'I don't know why you have to suffer through this, but it's going to be okay.' "

In treatment, she learned about intuitive eating and that helped her to view food as an integral part of life, instead of something to fight against.

"I learned that there's no such thing as a bad food," she says. "If you look at a doughnut, people think it's a fattening food- why? Because if you eat it you'll get fat? No, you'll get fat if you eat 10 doughnuts."

Posted by Lori Henry

People who suffer from anorexia have been studied to see whether the disorders have a meaning behind their starving behaviours.

"Therefore, treatments of anorectic behaviour which disregard the meaning that the patients attribute to the illness are likely to end in relapses," says the lead investigator Dr. Ragnfrid H. Nordbo, of the Norwegian Institute of Public Health in Oslo.

The study he lead considered the perceptions of 18 women with anorexia between the ages of 20-34 years. He interviewed each of them in-depth to identify 8 core “constructs,” such as security, avoidance, mental strength, self-confidence, identity, care, communication and death.

"Therapists who do not take these intentions into consideration are likely to elicit resistance and sooner or later fail in their treatment attempts," the study confirms. "We therefore emphasize the importance of encouraging patients to express their personal values and to explain how their eating disorder both fulfills and compromises their values."

The results were published in the November issue of the International Journal of Eating Disorders.

Posted by Lori Henry

The relapse rate for girls after treatment for anorexia is 8.2, according to statistics by Dr. Michael Strober of the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. But for boys, they found that they didn’t revert back to preoccupation with their weight and appearance like the girls did.

His most recent study took 99 anorexia patients from the ages of 13-17, 14 of whom were boys. Although they had similar symptoms when they arrived, like anxiety disorders, rigidity and perfectionism, the boys showed a bit less concern with their weight.

The researchers concluded that boys don’t usually suffer from as severe cases of anorexia as their female counterparts, which could be attributed to brain differences as well as societal and cultural forces.

Either way, an eating disorder is never an easy thing to go through.

Posted by Lori Henry

This monthly newsletter is for people recovering, recovered, affected by and interested in eating disorders. Titled You Are Not Alone, it provides inspiration, useful tips and helpful information to do with recovery.

I also have a column in it, as well as other who contribute their stories, poetry, essays and artwork.

You can join by visiting Andrea’s Web site and adding your email address half way down the page.

Posted by Lori Henry

A new Australian study reveals that advertising affects eating behaviour in a way we wouldn’t expect. Instead of making young woman starve themselves, it seems that seeing images of skinny models makes women binge, instead.

The study was published in the November issue of Eating Behaviours, an international scientific journal. One of the students at the University of New South Wales, Fiona Monro, is just as surprised by the results.

"We would expect people who value the way they look would be reminded by viewing the image and not eat," she says. "We're not sure why we found the reverse but possibly because of stress.”

After finishing a meal, the women involved in the study were asked to rank the importance of physical attractiveness, health and physical fitness to determine if they value the way their body looks more or less than the way it functions.

The next step was to show them six magazine ads for body-related products (diet pills, for example), in which some images contained idealized female models and others not.

The women more obsessed with their appearance ate more sweets after viewing these ads than the other women, who are less.

"There's no doubt these images have an effect on some women and can lead to changes in eating behaviour, especially when you consider how many images people are exposed to every day," Monro says.

Posted by Lori Henry

A new education program for parents is aimed at reducing stress and control issues around mealtime conflict. Children with Infantile Anorexia experience failure to gain weight or weight loss over one month, experience a rare interest in food or expression of hunger, the behaviour is detected before 3 years old, and they do not have trauma to the oropharyngeal area or other medical conditions.

"A treatment that focuses on helping toddlers with internal regulation of eating can decrease mother-toddler conflict and struggle for control during feeding and improve weight gain in such children," said Irene Chapoor, MD, principal investigator and director of the infant psychiatry and eating disorders program at Children's National Medical Center, Washington, DC.

The researchers studied 70 toddlers who were from 12-42 months old and had been diagnosed with Infantile Anorexia. Four social workers then administered differing intervention with the mothers and fathers, without the children present.

Posted by Lori Henry

Called “Student Bodies,” the different facets of the program have appealing names like “Food, Mood and Attitude” and “Full of Ourselves.” The 8-week, on-line program was shown to reduce the development of anorexia, bulimia and compulsive overeating in women at risk for them.

Weekly Internet sessions were conducted about healthy eating, keeping a journal, body image and participating in an interactive discussion moderated by a Psychologist.

The researchers followed 480 female college students from California for a period of up to 2 years. The National Institute of Mental Health funded the study and the findings appeared in the August issue of the Archives of General Psychiatry.

"This study shows that innovative intervention can work," said Thomas Insel, director of the National Institute of Mental Health.

Because recovery is such a difficult thing to treat, new programs such as these proliferate. With the incidence of eating disorders doubling over the last 40 years, researchers are trying desperately to find out new ways help prevent them.

“This study is a very significant piece of research because it demonstrates that one can transfer what's known about risk factors into a program that can be applied at very low cost," said Michael Levine, a professor of psychology at Kenyon College in Ohio. "And it gives every indication of being able to reduce important risk factors."

The study is gaining acclaim quickly. "I can't think of a single computer-based eating disorders program that can hold a candle to these results," said University of Texas psychologist Eric Stice.

Posted by Lori Henry

In this way, they feel that it will help address the problem which has plagued, in particular, low income neighbourhoods.

Lenore Skenazy thinks the idea is a sham, as caloric info has been on food labels for 30 years. But adding it to menus won’t help with obesity, but might push people the other way: "As if this will do any good, other than budding anorexics."

Dr. Harry Brandt, the former director of the eating disorders program at the National Institutes of Health, agrees: "The more people calculate and fret, the weirder their eating habits become. Some binge, some starve."

I don’t think that be putting more focus on food, we will be helping people to live healthier lives. On the contrary, it could possibly encourage them to obsess about what they’re eating and lead to disordered eating.

Posted by Lori Henry

Velvet d’Amour is an American, Paris-based, model and actress. At 39 years old and 20 pounds, she hardly fits the stereotypical “model” shape. But she strutted her stuff in this year’s Paris Fashion Week as one of Jean Paul Gaultier’s models.

She came out in a satin corset and negligee and heels and seemed completely comfortable in her skin. But she believes that people should stop being so hard on her fellow skinny models.

"If you tell me somebody's too thin, if you tell me somebody's too fat, you're still being prejudiced. The point is diversity," Velvet told the Herald.

Posted by Lori Henry

"Eating disorders are still misunderstood by the public," says Dr. Allan Kaplan, a psychiatrist and Sheena's Place board member. "They are still romanticized, their severity is minimized, and the understanding of eating disorders is superficial."

Sheena’s Place is a non-profit organization named after Sheena Carpenter, a young woman who died of an eating disorder. The center offers services in a welcoming, non-institutional environment and is centrally located in downtown Toronto.

"This was a tremendous opportunity to raise awareness for a silent and misunderstood condition," said Nancy Vonk, co-creative director of Ogilvy Toronto, who donated their services for the ads. "This campaign is designed to move the reader from cynicism and apathy to empathy and interest."

The ads have comments like, “I never see my daughter eat” and then goes into detail in small print. But some of the ads are worrisome.

One says, “You have to be skinny to be popular.” Although the small print goes into more detail and offers where to get help, using the negative message in such a blatant way may catch someone’s eye but not make them read further.

But the ads are supposedly being received positively. "As a result of seeing them, people are either coming to Sheena's Place to gather more information to pass on to friends or they have strongly encouraged someone who they think might have an eating disorder to come to our Wednesday morning drop-ins to learn more about our programs and have a tour of our house,” says Anne Elliot, program director of Sheena’s Place.

“Others are so impressed with the prevention message that they've called to volunteer.”

Posted by Lori Henry

Lindsey Lohan is only 20 years old and has had a quick rise to fame in which she is known for both her films and her party going.

"I feel like I've lived five lifetimes and I am only 20," she is quoted as saying in an honest interview, "You have to hit rock bottom sometimes to get yourself back to the top."

She had gotten to the point of total exhaustion and spent a night thinking she was going to die. she admitted to News of the World that she suffered from boyth anorexia and bulimia from 2004-2005.

"I lay there screaming, throwing things, because the pains were so intense in my head and my liver. In the end I didn't even have the strength to take a shower," says the actress and pop singer. "It was terrifying. But going through shit makes me that much stronger."

In and out of the hospital for exhaustion and disordered eating, her last trip was during the filming of “Georgia Rule.”

"I was making myself sick. Sometimes being that thin doesn't look healthy. I kind of didn't realize that. One time when someone asked me if I was OK I just started bawling. I knew I had a problem and just could not admit it. My arms were disgusting. I had no arms. I had people sit me down and say, ‘You're going to die if you don't take care of yourself'."

Posted by Lori Henry

Her publicist issued this statement last week, “She is working with a team of doctors and specialists whose focus is nutrition. It is important to Nicole that she achieve this goal in a healthy way.”

Her weight has plummeted to a level of looking like a famine victim. She says, “I really do need to do something about it, I’m not happy with the way I look right now.”

I really hope she gets the help she needs, as the photos I’ve seen of her lately look scary. Losing that much weight in a short period of time is dangerous and obviously unnatural.

Posted by Lori Henry

"When my mother died laughing, my father shot himself." – Matilde

The Clean House opens with a Portuguese joke, told in Portuguese, and although most of the audience didn’t understand it on opening night, the laughter was proof of the charming woman who told it.

We proceed to hear from two of the other characters in short monologues, introducing their part of the story. Surtitles are projected onto a screen that separates the scenes and punctuates moments throughout.

The first half of the show runs at breakneck speed, with witty dialogue and interesting characters moving it along. Although the second half slows down quite a bit, the hilarious and touching acting and strong script hold it all together.

Dealing with a Doctor who has lost control over her marriage and her maid, her sister with a cleaning fetish, a maid who is sad when she cleans, and a cancer patient who brings them all together, the play delves deeply without getting too weighty.

The opening night was a smashing success and the audience left with grins on their faces. The run is from October 26th, 2006 to November 11th, 2006. at the Vancouver Playhouse Theatre in Vancouver, Canada.

October 26th: Opening Night

October 28th: Pay-What-You-Can Matinee (2:00pm)

October 30th & November 8th: Tea Matinees (1:00pm, curtain at 2:00pm)

November 1st & 8th: Salon Saturday with Actress and Comedienne Veena Sood (1:00pm)

November 11th: Closing Night

To buy tickets, visit: www.vancouverplayhouse.com

Posted by Lori Henry

UBC (University of British Columbia) and VGH (Vancouver General Hospital) are jointly testing, along with funding from B.C. Health care, the procedure of Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS).

Surgeons drill 2 holes into the skull and insert electrical wires through the sides of the frontal lobes. Leaving a remote control brain pacemaker, this devise sends shocks of energy into the brain with 3 volts of electricity.

This happens 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and is powered by a battery pack that sits on the subject’s neck. Co-sponsoring the clinical trial is a Texas-based medical devise manufacturer who hopes it takes off.

It’s sort of like a lobotomy and people are up in arms about its effectiveness and the link between health care and profits in Canada. Is this the new fix or just another test to find a way to quickly treat severe cases of depression, eating disorders and many other conditions?

Posted by Lori Henry

In some sports, such as wrestling, weight is an important issue. Weigh-ins, to determine a wrestler’s weight category, was a large issue for athletes who wanted to compete in the lightest group.

Some would go to such extremes as dehydrating themselves by visiting saunas and wearing vinyl suits while working out to try to lose water weight. When they re-hydrated after the weigh-in, they would get their energy back for the match.

Because weigh-ins are now done 1 hour before the match and not the day before, as was customary, as well as the National Collegiate Wrestling Association and the NCAA banning saunas and vinyl suits, this practice has greatly diminished.

“Former wrestlers have told me that after restrictively dieting to lose weight for a sport, their appetite may never get back to normal. They say that they’ll get hungry for no good reason because they’ve lost touch with what’s right for them,” said Myra Berkowitz, a nutritionist at Gannett and member of the Cornell Healthy Eating Program.

As for gymnasts, who have been known to go to extreme measure for thinness as well, coaches are saying the problem has been reduced by not focusing on weight and shape.

But, “We have had problems with exercise compulsion,” Melanie Dilliplane said, a gymnastics assistant, “Because gymnastics is an anaerobic sport- gymnasts will work for a high-intensity for only one to one-and-a-half minutes- some team members would go to the gym excessively for aerobic activity.”

Read the accompanying article titled, “Athletes and Eating Disorders.”

Posted by Lori Henry

Two companies have recently unrolled their sizes below 0. Nicole Miller offers the size “subzero” and Banana Republic offers “00.” The subzero reportedly outfits women with a 23.5-inch waist and 35-inch hips. What exciting news (can you feel my sarcasm dripping from the screen?)…

Probably in an attempt to make women feel better about themselves by offering us clothing that is larger than what the size says, they are actually distorting women’s body image even more.

What’s next, minus sizes? How can you be minus a size unless you’re dead?

Posted by Lori Henry

Amy confesses that she’s struggled with disordered eating since 2004. Her confession was made after pictures were published of her looking very thin, opposed to her naturally curvy figure. She is firm that she is in recovery but is still insecure.

“I went through every eating disorder you can have. A little bit of anorexia, a little bit of bulimia,” she said, “I’m not totally okay now but I don’t think any woman is.”

Posted by Lori Henry

How do you define when a diet has gone too far? Remuda Ranch, one of the most prominent centres for women and girls with anorexia and bulimia, has some answers.

"A diet has gone too far when the restrictive calorie level or limited foods on the diet lead to episodes of binge eating; a diet has gone too far when a person purges calories by self-induced vomiting," said Juliet Zuercher, registered dietitian and the director of nutrition services at Remuda Ranch.

"If these binging and purging behaviors increase to multiple times per week, for three months or more, that's considered a full-blown eating disorder."

When the individuals mind starts believing that more weight loss is required in order to be happy, they are on a slippery slope to disordered eating. The mind will begin obsessing over food and exercise as it loses control from erratic nutrition.

Posted by Lori Henry

Read the original blog post here.

Dawn Beye’s 16 year old daughter suffers from anorexia and needs critical treatment. But the insurance company doesn’t consider eating disorders mental illnesses and do not fall under the category of “biologically-based.”

An independent review organization has sided with the insurer, Horizon Blue Cross/Blue Shield of New Jersey, who declined to cover in-patient recovery treatment for over 30 days. Dawn appealed the decision and has found out that her appeal was denied. She will now fight against Horizon by filing a suit and push for a law that requires insurers to cover eating disorders.

"This is a huge disappointment. I think this decision is intellectually dishonest," Beye said last week.

The Horizon spokesperson, Thomas Rubino, declared, “We explained what the State of New Jersey law is and that anorexia and other eating disorders are not considered biologically based mental illnesses.”

Posted by Lori Henry

Over the last couple of weeks, the poll posted on the main eating disorders page was: “Do you think banning ultra thin models on the runway is a good idea?”

You can view the correlating blogs posts here, which cove the recent ban on runway models who were extremely underweight.

48% of readers voted: Yes, models are too thin and don't represent the majority

25% voted: Yes, they need to make a change

13% voted: Not sure if it's the right solution

4% voted: No, it's discrimination

10% voted: No, it won't change anything

I was actually surprised by so many votes in the first category. I think this attributes to people’s strong beliefs that the models walking down the runway are giving women a really messed up sense of beauty.

From models dying to fainting to falling over from fatigue, it is clear that the females who represent fashion designers clothing need to be updated. The too-thin look is not just scary to look at, it’s downright dangerous.

I don’t believe that banning models under a certain BMI is a solution, but it does send a clear message that the fashion industry has to start looking within it’s own walls to come up with some much-needed changes.

Thank you for voting.

Posted by Lori Henry

The study shows that doctors can analyze strands of hair for nutritional intake and carbon and nitrogen molecules. The researchers were able to accurately determine a diagnosis 80% of the time.

“Just as it can be used to determine if someone has used drugs or has been exposed to harmful amounts of mercury and lead, hair can show what someone has been eating,” Ken Hatch said, a professor in BYU's department of integrative biology. "This would give a clinician an objective measure to use to diagnose an eating disorder, and we hope it will eventually allow a sound diagnosis at an earlier stage.”

This might help doctors come to a conclusion, as suffers are often secretive and against seeking therapy.

"Their self-evaluation is very impaired," said Jennifer Tolman, clinical director at Avalon Hills, a treatment facility in Cache County, Utah. "We had a girl who was 5-10 and 98 pounds and she wasn't even sure she had an eating disorder, although she could recognize it in others," Tolman said.

Larger studies are planned to develop this test in clinics. The research findings were published last week in the journal Rapid Communications in Mass Spectrometry.

Posted by Lori Henry

Wales is hosting a conference for parents and carers of people with an eating disorer this month. It is the first of its kind in Wales and will focus specifically on providing extra support and practical ways of helping loved ones.

It is being organized by the Monmouthshire Council, in partnership with Gwent Healthcare NHS Trust and Gwent Eating Disorder Support Group. Experts will be on hand to talk about the day-to-day issues of caring for an individual with an eating disorder.

The event will be held on October 27th at the Marriot St. Pierre Hotel in Chepstow. It is free and you can find out more information by calling 01291 673018.

Posted by Lori Henry

Tara’s boob job was a matter of public view after her breast was on scrutiny at one of P-Diddy’s parties. The strap of her dress fell and exposed one breast for a good 15 seconds before she became aware of it.

What was exposed was more than she bargained for. She had had many complications after surgery and was suffering from a red and displaced nipple, as well as lumpiness and scarring on her stomach after liposuction.

The media attention and overall frenzy that followed was unprecedented, as every blog around the world seemed to have posted pictures of the woman in bikinis and revealing outfits. She has now had to have more surgery to correct what the last surgeon did and try to revert back to “normal,” as she has been quoted as saying.

It saddens me whenever I hear of someone else going under the knife. The pressure for actresses to look a certain way is getting so ridiculously out of control, it makes me sick. As for the rest of the population who isn’t under the flash of high-watt bulbs everyday, why the growing number of cosmetic surgeries?

I was quoted in Elevate: the cosmetic enhancement magazine, as saying: “What would the world be without flaws? We all have personality 'flaws' that make us human, so why do we try to attain perfection in our bodies? It disturbs me enormously that we are progressively becoming more desensitized to the dangers and consequences of cosmetic surgery.”

I stand by every word.

Posted by Lori Henry

Coca-Cola is said to be launching a new drink that states it can burn 50-100 calories just by drinking a 12 oz. serving. The marketing company says it will target “active life consumers,” which means “dieters,” in regular talk.

But how can a drink speed up metabolism? The company is obviously planning to compete with Jana Skinny Water, another drink that promises weight loss in a bottle. Even after their bomb of a drink last year, Coke Zero, which saw only a 0.8% volume share of the supermarket soda category, they’re still planning to go ahead with the launch.

Are they serious? Yes, the company has applied for a trademark on the name, has hired Publicis Groupe Saatchi & Saatchi to market it, and has partnered with Nestlé once again.

Whatever happened to a healthy lifestyle and moderate exercise to maintain the weight right for each individual? Boycott this Coca-Cola by refusing to drink this crap.

Posted by Lori Henry

Eating disorders are definitely on the rise, especially in school-aged children. Although concerns about overweight children surely need a resolution, not at the expense of fueling anorexia or bulimia.

"There are also fears that the intense focus on obesity is actually exacerbating the problem of eating disorders - we are now hearing about kids in primary school going on starvation diets in an attempt to look thinner," states federal Labor MP Anna Burke, in Sydney, Australia.

By promoting the dangers of obesity as a doom and gloom scenario, young children become confused and scared at the prospect of becoming fat. Instead of leading them to adopt healthy lifestyle choices, though, it often encourages them to start dieting or starving themselves in their terror of gaining weight.

Posted by Lori Henry

After changing their name from ANAD (Awareness and Networking around Disordered Eating) this year, the organization has also changed their focus. They are now known as Jessie’s Hope Society: “Celebrating the inner strength and beauty of everyBody!”

The new design offers photos, video, an on-line forum, a blog, resources, events listings, on-going and new programs and more info about the group.

You can visit the forum at: http://forum.jessieshope.org/

To visit the new site at the same address: www.jessieshope.org

Posted by Lori Henry

I’m interested to see how the show handles these large issues, especially from a woman who was in the modelling industry for so many years. A young woman will be on that watched “America’s Next Top Model” and relapsed into eating paper.

Jessica Weiner will also be on hand, titled as a “body activist,” (not too sure what that means) so hopefully she’ll provide some sound and helpful advice.

The show airs on Thursday October 19th, 2006. Check your local listings for showtime in your area.

For the article I wrote about the show, click here.

Posted by Lori Henry

NEDA, The National Eating Disorders Association has partnered with Clear Channel Radio to launch a national PSA campaign. They will use Hollywood stars Paula Abdul (American Idol), Scarlett Pomers (Reba), Wynonna Judd (of the Judds), Sara Evans (Dancing with Stars) and Emme (plus size model) to record 17 spots that will run until mid 2007.

They will focus on raising public awareness about eating disorders and how to get help if someone you know is showing symptoms. Clear Channel Radio airs across the country and serves more than 110 million listeners each week.

Lynn Grefe, the CEO of NEDA, is excited about the partnership: "The National Eating Disorders Association applauds Clear Channel for its leadership in helping us to save lives and lead people toward help. This partnership with our celebrity ambassadors and Clear Channel will reach so many people to emphasize that eating disorders are illnesses, not choices. Eating disorders can be deadly and can devastate entire families- both emotionally and financially. But, we are here together to say that there is hope and there is help. Thank you Clear Channel, Paula, Scarlett, Emme, Wynonna and Sara. Lending your voices to the cause makes a difference and we are grateful."

Joel Delmonico, the Vice President of Clear Channel Radio, responded by saying, "Clear Channel Radio is deeply committed to our listeners in communities across the country. We are part of the daily lives of millions of people and reaching out with important messages like this is what we do every day. We believe that this campaign can have a real and measurable impact on the lives of those suffering from these disorders."

The celebrities are just as thrilled: "I'm so excited to be working with NEDA on this very important issue," said Scarlett Pomers. "The number of sufferers only increases every year and I hope we can step up awareness and relieve the shame and guilt that families feel, so they may get help before their loved ones suffer permanent damage or even death."

Emme added, "Awareness comes only when we are ready to see the whole picture. Here's to bashing false stereotypes and embracing our whole selves!"

Posted by Lori Henry

This weekend, Bryan Lask, emeritus professor of child and adolescent psychiatry at St. George’s University of London and one of Britain’s leading authorities on eating disorders, equated the fashion industry’s role in promoting disorder eating to that of the tobacco industry’s endorsement of smoking.

"If the question is: 'Does the whole emphasis within our society on being thin, does that play a part in the development of anorexia?', then the answer is undoubtedly and absolutely 'yes,'” he comented.

"The massive increase in eating disorders in the last 20 years has to be attributed to the whole issue of the pressure to be thin." He affirmed that the fashion industry needs to take responsibility for the dangerous ideals they promote and start making some drastic changes.

Patients at the Cygnet Hospital Ealing’s Eating Disorder Unit, ranging in ages from 21-57, note that although seeing waif-like models didn’t cause their disorders, but they certainly exacerbate the problem.

One patient said, "You look at them and think, 'God, I wish I did look like that. I really want to look like that.'"

Another young patient commented, "Why aren't they in hospital getting treated, like we are? Why can they be like that and we can't?…We're all sectioned and have tubes put down our noses to be able to eat, and we have people out there who have lower BMIs than us."

What a succinct comment, indeed. Read the original blog post about banning anorexic models in Spain and Italy or the news on the death of model Ana Carolina Reston.

Click here to read about the ban of ultra thin models in Italy.

For a list of all coverage, click here.

Posted by Lori Henry

I am on the search for a group called "Women in Recovery" for a reader. They have held a conference in Ft. Walton Beach, FL and are believed to have a chapter in Gulf Breeze, FL.

If you have any information, please either email me or post in on the discussion boards.

Thanks!

Posted by Lori Henry

At the time of her death, her bones protruded from her body, her teeth were rotten and she could only fit into children’s clothing. After 3 years of binging and purging, her body weakened and her heart gave out.

Her mother has been battling the system after realizing they had been let down. Her daughter visited her GP more than 2 times but didn’t receive the help she needed. She was told it was just a fad and that she would eventually get better.

Her mother continues the fight. “I was unable to save Cat but I would like to be able to help others. I will continue to campaign for an outpatient centre in Norwich. I feel this might have helped Cat.”

“I will also continue to communicate with the Primary Care Trust until it recognises what went wrong in Cat's case. The fact it has gone external is a positive step. I know there are girls out there who need it and if this was here when Cat was alive she might be here now.”

Posted by Lori Henry

Doctors in London put out their strongest call yet for underweight models to be banned from the catwalk. In an open letter to the British Fashion Council, 40 health professionals and Doctors at London’s biggest eating disorders clinic insisted on a ban of models who are “clearly anorexic.”

"There is no doubt that there is cause and effect here," said Professor Janet Treasure of the Eating Disorders Service and Research Unit at King's College London. "The fashion industry showcases models with extreme body shapes, and this is undoubtedly one of the factors leading to young girls developing eating disorders."

The letter was in response to the recent controversy on models under the BMI of 18 to be banned from the Madrid Fashion Week and urges London’s fashion industry to follow suit.

Professor Janet was also quoted as saying, "The Spanish example is very sensible. Eating disorders go hand-in-hand with a range of other problems, including substance abuse, behavioural issues and self harm. If young girls are seeing these poor role models, they can develop habits that are very difficult to shift in later life."

Sales of an American size 0, size 4 in the UK, are on sale at popular shops such as Miss Selfridge and Top Shop. The trousers are made for a 22” waist, the average measurements of an 8 year old girl.

"There are increasingly very, very thin women, who look as underdeveloped as pre-teens and they seem desperate to fit into the smallest sizes," says a shop assistant at Top Shop where the petite sizes are selling very quickly.

An exerpt from the letter is as follows:

"The issue is not whether we should place the blame of unhealthy eating behaviours on the fashion industry or on anyone else. The issue is that Spanish health authorities have decided to intervene in a health issue, which is directly affecting the wellbeing of models as well as affecting the attitudes and behaviours of many young girls and women who may strive to imitate and attain these unhealthy pursuits.

"Adopting what Madrid has done is a good first step but the fashion industry, from designer to magazine editors, should not be making icons out of anorexically thin models. Magazines should stop printing these pictures and designers should stop designing for these models.

"People may say that clothes look better on skinny models but do not forget there was a time when smoking looked good too."

Posted by Lori Henry

Their current ad has a man shown without a head but a ripped torso, some say imitating Michelangelo’s David. It shows not one stray hair or imperfection and depersonalizes the model as they do in women’s ads.

"Body image is not just a concern for women," says Deborah Schooler, a research associate at Brown University who has studied the adverse affects media images can have on male self-esteem. "It affects men, too, and it demands attention."

She believes that when researching men and body image, the wrong questions are being asked. "Asking men about just weight or size misses the boat," Schooler. They care more about other “real body” factors like sweat, body hair and body odour.

A study done last spring at the San Francisco State University and recently published in Seed magazine, looked at 184 male college students. It reported that the more media these guys saw, especially music videos and prime-time TV, the worse they felt about the “real” aspects of their bodies they had mentioned before.

The study also revealed that these negative feelings impacted with sexual health and in some cases led to more aggressive and riskier sexual behaviour.

But David Zinczenko, editor of Men’s Health magazine, has a different view of the ad. “What's good about that image is that it's the picture of health… With diabetes rates skyrocketing over the past 70 years, a little more 'lean' wouldn't hurt us."

Hmmm...

Posted by Lori Henry

Larry Kirkwood is presenting his project, which features 2 nude body casts from neck down to the thighs and from all body types, genders and races, to show a more realistic view of the body.

“We have been collaborating for two years to bring this exhibit here,” said Gail Siegel, arts programming coordinator for Campus Involvement. “We are trying to use Larry’s artwork to provide information and increase awareness about learning to love our own bodies.”

The 22 moulds will be shown in conjunction with a lecture that Kirkwood will give about body image. He’s co-presenting the exhibit with The Visual, Performing and Literary Arts Committee, and Health and Wellness Services Eating Disorders Prevention Program.

“I didn’t expect it to be so powerful,” Siegel said. “Larry is an art activist who is passionate about making a difference.”

The artist drove the work from his residence in Kansas City, MO to Pullman himself, stating, “I just want to make a change by showing people what they really look like,” Kirkwood said, “because mirrors are anything but objective.”

“I didn’t expect it to be so powerful,” Siegel said, “Larry is an art activist who is passionate about making a difference.”

The lecture takes place Wednesday evening at 7:30pm in the Fine Arts Auditorium. An “a la carte” presentation will be held on Thursday at 12:10pm in the Bundy Reading Room in Avery Hall. The entire exhibit will be displayed until Thursday.

Posted by Lori Henry

This clinic specialized in Eating Disorders but can’t get enough funding to keep it going. One of the counselors says the closing of the clinic will lead to more people with illnesses going undiagnosed.

Carol Drew, a former spokesperson for the DHB association, says disorder eating is complex and she’s worried that people not getting specialized treatment will be lost in the system.

Posted by Lori Henry

Xenical is a weight loss drug that prevents the body from absorbing fat. During the prime-time TV slots, it’s being advertised to the consternation of many, including the Australian Medical Association. They say the commercial is misleading and will encourage young women to take the drug if they are concerned about their weight, even if they are not obese.

The tagline is: “One of the reasons you put on weight is that your body is very good at absorbing fat. Now there is Xenical.”

Because the second largest audience for the show is the 13-17 year old age group, consumer watchdog Choice is outraged at the company behind the commercial. The safety of the drug hasn’t been tested yet and it’s not recommended for people under the age of 18, which isn’t mentioned in the ad.

Posted by Lori Henry

She stated that she never goes to bed without her bra on because of her insecurity. After giving birth to a son, she went from baring all for the men’s magazine to covering up even in front of her husband, Jim Carey.

She said, “I do have a C-section scar that goes right across with the shelf that hangs over. I've got stretch marks. After childbirth, boobs hang down. I will not have sex without my bra. I can't stand it when they just slither past my arms and lay flat like pancakes... I'm insecure with the rest of them."

f you look like the Jenny McCarthy, which is an “ideal” to many men and women, and you still feel shitty about yourself, don’t you think that’s a problem? I’m not talking about her specifically now, but about the unattainable holy grail that is never reached, even by people who it seems have the secret.

Posted by Lori Henry

The event will be held from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. Oct. 26 at the Bay Club Marin in Corte Madera, California.

The program, titled "Building a Community for Prevention 2006," will feature guest speaker Dr. Haleh Kashani, creator of Kaiser's outpatient eating disorder program, a silent auction, wine, appetizers and resource information provided by the organization’s founders.

For details, call (415) 459-2270.

Posted by Lori Henry

The results:

Occurrence of eating disorders on campus

· More than half of those polled (55.3%) said they know at least one person who has struggled with an eating disorder and have at least taken the initiative to speak to them about it (57.6%).

· Only 37.8% felt their lives were not personally impacted by an eating disorder.

· Of the 19.6% who admit to having personally had an eating disorder at some time, nearly 75% of those had never received or sought treatment.

· Students who have dieted and avoided or skipped meals (80.9% and 74.7%, respectively).

· Students who know someone who compulsively exercises more than two hours at a time, more days of the week than not (44.4%), purges by vomiting (38.8%); uses laxatives to lose weight (26%).

General awareness of eating disorders

· Of the respondents, 25.2% were familiar with anorexia; 22.9% with bulimia; 15.4% with binge eating disorder; 7.9% with compulsive exercise bulimia and 62.4% with all of the above. Only 10.9% selected "none of the above."

· A majority of respondents believe eating disorders will lead to major lifelong health problems and serious or fatal health issues (83% and 82.5%, respectively).

Among the common pressures believed by respondents to cause the onset of eating disorders

· Cultural pressures to be thin (57.3%)

· Stress from family and life in general (40.3% and 46.2%, respectively)

· Personal choice (39%)

· Mental illness (35.4%)

· History of trauma (17.9%)

· Genetics (17.6%)

Posted by Lori Henry

But instead of feeding the myth that actresses in the spotlight lead trouble free lives, she will speak at the Tween Health Conference hosted by the Girl Scouts Redlands Council in Midwest City, Oklahoma.

The conference is expected to attract over 500 moms' young women and their mothers, which will focus on healthy eating, self-esteem, peer pressure, Internet safety and leadership.

She will speak publicly about her treatment for Anorexia in hopes of sharing with the teens her experience. She wants them to know that, if they are going down that road, how to make better decisions and how to get help.

2 years ago, Scarlett was on a starvation diet that lead to a frightening spiral into an Eating Disorder. She exercised excessively, rarely ate and hid what she was doing. Fortunately, she turned to her mother, who had her admitted into an inpatient facility for treatment.

The thousands of emails from fans and young women who understand her struggle have come flooding in, confirming her impulse to speak publicly about it. She realizes that the disease is more widespread than most people think and that it is highly misunderstood.

"I think being a teenager is a hard time for anybody," Scarlett is quoted as saying. "I'm almost 18, thinking about adult things and teen things. It's definitely a time of transition and it helps to have a teen support system. I was 16, when Anorexia completely took over my life. Girls who have an eating disorder need to find someone they trust and talk to them. I made a choice to get better, and I talked to my mom."

Posted by Lori Henry

It is a 90 minute, one-man show, and discusses the state of male body image and how damaging men can be tot their own bodies for the sake of appearance. The show consists of three stories, a gay college student, a personal trainer and a newlywed documentary filmmaker, who each participate in different destructive behaviours to alter their own bodies.

After the show, a 30 minute panel discussion will be held by Michael himself, along with a group of UCF (University of Central Florida) health experts and counselors. The audience will be encouraged to share their opinions and experience on the issues presented, as well as ask any questions.

Incorporated into the show is also a filmed documentary featuring interviews with men talking about what they secretly think about their bodies, from their cycles of obsession to what drives them to steroid and supplement abuse.

The show is being held on the UCF campus on Monday October 2, 2006. It starts at 8:00 pm in the Pegasus Ballroom of the Student Union Building and is free and open to the public.

Posted by Lori Henry

One of her latest films, Little Children, in which she plays a mother of two, had her doing a couple of nude scenes. She remembers thinking, "'How am I going to pull this off? The belly is certainly not what it was. The boobs are certainly not what they were.' You do think, 'Oh, God!' but at the same time, I was playing a mother, and it's so important to me to have those things look as real as possible."

Although she fears she will sound like a cracked record, with all that she says about positive body image, she won't stop talking at length about the subject. "More than ever now, I believe it's so important to look as real and true to life as possible, because nobody's perfect. I seem to be on a mission, but I don't want the next generation, your daughters and mine, growing up thinking that you have to be thin to look beautiful in certain clothes. It's terrifying right now. It's out of control. It's beyond out of control."

She is appalled by the magazines that publish photos of emaciated women on their covers "And then express faux concern for them. If you're really that concerned, don't do it. Don't put those pictures where young girls will see them."

Accepting her responsibility as a role model for the younger generation (and everyone else!), she says, "For a long time that seemed like a huge responsibility, but if I am that to some young women, then that's great. I'm tremendously flattered to be looked up to in that way, and I feel an enormous responsibility to stay normal and true to myself and not conform and all those things. You know? To be healthy. And normal. And to like to eat cake."

Posted by Lori Henry

Ms. Fogarty put the future of her company on the line when she decided to put out a call for models in nightclubs and universities for women and men who looked like the people that bought her line's swimsuits, the customers.

"We wanted to cast models that depicted "everyday Australian men and women" because they are the ones that are going to buy our swimwear, and with Fashion as such a huge subculture in our youth we have an ethical responsibility to demonstrate good role models," spokesperson Leesa Fogarty said.

Her and her team have since returned home of Manly Beach in Sydney in celebration of their Australian Fashion Week success. Their label was stocked in Sportsgirl last summer, the retail store's first time selling swimwear for about 8 years.

The are now gearing up to distribute the line internationally. The overwhelming amount of fan mail from the international general public was a welcome home gift, as were invitations from Fashion Week organizers in Miami and Mallorca, the latter asking Leesa to be an exclusive guest designer at their 2007 show.

"MaraJoara are celebrating our new swimwear range launch and promoting a healthy body image with everyday Australians on our catwalk! When we asked ourselves what depicted Australian - we were simply celebrating the fact that no matter what cultural background, if you were skinny, short, tall or curvaceous that MaraJoara had swimwear for men and women that could look and feel fantastic!" Leesa said.

Posted by Lori Henry

Uruguayan supermodel Luisel Ramos was gaining momentum in her modeling career and strutted her stuff down the catwalk last month to rapturous applause from the audience and fashion industry.

The 22 year old thought she was "making it big" last month after her agency said that she had what it took as long as she lost a few more pounds, which she was doing. In fact, for 3 months she had reportedly eaten nothing but salads and greens and drank only Diet Coke.

Indeed, she did reach the elusive size zero that the fashion world so openly aspires for. But minutes after stepping off the catwalk, she complained she didn't feel well and dropped dead from a heart failure.

This lead to the recent ban of models to walk down the runway if their BMI (Body Mass Index) is less than 18.

Click here for updates.

Click here for news on the death of another model, Ana Carolina Reston.

Click here to read about Luisel's sister, Eliana Ramos', death.

Posted by Lori Henry

The Pasarela Cibeles trade fair in Madrid (see the original blog post here) has actually banned models under a certain body mass or height weight ratio from strutting their stuff down the runways.

Now the organizers of London's Fashion Week are being encouraged to do the same. Britan's Culture Secretary, Tessa Jowell, is one of the many politicians who support such a ban in London. She said, "We shouldn't for one moment underestimate the power of fashion in shaping the attitude of young girls and their feelings about themselves."

But they're not budging. The head of Marks & Spencer, Stuart Rose, one of the main backers of London Fashion Week, has decided that it's up to the designers to decide the type of models they want to use.

"I am very wary of knee-jerk reactions. There is a debate, of course, just as there is at the moment about obesity, but the designers are not uncaring and we have to leave it to their own common sense. Nobody would want to use a model who was unhealthy. I would say there has been a bit of a over-reaction."

Meanwhile, the Vice-Councilwoman for the Economy of Madrid's regional government, Concha Guerra, has said, "Our intention is to promote good body image by using models whose bodies match reality and reflect healthy eating habits," setting the stage for other leaders to speak up.

The director of the Spain show, Pérez Pita, has now said he was glad to follow the new rule, "We've always tried to convey an image of health and beauty in our shows, and we wanted to contribute, if only a tiny bit, to re-shaping the image the girls focus on when they try to lose weight."

This means an estimated 30% of the 50 models that participated in last year's show will not be hired this week. Sergio Guiu, agent at one of the agencies who books his models for this show, says, "No one likes something that makes it more difficult to get work. And being tall and thin-boned doesn't mean you're sick."

The show organizers know that a BMI of 18.5 is "underweight," but they leave a little wiggle room for the naturally thin. And although the fashion shows in Paris and New York have showed no sign of following the lead, government officials are still confident that the decision will have appositive outcome.

Says Pérez Pita, "The problem isn't just with fashion shows, but if we can make sure the catwalks don't transmit an unhealthy image, then we've helped."

For more coverage, click here.

Posted by Lori Henry

To accompany the article titled, Good vs. Bad Food. I will be publishing exercises to go along with it on Thursday.

Posted by Lori Henry

The fear of underweight girls bodies being strutted down the runway as the ideal figure scared the city enough into putting a ban on body type: models who are 5 feet 9 inches tall must weigh at least 123 pounds.

But is this a big step in helping to combat the negative self-image that such shows can give people, or is it discriminating against women who are very thin? And who makes the rules for the what is too thin?

"Fashion is a mirror and many teenagers imitate what they see on the catwalk," said regional official Concha Guerra. She says that Spain is concentrating their efforts on having models portraying a healthier body image and on putting out good work.

A similar view is taken in Italy, where mayor of Milan, Letizia Moratti, said that she would seek a similar ban unless the industry could find a solution to "sick" looking models.

For continued coverage, click here.

For a list of all coverage, click here.

Posted by Lori Henry

Ann Marie Martin, a Fine Gael councilor, suffered from an Eating Disorder for five years, which lead her to struggle with both Bulimia and Compulsive Overeating. Now that she has overcome her own fight, she is intent on telling others that it's possible to get help and recover.

"The reason I am being so open about this now is that eating disorders can be such a guilty, secretive and shameful illness for a sufferer," Ann said. "If this had come out about me two years ago I would have been mortified, fearing that people would see me as some sort of failure."

She knows only too well how Disordered Eating can take control over your life and make you feel guilty, abused and secretive. "All my life I had issues with body image and was unhappy with how my body looked," she admitted. "There was a time when I wouldn't eat anything containing any fat and I lost a lot of weight. But then I would just relapse into bulimia once again. There comes a time when you realise that you have to cop on. I got to that point where I said that I just can't really take this anymore; the disorder was taking control over my life and I needed to regain it."

She has started a course run by the Eating Disorder Resource Centre of Ireland in Co Wexford, to put her experience and passion into gear. The course itself is only in its first year of operation, but has been successful in both London and Western Europe.

"This is a topic that is very close to my heart," Ann revealed. "I have suffered from an eating disorder myself and understand the heartache it can bring. Being a woman in today's demanding society, the pressure to pursue the perfect body image can become almost obsessive for some of us and my biggest worry is how it is affecting young children and teenagers."

Ann seems to really be a light in this dark struggle. She says, "Every single day I come into contact with girls in my area who have issues with body image. They need to learn that you have to have a balance in your life. If you are eating the right foods and your body chemistry is balanced then your mind will be more balanced and you are better prepared to make the right decisions about yourself."

Absolutely.

Posted by Lori Henry

Last week, during the Rosemont Australian Fashion Week, Leesa was asked to replace her average-sized models with "professionals," which she refused to do. Her group of amateur, size 8-12 models were told they weren't "fit for the catwalk." She is gaining praise from outside of the fashion industry, namely by professionals in the healthcare field who are speaking out in her support.

The Executive Officer of the Eating Disorders Foundation, Frances Sanders, said "Hooray, we applaud moves to include healthy normal Australian women in the fashion industry... I think it's refreshing what she's done."

Professor Andrew Hill, an obesity expert, was quoted as saying, "Ms Fogarty is to be applauded for using ordinary women to model her swimwear." He states in a study he has conducted that 70 percent of obese 11 year olds saw themselves as unnatractive, but images of super-thin women only made their self-esteem drop lower.

Pictures published of the "models" show them smiling, having fun, of various ages and body types and healthy. They seem to glow and isn't that the best way to sell clothing?

It's steps like this one that Leesa Fogarty has made that can actually make a difference in our body-obsessed world. Let's hope that she can pave the way for others in her position to do the same.

Posted by Lori Henry

He will be inaugurating the Dalai Lama Center for Peace and Education by hosting a series of dialogues with leading global thinkers. The talks will take place from Friday September 8th-Sunday September 11th, some private, some by invitation and one open to the public on the Saturday. I will be covering this event, and how his philosophy relates to recovery from an Eating Disorder, so check back on Monday for the full article.

The public talk is called "Cultivating Happiness" and he will focus on the causes and conditions for happiness and provide guidance on developing an authentic sense of well being that is not dependent on external circumstances.

The other dialogues include "Educating the Heart," where the Dalai Lama will converse with high school students from the Lower Mainland. The teens will bring their own stories of compassion and courage and engage in conversation around them. The afternoon of this session will be a dialogue with leading educators, researchers and policy makers on the themes of cultivating compassion and educating the heart.

"Happiness and Stress as Determinants of Mental Health" will be a discussion with a different group of leading researchers on the topic of enhancing authentic happiness and physical well being.

"Connecting for Change: Corporate and Social Leaders in Dialogue" will start with a small series of conversations among prominent national and international business leaders and social innovators.

The centre is scheduled for completion in 2009 and will be a non-political, non-religious institution that acts as a beacon for promoting peace through education, research and dialogue. It will run on the Dalai Lama's philosophy that each person must "cultivate the heart, and work for peace within yourself and in the world."

"The key concepts that define the goals of the Dalai Lama Center are: one, the promotion of human values; and two, the promotion of a sense of oneness within humanity. These two ideas serve to promote peace among different communities within one nation, within one world. And they will be particularly useful in shaping the long-term goals of the Dalai Lama Center for Peace and Education in Vancouver, Canada."

- His Holiness the Dalai Lama

The centre has an International Advisory Board led by the Dalai Lama. The board also includes four other Nobel Peace Laureates- Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Shirin Ebadi, Jimmy Carter and Mairead Maguire- all of whom will lend their extensive experience to support the Centre's objectives.

Posted by Lori Henry

A New Jersey insurance company is being battled on how it classifies Anorexia Nervosa. Presently, coverage in most states is limited to 30 in-patient days, a blink in the recovery process, even though the disorder has the highest mortality rate of any mental illness.

The issue is based on whether Eating Disorders are considered "biologically based," like mental illnesses like schizophrenia, depression and other psychiatric disorders. But organizations such as Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey, who are in agreement with most other insurance companies in the state, defends that there is no conclusive evidence that Anorexia is biologically based.

Mother, Dawn Beye, is gaining support from nearly a dozen of the most well known experts on Eating Disorders for her fight for treatment for her 15 year old daughter. The insurance appeal will be reviewed before an independent panel, which is expected to rule next week.

One of her supporters, Scott Craw, a psychiatrist at the University of Minnesota and one of the past presidents of the Academy of Eating Disorders, wrote a letter stating, "(Horizon)" could only have reached such an opinion through willful ignorance of the scientific literature."

Another is Wade Berrettini, who wrote an article in the American Journal of Human Genetics that Horizon is basing their decision on. It states that there is evidence suggesting the susceptibility gene for anorexia. But he says in a letter, "This is an entirely inappropriate interpretation of my work and the work of our group...It is my opinion that anorexia is biologically based. Dozens of researchers across the world are making an extraordinary effort to find genes which predispose individuals to anorexia."

But not everyone agrees that Anorexia should be covered. Critics state that professionals who lobby for Eating Disorders to be considered biologically based make their livings treating people with diseases. They are charged with thinking only of how it could affect their "business."

Dawn Beye is now paying out-of-pocket for her daughter's treatment at an out-of-state facility. She expects to go more than $200,000 into debt for the recovery, as her daughter has relapsed to a point where her heart rate dropped to dangerous levels, her extremities turned blue and Doctors have been declaring that she needs urgent long-term care immediately.

With other paying fees like $1,200.00 a day for hospital treatment, how many other people have to die before Eating Disorders are recognized as the deadly diseases that they are.

Read the follow up blog here.

Posted by Lori Henry

Sophie Gregoire is the Quebec correspondent for CTV's entertainment show eTalk Daily. She works with the Montreal-based BACA Eating Disorders Clinic and has admitted that her effort is fuelled by a personal cause.

"I came from an environment where there were a lot of young girls suffering from eating disorders," she was quoted as saying. It began with her trying to please those around her, as well as from peer pressure from society. She also holds the media responsible for their obsession with beauty.

Although she was never emaciated, she did suffer from ages 17-21 years old, which made it difficult for those around her to see what was going on. Her best friend is quoted as saying "I guess Sophie felt she had to be as intelligent as her father and as beautiful as her mother. She always wanted to impress, which put a lot on her shoulders. She was too hard on herself."

It seems that everyday there is news about someone else going pubic with their fight against and Eating Disorder. Sophie says she is now recovered and is channelling her energy into ever-expanding niches for herself. By staying positive and continuing her work with BACA Eating Disorders Clinic, let's hope that her strength will be an inspiration to those who see her on TV every day.

Posted by Lori Henry

Reach Program Workshop- Body Image: Changing The Way We See Our Bodies.

Friday, September 15th. Body Image: Changing the Way We See Our Bodies. Would you like to feel better about your body? Would you like to be less concerned about how you think others see your body? Join us as we develop strategies to question and confront distorted ways of seeing our bodies and enhance how we think about and see each other and ourselves.

This is the second part of a two-part workshop series that began in August. (You are welcome to join regardless of attendance at the first workshop!) The workshop, sponsored by the AIDS Health Project's REACH Program is free and open to gay and bisexual men regardless of HIV status. Friday, September 15, 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. at the AHP Services Center, 1930 Market Street (San Fransisco). Space is limited. To RSVP, call the AHP Events Line at (415) 476-6448, ext. 1.

Posted by Lori Henry

The project will explore stereotyping, racism, violence, poverty, the politics of food and pleasures of cooking in East Vancouver, Canada.

MISCELLANEOUS Productions, creators and producers of THE REENA PROJECT / Outcasts & Angels , What You Carry With You..., e-race, and MISCELLANEOUS Magazine, will be holding Auditions and Interviews for East Vancouver Youth aged 14 - 27 for our new live performance and documentary video project. We are looking for performers who can act, sing, dance, write and/or play percussion or who possess a combination of some or all these talents, as well as video technicians and stage crew.

No experience neccessary.

Based on the main themes of stereotyping, poverty, racism, violence, peer pressure, substance abuse, family, the politics of food and pleasures of cooking, MISCELLANEOUS Productions will create an ensemble performance with music, dance and video featuring Vancouver Eastside youth. The performance will be performed in November 2007 at the Vancouver East Cultural Centre and we will be shooting a documentary of our process to create this original work throughout the next year. The live performance will be structured as a satire of an Iron Chef television show and the "celebrity chefs" will be the youth from East Vancouver with a strong plot elicited from the true stories of the participants. There will be "stock characters" -stereotypes that will be created and debunked.

Auditions and interviews for the cast and crews will be held at:

Gray's Park Hall

4850 St. Catherine's Street corner of 32nd Avenue

Just north east of 33rd and Fraser Street in East Vancouver

On the following dates:

Wednesday, September 20, 2006: 4 PM - 9 PM

Friday, September 22, 2006: 4 PM - 9 PM

Friday, September 29, 2006: 4 PM - 8 PM - Call-backs only

Wear comfortable clothes and shoes you can dance in!

Singers: prepare one verse and one chorus from a Soul, R&B or pop song.

We will be writing and rehearsing the performance in late 2006 and throughout 2007, and opening the play in Vancouver East Cultural Centre in November 2007. All positions for youth aged 14 -27 years old are completely open in the Performance Crew (cast), Video Crew (production) and Technical Theatre Crew.

For more information, please contact MISCELLANEOUS Productions at:

telephone- (604) 873 - 6522

e-mail- elaine-c@mdi.ca

web site- www.miscellaneous-inc.org

Posted by Lori Henry

I'm just glad that the anxiety and stress have diminished and I'm at home, relaxing in the gorgeous weather, about to make dinner. What I am truly grateful for is the tools that I learned along the way to recovery, as otherwise, this was a time that I would have certainly reverted back to Bulimic behaviour.

Instead, I took many deep breaths, kept stretching and trying to quiet the mind, leaned on my family to support me and kept communicating my feelings and thoughts throughout. I now feel a million times better and content that that part of my life is over. It makes me realize that, in the long run, it's so much easier to deal with situations as they arise, rather than stuffing them down and numbing the emotions.

Above all, I am grateful for being recovered and not having to deal with bad circumstances AND an Eating Disorder, just bad circumstances. It will all work out if we can just breathe and deal with each moment as it comes.

Posted by Lori Henry

Pica is widely misunderstood. I will be publishing an article on Monday about the symptoms and causes to help people be better informed.

The craving for non-food substances may seem strange to some, but it's more common than most people think.

Posted by Lori Henry

Not only do teenagers feel unconfident about their bodies, but their mothers often do, too. But instead of talking about it, most families say nothing, which increases the problem.

Dove is launching a Mothers and Daughters booklet, authored by well-known Psychotherapist Susie Orbach, that gives mothers practical advice and information on how to tackle issues both them and their young ones may be experiencing.

Dove hopes to promote a positive and wide-ranging definition of beauty for the next generation of women and boost self-esteem when it matters most.

If you live near Glasgow, you can enter the contest that offers mothers and daughters the chance to relax together with a day at MacDonald Crutherland House: facial, full body massage, use of the gym, sauna and steam room, and a two-course lunch where you'll meet the Dove team.

To enter, send them a letter stating why you and your daughter deserve to spend some quality time together (in no more than 50 words). Send your entries by August 14th to:

Dove Competition

Features, Daily Record

1 Central Quay

Glascow G3 8DA

Hmm, I could sure use a full body massage...

Posted by Lori Henry

Unfortunately, she seems to have changed her mind after allegedly getting a nose job recently. The magazine received more than a thousand angry letters from readers who say they are sick of the hypocrisy of celebrities.

They argued that stars are famous for saying it's easy to get rid of their belly after pregnancy (just breast feed!), that they have high metabolisms and don't actually have to work out, that they're too scared to go under the knife but have noticeable alterations to their breasts or face, the list goes on.

The new Editor at Marie Claire magazine says that they will be shifting the focus of the magazine away from celebrity nonsense and dig into a little more substance. What that means, we'll have to wait and see, but it is a promising step in the right direction.

All I can hope is that they can follow through with it. I can predict that it won't turn into a feminist magazine without any reference to fluff, but perhaps they can shift things a little- they have the power to do it and it would give other publications and media the hint that you can espouse genuine content and still pay the bills.

Posted by Lori Henry

It's almost unanimous, everyone visiting the site knows about Disordered Eating either firsthand or has gained the knowledge for some other reason. That encourages me, as there is so much misinformation about this field and I'm glad that readers are searching for more and better research, as well as a positive environment to further their recovery.

This writing tenure at Suite101 has been extremely fulfilling so far. I am enjoying the freedom to publish the important things I feel passionate about and have so much more to say, so many more topics to explore. This issue is limitless- thank you for coming by and sharing your insights in the Discussion Forums and private emails. I look forward to dissecting more subject matter with you.

Posted by Lori Henry

It deals with the notion that just because you don't have a diagnosable Eating Disorder, doesn't mean you aren't being unhealthy to yourself.

Chronic and yo-yo dieting can be just as dangerous but are acceptable in this society which believes that living inside a "thin cage" is normal.

So, I'll be continuing the theme of dieting that I started in my last article. Stay tuned.

Posted by Lori Henry

The book, You Are Not Alone, is coming along and should be ready to hit the stores in September. Andrea is excited and eager to see this project through to the end, as are all of the women who contributed. I think it will be an amazing collection of writing and artwork that will be able to touch many.

I'll do a review as soon as I receive my copy. Can't wait!

Posted by Lori Henry

The bi-weekly poll results have been counted for the Daily Routines poll. It asked how many of you had set daily routines that you followed, or whether you just went where the wind blew.

Almost half of you said that yes, you had daily routines or were on a diet, while 20% responded that they mostly did your own thing and another 20% that "I'm a pretty habitual person."

The rest of the votes were divided into "I'm about half and half," and one person voted for "I never know what I'm doing from one moment to the next."

I have an article coming up on challenging readers to step out of their daily routines to do something daring!

Posted by Lori Henry

The 2 articles that I wrote about the causes of disordered eating will now be published on Monday and Thursday, July 17th and 20th.

My computer is back safe and sound and nothing was lost- phew!

Posted by Lori Henry

It was an exquisite display of some of the most exciting dancers in the city. They explored how these 3-inch lotus shoes, so idolized by Chinese culture, would make them move and interact with both sexes and in their own bodies.

What emerged was passionate sensuality, athletic movements and some top-notch performances. Although most of the show moved from one abstract moment to the next, the parts that really stirred me were when the dancers had the shoes on and were learning how to walk and move for the first time.

It's hard to understand the beauty ideals of other cultures, in our dominant North American society. But that's what they are: ever-changing standards that differ from country to country, culture to culture.

Posted by Lori Henry

Tiny feet were considered the ultimate female attribute, similar to large breasts here in North America. The Chinese broke a young girl's foot bones and bound them with tight strips of silk cloth each day.

Wen Wai Weng has incorporated this torture as part of his newest dance piece, part of the Dancing on the Edge Festival here in Vancouver, Canada. I'm going to see the show on Friday night, so I'll report back how it was.

I can't wait to see this one, it sounds intriguing.

Click here for the short review.

Posted by Lori Henry

The majority of readers admitted to having an Eating Disorder, which, I can only hope, I am helping to understand. On the other end of the spectrum, many of you said that you regularly put healthy foods into your body. That's wonderful and what we can all strive for.

The other options, I try not to deprive myself, Sometimes I do, sometimes I don't and I am thinking about food most of the time, had a few votes each and go to show how varied we are in our relationship to food.

I hope that I can be a part of helping people reach a healthy relationship with both their bodies and food.

Posted by Lori Henry

My laptop has just broken and the articles are on that hard drive. Until I get it fixed, and hoping that I can retrieve them, they will be up shortly, I hope.

Until then, I'll be writing like mad to get up some new ones. Ah, technology...

Posted by Lori Henry

The 2 articles that I wrote about the causes of disordered eating will now be published on Monday and Thursday, July 17th and 20th.

My computer is back safe and sound and nothing was lost- phew!

Posted by Lori Henry

Katherine McPhee has gone public with her struggle with bulimia. A part of me thinks that clebrities glamourize the disorder and end up doing more damage than good, another part of me thinks that the attention paid to these people at least gains the cause some awareness.

We'll see how she uses Bulimia, to help others or to create more media to further her career. I can only hope she realizes how much power she has as a "star," so to speak.

Posted by Lori Henry

I laid out on the grass all day listening to artist's rock out and watching people dance. I wrote to my heart's content and relaxed while groovin' to the music.

What absolute paradise. The sun was beating down hot and vibrant, the people peaceful and happy, and the kids laughing and playing. It was absolutely divine. And I'm doing it again tomorrow.

Posted by Lori Henry

I watched the French film "Les Yeux Sans Visage" (Eyes Without a Face), by George Franju, last night and it brought up some interesting questions about identity.

The story follows an obsessive Doctor as he tries to find a way to give his daughter back a face. While driving "like a lunatic" one night, they get into a car accident and the young daughter somehow ends up with just a disfigured face (hey, it's a 1959 horror flick, stretch your imagination a little bit!).

The father ends up murdering other young women who have the same type of face as his daughter by taking them to his lab underneath his home in the French countryside. His surrogate wife, whose face has also been "saved" by this Doctor, lures the young ladies into the house with her innocent-seeming tactics. But as each surgery fails and more women go missing, he starts running out of time as the police get closer to the truth.

Anyways, apart from the horror of it making me close my eyes (there's a scene that's graphic and disgusting, even by today's standards) and squirm, it also made me think about how much our identity lies in our appearance. We put so much energy into looking a certain way, dressing in a certain style and trying to come across as a certain person, what happened if that was erased and all we had left was a disfigured body or face?

Who are we without our make up bag, hair products and stylish clothing?

Posted by Lori Henry

Spent the day today at the EARTH festival in Vancouver, which was promoting ways to have a more sustainable lifestyle. Not as many people as I expected, but still a good time. There was a performance by a Chinese dance company that was really beautiful and something that I haven't seen much of.

I finished off my time there with the African and Caribbean-inspired drum set that was up at 3:00. What a great performance! And today was the hottest day so far, my inside thermometer says almost 30 degrees- I love the heat. It was so nice to spend the day outdoors, relaxing, eating healthy food from sustainable plates and being surrounded by people energetic to make a difference.

Posted by Lori Henry

The newest camera coming out is one that will make you look thinner. There are functions built into the camera that will shrink the centre of the image, which means a person will look a few sizes smaller.

There is also a function called "soft focus," which focuses on blurring and smoothing imperfect skin. Hewlett Packard is the genius (do you hear my sarcasm?) behind this one and they're marketing it to consumers as a new devise that will take 10-15 pounds off of you with just the click of a button. It'll only set you back $400.

The sad thing is, these way-too-expensive toys will probably sell like hotcakes. They interviewed people on the street and they were all women who seemed very interested and liked the idea of being able to take off unwanted pounds for the family album. That's warped! So now people have one more mode of our tech-savvy world to make them feel that they are not okay they way they are.

Posted by Lori Henry

Happening in Vancouver, Canada this weekend, June 23-25, there are many activities for ladies to get inspired by: readings, films, paintings, forums, talks, burlesque, breakdancing, and a big wrap party.

It's geared towards teenagers and purposely has all-ages events and venues. Looks like it will be a blast! Visit their web site for more info.

Posted by Lori Henry

The Diane Farris Art Gallery in Vancouver, Canada, is featuring Angela Grossman's work that delves into the issue of girlhood pressures. Starting with the concept that most girls live their lives as knowledge seekers, sponges for information, inherent confidence and imagination until they're about 10 years old. After that, there's a switch that turns on in them to quietly silence their beauty.

This stage is explored in the exhibit Paper Dolls. It's tough being a teenager now a days, with role models like, well, you know the ones. This is really great work and I hope if you're in the area you can stop by the gallery and take a look. Then get our your journals and start writing- it's the sort of images that evoke memories and inspiration. It runs until June 24th, 2006.

Diane Farris Gallery

1590 West 7th Avenue

Vancouver, BC

Tel: (604) 737-2629

Posted by Lori Henry

The $1.5 million day centre will be run by Southern Health, which will be a pilot program for 3 years. They plan on treating 100 people each year, including teenagers, who often get left out of hospital programs. It will be run by the Butterfly Foundation in Australia.

This is an exciting step, as in-patient programs can be excessively expensive and out of reach for a lot of people. But maybe this will be a nice middle ground. I can't wait to see how this one turns out.

Posted by Lori Henry

I had to take a double look at it because I thought I was seeing things. Then I realized the ad was for a Diabetes contraption. What?!

The image is if a woman tied up to a big target and a man throwing knives at her. The caption reads, "You better have good aim." I won't even tell you what it's supposed to be advertising yet- I'll have to scan it and post it up so you all can see it.

Man, the advertising industry blows my mind. I used to write so many letters to companies about their despicable ad campaigns; perhaps it's time to start again...

Posted by Lori Henry

I went on about there being lots of chocolate and red wine, sex and dancing.

She told me that she would want to be thin (among other things). Now, this is a independent, confident, beautiful woman with her head on her shoulders.

But being thin was still at the top of her list of things to "be" in heaven. That makes me sad and angry- of all the things to wish for in a world that's a fantasy, and skinny is one of them? I would have thought the freedom to be curvy and still considered beautiful, but that's just me...

It took me by surprise and startled me, not so much because I haven't heard it before, but because I would have said that same thing only a couple of years ago and it makes me mad that I wasted so much of my energy thinking that way.

What would your heaven be like?

Posted by Lori Henry

Although we all know this, sometimes it's hard to remember it, and even harder to not let it affect us, when flipping through our favourite magazines.

Below is a link to a project that shows simply what changes can be made to an image. It's taken from the cover of a mock teen mag cover and the changes are startling when seen body part by body part.

Project Girlpower

Posted by Lori Henry

Their was a poll done for Norwhich Union Healthcare, of 500 respondents, that suggests men are just as body-obsessed as women. 1/4 said they had issues with their body and 1/3 said they hated their stomach.

Most males said they wanted the body of the football player David Beckham, with Brad Pitt and rugby player Gavin Henson following close behind.

Join me tomorrow when I write about Males and Eating Disorders.

Posted by Lori Henry

They took 3 women (all young and slim) and took 5 pictures of them. They then digitally altered the images, giving them bigger busts, longer legs or wider hips, and they had to choose which one was the unaltered one.

It would have been very interesting if they could have used more women and of a wider variety of sizes and shapes. Just how well do we know our bodies?

Posted by Lori Henry

It brought me back to the world in which I used to live in, that dark, emotional dungeon that trapped me. The memories flooded back so easily and I remembered so clearly things that I had forgotten.

Something that caught my eye was a little tidbit I had written in the middle of one of the pages, which had no connection to anything else, seemingly just a random thought that I had written down.

I wrote: "This overwhelming passion will flame up and burn down the whole entire planet!" It made me remember how uncontrollable I used to feel; I had so much going on inside of me, which I always described as a roaring fire, that I was scared to unleash for fear of scorching the earth and the people around me. It was a powerful feeling and one that I had forgotten was so prevalent in my life. It just goes to show how much energy and vitality lies within people who struggle with disordered eating, which they won't let out. But by letting it go slowly, we can live with a healthy amount of passion to fuel us.

Posted by Lori Henry

I watched in horror and interest the Barbara Walters show about the French woman who had a facial transplant- a donor gave her half of a face. This woman was depressed and had taken too many pills and passed out. While asleep, her dog mauled her and ate the bottom half of her face.

She was rushed to the hospital and kept there for months. The Doctors weren't sure what to do with her. One finally had the idea to transplant a dead woman's face, of about the same age and complexion, onto hers. It was the first one to happen in the world.

The woman is now recovering and can smile again. What an intriguing and gross story; I have a weak stomach for operations. The medical community is absolutely astounded at the results and have approved more operations such as these in other countries. They are stressing that this is a very complicated and risky procedure and only for those who are in desperate need. I only hope the attitude will not change, so this does not turn into a procedure as common as liposuction or breast enlargement, if someone doesn't like their face.

Posted by Lori Henry

One of the leading eating disorder recovery centres has created a new program for overweight children, which will debut this summer. The focus is on helping the young ones with positive growth and combating negative body image.

Because of their history with eating disorders, this sounds like it will be a great program. Wow, there seems to be a lot of news about overweight and obese children lately. I wonder where the motivation is coming from?

For more info: Remuda Ranch

Posted by Lori Henry

It was announced today that more funding will be given to treatment programs for people with eating disorders. They will invest $4.5 million this year, going to 8 hospitals that treat eating disorders.

This is fantastic news, as funding to this type of treatment is usually extremely low. The money will go to enhancing the existing programs and also establishing new services.

Posted by Lori Henry

It seems the government is stung by the criticism that they have not stopped childhood obesity, and are desperate to "do something."

They have come up with the idea to weigh all children at school so they can create a "fat map" that will inform them of which schools, neighbourhoods, race, sex, etc., have the highest rates of obesity.

Critics worry this will heighten the amount of bullying and prevalence of eating disorders among young children. Letters have flooded the office of the program, but because this test has already been implemented, we'll have to wait and see how it turns out.

Posted by Lori Henry

Although I've never watched the show in my life, I heard that a few young Big Brother contestants tearfully revealed their battles with bulimia and anorexia. It still astounds me how prevalent disordered eating is.

Posted by Lori Henry

Clark College is focusing its 10th annual Clark College Women's Conference, its largest academic event, to issues such as body image, female beauty, mothers and daughters, immigration and sexuality.

If you're in Vancouver, Washington, visit Clark College's Website for ticket and registration information.

Posted by Lori Henry

"I only have one body. I only have one soul. I will __________ not tomorrow, not the next day, not when I'm thin, but now, today."

Then take the risk and go do it!

Posted by Lori Henry

It brought me back to the time when I cringed at the thought of being intimate with someone. To have somebody else's hands run along my body was one of my worst fears: they would think I was fat, they would then hate me, they would laugh at me, they would tell everyone that I wasn't perfect, I would be devastated...

Ani Difranco sings:

"Touch me where I'm rusty/

Let me stain your hand."

I love those lyrics. We are all imperfect in our own perfect ways and if we accept ourselves for what size we are at today, we can begin to loosen the chains that lock us into the fear of what others will think.

Posted by Lori Henry

It is focused on educating young people how to feel good about their bodies. It will reach out to communities all over British Columbia and incorporate resources that already exist in those places.

Included will be training volunteers to do presentations in elementary schools, and training grade 12 students to peer council younger students.

I am very excited about the potential of this project and will be covering it as it progresses. If you want to get involved, keep an eye out, as I will let you know how once the information becomes available.

NOTE: this initiative is being created by Jesse's Hope Society (formerly ANAD- Awareness and Networking around Disordered Eating).

Posted by Lori Henry

I looked back at her and she was an average-sized woman, definitely not clinically overweight. Of course I don't know her situation or what she was referring to, but it shocked me to hear her say that to her someone who obviously looks up to her.

He replied, "Yeah, ok, me too." We have to remember that our own issues directly influence those of our children. We want them to grow up proud of who they are, at whatever size that may be.

Posted by Lori Henry

The book is called "All Made Up: a girl's guide to seeing through celebrity hype... and celebrating real beauty". I will be doing a full article on it within the next week or two. A really worthwhile read so far.

Posted by Lori Henry

Dr. Jan Yager is conducting a confidential survey on weight histories and welcomes participants, both male and female. Participants DON'T have to be overweight, underweight, or have an eating disorder to participate. She is looking to research those who have and do not have weight challenges, even those who are currently doing okay with their weight issues but have had issues in the past. She is finishing up a new book and the surveys are background research for that book. To participate, email her

with your age and return email address. Completed surveys can be returned by email, fax, or mail (information is in the survey). You must be 18 or older to participate. For more information on Jan Yager, PhD visit www.DrJanYager.com

Posted by Lori Henry

This is a difficult time for people who do not have a positive body image. On sale are skimpy tank tops and short skirts- not the kind of clothing that is easy to hide beneath.

Remember: summer is about enjoying the freedom that longer days bring, not worried about whether your thighs look too fat in shorts.

Today, focus on letting your spirit shine a little brighter. Who knows, maybe tomorrow you will radiate more brilliantly than the sun.

Posted by Lori Henry

Funny how such a small thing can make such a big difference. If you read my last blog posting, you'll know that I skipped doing my morning pages and felt unbalanced and scattered during that day. I hadn't realized that they made any impact in my life at all. Well, I'm back doing them every morning and starting the day with a fresh slate.

Posted by Lori Henry

Then I realized the culprit. I hadn't done my morning pages. Morning pages were created by Julia Cameron for artists to release their creativity by letting go of blocks and limiting beliefs. They are three pages of writing you do each morning just after you wake up: you free write whatever comes into your head, the only rule being that you cannot stop writing.

Even if you keep jotting down "I don't know what to say," or other less-than-brilliant thoughts, it's a start and after a few lines or days or weeks, you will be spilling your guts each morning before your censor has a chance to stop you.

They really stabilize me and give me a clean slate for the day. I have been doing them every morning for almost a year and yesterday I skipped doing them. My disconnected day was probably a culmination of many things, but it did remind me not to skip on doing the things that make me feel balanced.

Posted by Lori Henry

As a radical feminist, she noticed that she had become dissatisfied with her stomach after turning 40, and that she was spending too much time obsessing over it. She figured that many other women were going through the same thing.

She focuses on asking women why they ask the questions "Am I fat?" "Am I here?" "Am I alive?" "Do I have the right to be?" And why we are even asking for permission. The show sounds to be interesting, empowering and thought provoking. There is a one week run in Vancouver, BC next week, as well as Scottsdale, AZ the week after.

Website: The Good Body Show

Posted by Lori Henry

Things are going to start heating up here as I delve into some interesting information. This blog will become your news source for breaking updates on eating disorders and related info.

I will be covering Bulimia Nervosa next in the article section and have many ideas up my sleeve for further commentary. Thanks for checking back.

Posted by Lori Henry

Everything is big, bright and flashy. I feel a little like a small child in a large circus.

It gets me thinking about how our surroundings affect us. Things here are so unbalanced and nothing is in moderation. How, then, do people stay stable? Where can you retreat to?

The first night I went to the hotel spa and got a massage. That certainly helped. But I wonder: with the "all-you-can-eat" buffets and the casinos encouraging you to stay awake all night, what can we do to make sure that we are taken care of?

Posted by Lori Henry

This is where I will post news and tidbits about things that I have learned this week, and any other pieces of wisdom that I can impart.

My plan is to post a new article each Monday and a new blog entry each Friday. In between, I will create new polls and discussions. I will keep you in the loop!