Well i considered posting this in the Health Forum, but i think it is as much (if not more?) a societal and cultural issue as it is a health one. Anyways, it can be moved to wherever considered appropriate. What’s interesting, i thought, is this quote, from one of the study’s researchers - not so much, apparently, about body image as it is about perceptions of self-control - but for every individual, of course, the situation is absolutely unique:
Anorexia now affecting Australians as young as four
David Fickling, The Guardian, 12 August 2003
The age of anorexia sufferers in Australia is dropping alarmingly, according to research published yesterday, with doctors saying they are treating nine-year olds for the condition and even, in one case, a child of four.
Anorexia is now the third-biggest health problem for girls under 18 in Australia, and one in 20 women has suffered from it at some point.
The study found that teenage boys were also likely to develop anorexia: one in three cases analysed by the researchers was a boy, although in the population at large males only account for 10% of anorexics.
Researcher Michael Cohen said anorexia was no longer only a reaction to media images of slim women, but was brought on by everyday stresses.
The study, by the Australian paediatric surveillance unit at Westmead children’s hospital in western Sydney, found that among the under-16s the average age of anorexia sufferers had dropped from just over 14 a year and a half ago to 12 today.
The dramatic change means many children are now suffering from anorexia before they reach puberty, threatening their brain and bone development during adolescence.
The principal researcher, Sloane Madden, said media images of thin women - traditionally blamed for eating disorders in adults - had some impact on children, but anxiety and pressure were much more important factors.
“The children most susceptible to anorexia tended to be perfectionists who are particularly sensitive to the needs and interests of other people,” Dr Madden said. “It seems to be more about control generally than about trying to adopt a particular body image.”
Dr Cohen said children were developing anorexia as a response to an uncertain social environment.
“Children are much more sophisticated at a younger age now, in terms of sexual experimentation and use of drugs, and they use eating disorders as coping strategies,” he said.
Worldwide, one in 250 teenage girls is thought to suffer from the condition at some point.
The research also noticed a dramatic increase in anorexia among migrants, a change Dr Cohen said could be linked to Australia’s hardline immigration and asylum policies.
“Our explanation about why we’re seeing these problems is that they are coping strategies for children who are experiencing disordered personal lives,” he said.
“With the change in government policy and events since September 11 our society is much more reactionary, and those sorts of things could be feeding into the effects we’re seeing.”
now that’s strange.
