EATING DISORDERS IN THE NEWS
Plus-size curves hit the catwalk
More plus-sized models are treading the catwalk, but is it just a passing phase? SMH video 19/3/10
The Biggest Bully: TV show a loser for weight loss
The time to expose the dangers of the popular weight loss show The Biggest Loser is overdue. Online Opinion 5/3/2010
Big girls do cry
Every weeknight and once on weekends for the next few months, Biggest Loser will push people needing help to the edge, emotionally and physically. Science Alert 11/2/2010
National Strategy proposal on Body Image released
CLICK HERE for proposal
ABC video of minister Kate Ellis receiving proposal
Get off the binge-eating roller-coaster
Anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa are well-known eating disorders, but there's less awareness of BED. The Australian 28/11/09
Cognitive behavioral therapy effective for bulimia and binge eating disorders
Although most people with bulimia and binge eating disorders wait many years before seeking help, a new review shows that psychological treatment can make a large difference. News-Medical.Net - 6/10/09
Body-image worries 'affecting 8-year-olds'
A Deakin University study of almost 200 schoolchildren found Australian children as young as eight are falling prey to concerns over body image, with girls most vulnerable to damaging self-assessments of their weight. The Australian - 1/10/09
Dangers of lap band surgery exposed
As the fight against Australia's obesity epidemic continues, more and more people are turning to lap band surgery, to help beat the bulge. But many health professionals and patients are starting to worry the gastric band may be more dangerous than the morbid obesity and diabetes it's supposed to help prevent. ABC Online: 29/9/09
Should gyms intervene if someone has an eating disorder?
SMH 29/9/09
Anorexia's lifelong legacy
A study published in the Medical Journal Of Australia this year found that boys suffering an eating disorder were more likely than girls to remain undiagnosed until they experienced potentially life-threatening medical complications. SMH - 16/6/09
Off the scale: Have healthy, normal children such as Bianca been wrongly labelled by health authorities as overweight? Richard Guilliatt talks to researchers and angry parents who are warning of a backlash. Weeknd Australian - 10/5/09
Children with Eating Disorders on the rise: study
A new study has revealed more than 100 young children across Australia have been hospitalised with medical complications because of an eating disorder. ABC Online – 19/4/2009
Academy for Eating Disorders (AED) issues guidelines for childhood Obesity
The AED, a global professional association committed to leadership in eating disorders research, education, treatment and prevention, issued guidelines for childhood obesity prevention programs to ensure that community- and school-based efforts are carried out with equal concern for children's physical, social and emotional health. News-medical.net 3/4/2009
Bulimia linked to brain circuit abnormalities
Researchers from Columbia University and the New York State Psychiatric Institute, say brain scans of those with eating disorders show differences in the areas responsible for regulating behaviour during psychological testing. News-Medical.net 6/1/09
National Media and Industry Code of Conduct on Body Image
Kate Ellis, the Minister for Sport and Youth today announced $125,000 to develop a Voluntary National Media and Industry Code of Conduct on body image. The new code will be developed in partnership with the media, health sector, fashion and beauty industries and young people. The Government will appoint a National Advisory Group consisting of key industry, media, health and sector members in the new year. Kete Ellis- Media Release 5/12/08
The Rudd Government will invest $500,000 to help develop a comprehensive, coordinated national approach to eating disorders.
Press release, 14/11/08
Eating disorder workshop is food for thought
The co-ordinator of the Northern Rivers Eating Disorders Service believes her job is rewarding but tricky, and that is one of the reasons it is hard to attract more professionals into the field. "Eating disorders is an area that people find really difficult because quite often the treatment is long-term and there is not one definite way of treating this problem,” she said. Northern Star 17/11/2008
Obesity linked to eating disorders
Binge eating, starvation diets, self-induced vomiting and laxative abuse are at least partly to blame for the epidemic of obesity among young women, according to Australian research that shows being overweight increasingly goes with such behaviour. Rates of obesity and disordered eating each increased in the decade to 2005, but the chances of suffering both at the same time increased even faster, said Professor Phillipa Hay of University of Western Sydney's medical school. SMH 31/10/08
Winners, only if they look good as well
Few who have watched Lane Beachley over the years - nimble and tanned, sliding down giant waves, winning world championships - would have suspected that she, of all people, had battled fiercely with her body image. More than 10 years on, Beachley believes the pressures on young women - young sportswomen in particular - are greater than ever. As more money flows into women's sport, the pressure to look and fit a brand, or image, is heavier than ever. SMH - 13/10/08
Youth Minister Kate Ellis takes aim at fashion industry
The Rudd Government will tackle fashion's portrayal of stick-thin women with a code of conduct requiring magazines to feature normal-sized models. ..... Vogue editor Kirstie Clements (responded) "beautiful, young people belonged on the escapist pages of a fashion magazine, not real women of different sizes". news.com.au 4/10/08
Ballet should step up fight against disorders
DANCE students should undergo compulsory nutrition training to address the industry's problem with eating disorders, says a leading instructor. SMH - 5/10/08
Major study finds childhood obesity epidemic 'a myth'
CHILDREN are no fatter than they were 10 years ago, prompting experts to warn the focus on an obesity "epidemic" is increasing the rate of eating disorders. Adelaide Now 3/10/08
Today's lesson: body image
LESSONS about body image should be as widely taught in schools as sex and drug education programs, an eating disorders group has advised SMH - 28/9/08
Women using ice to lose weight
Young women are using the powerful street drug ice as a dangerous way to lose weight, with three admitted to at least one Sydney eating disorder clinic. The terrifying new trend has been highlighted in the current issue of the International Journal of Eating Disorders. The Australian 26/9/08
Anorexic Web now 470 percent fatter
The Optenet 2008 International Internet Trends Study reveals that websites with pro-anorexia and bulimia content have grown by 470 percent since the end of 2006. ITWire 22/9/08
Make Me a Supermodel show under fire
Eating disorders experts have hit out at Australia's latest reality TV series Make Me a Supermodel after a "dangerously thin" teenager was put through to the finals, despite judges fearing she was too skinny. The SMH - 15/8/08
Sydney Fashion festival promoting healthier-looking models
Sydney's Fashion Festival say it's putting "healthier looking" models on the catwalk ABC Online - podcast 16/8/08
To hell and back: appetite for life regained
Howard-Taylor, 19, seems an unlikely hero in the war against eating disorders, but her new book, Biting Anorexia, is being hailed by experts as one of the "most stunning" ever written on the subject. SMH - 26/7/08
Hardwired for fat: scientists identify obesity gene
British and French scientists have identified several variants of a single gene that boost the risk of obesity, according to a study just published in the journal Nature. News.com.au - 7/7/08
Book looks at what's happening to Australia's girls
Subtitled Too Much Too Soon, this book looks at how a whole future generation of women is being "overstimulated, oversold and oversexed"... The book also explores issues such as cutting, eating disorders, promiscuity and suicide.
The Age - 30/6/08
Aussie values 'feed body image pathology'
YOUNG Australians are seven times more likely to suffer extreme and obsessive body image problems than young people in Asian countries, research shows. The Australia - 25 June 2008
Real life imitates art as beauty turns to beast
"Artists are the antennae of the race,” Ezra Pound once said,...but today that dynamic has been reversed. Instead the continual display of perfect bodies on television and movie screens has contributed not only to an epidemic of eating disorders, but also to spiritual disorders. The West Australian - 14/6/08
Family care an anorexia option
Daniel le Grange from the University of Chicago has been in Australia for the past several weeks, educating health workers on the Maudsley program. The Australian - 31/5/08
Eating disorders rising in pre-teens: study (audio).
A study being presented at the RANZCP conference in Melbourne by Westmead Children's Hospital, Dr Sloane Madden has found that younger children are increasingly being diagnosed with eating disorders. ABC News - 28/5/08
Parents lead in anorexia fight
A new way of tackling anorexia that gives parents the prime role in insisting their child eats properly is winning official backing after promising results at hospitals that have adopted it. The Australian - 27/5/08
Michael White obituary
SMH - 4/5/08
Eating disorders a giveaway for other problems
Teenage girls with early signs of anorexia and bulimia are twice as likely to be addicted to drugs, suffer a mental illness or have an abortion as an adult. SMH - 29/4/08
Mother reveals newsreader's anorexia battle
Channel Ten newsreader Charmaine Dragun had private battles with anorexia and depression. Last November she drove to The Gap in Sydney's east and jumped to her death. ABC online - 29/4/08
Body image topic of discussion at Hobart conference
An increasing workload, bullying and dealing with body image issues are among the biggest concerns facing Australia's female teachers. ABC News - 20/4/08
Call to ban anorexia websites
A federal Labor MP has called on the Government to follow France's lead and ban pro-anorexia websites, which promote extreme thinness and methods for self-starvation. SMH - 17/4/08
Sexualisation of children banned in ads
Advertisements kids' products must not include sexual imagery or imply that children are sexual beings under changes to the national advertising code of conduct. news.com.au - 16/4/08
A dog's life for anorexia families
Anorexia, which affects up to one in 10 girls, can have a devastating impact on young bodies, but now researchers at the University of Western Sydney have spent four years studying how families cope with an illness which can last up to seven years. SMH - 9/4/08
Collateral damage in anti-obesity campaign
How much does a campaign to increase our awareness of obesity then prove to be a catalyst for the psychological angst that may drive eating disorders? Canberra Times - 6/4/08
Body-slimming pic tricks to be brushed out
The Victorian Government's media code of conduct on body image will discourage the use of Photoshop and other tricks to change the shape and appearance of women in the media. Ninemsn - 2/4/08
Bingeing on junk after diet addictive
Janet Treasure, of the Institute of Psychiatry at King's College London, says animal studies show that starvation followed by bingeing on highly palatable foods, such as burgers or chocolate, could alter the way the brain responded to food. The Australian - 2/4/08
Dying to be thin
Eating Disorder services in Melbourne. The Age - 29/3/08
Anorexia help arrives at last
Sutherland Shire has been identified as an area of "high need" by the Eating Disorders Foundation. The EDF found the shire did not have adequate support systems in place for sufferers and their families and has responded by establishing the Sutherland Shire Recovery Support Group. St George & Sutherland Shire Leader - 28/3/08
Young girls get boob jobs in bimbo game
Girls as young as seven are being targeted for a controversial online game, where characters get breast implants, constantly diet and constantly visit tanning booths. news.com.au - 25/3/08
Skinny stars drive mums to diet
Middle-aged women are developing eating disorders to emulate youthful looking celebrities. SMH - 15/3/08
School advice on diet panned
A lunchtime diet club for overweight girls has been criticised by a children's nutritionist as just one of a number of dangerous kneejerk reactions by some teachers to rising childhood obesity. SMH - 11/3/08
Testosterone may guard against eating disorders
Research suggests that young adult women exposed prenatally to testosterone have a reduced likelihood of developing eating disorders. ABC News - 6/3/08
Anorexia signals suffering, not vanity
When it comes to anorexia just about everyone wants their chance to weigh in, so to speak. But there is one voice distinctly absent from the discussion: the voice of the anorexic herself. SMH - 14/2/08
Underweight models banned from Madrid
Three British models have been banned from taking part in Madrid fashion week, due to a ban for models with a BMI of less than 18. SMH - 11/2/08
Skinny models are off the menu
A move by the British Fashion Week to insist on models having health certificates to prove they are eating properly was jeopardising the event's future, with no international support for the move from the other fashion capitals. news.com.au - 11/2/08
Gay men using drugs to lose weight
A large international survey of gay guys who use recreational drugs, show 19% do so to lose weight. GenerationQ - 3/2/08
In magazine land, real women are not the real deal
The British Fashion Council has called on magazines and advertisers to clamp down on the use of digitally enhanced photographs after research concludes that "digitally manipulating body shapes can perpetuate an unachievable aesthetic". The Age - 16/1/08
Stick models go out of fashion
The super-skinny look has dominated catwalks around the world, but after the recent controversy when models Luisel Ramos and Ana Carolina Reston succumbed to the effects of anorexia, a healthier look is back on the runway. The Australian - 10/1/08
Mice way to diet
Sydney researchers identify hormone that influences appetite. Courier Mail 9/1/08
Kids starve in 'panic month'
With one expert naming January as "panic month," doctors say that while one in every four Australian children is overweight or obese - an increasing percentage are dangerously skinny. And they are getting younger. The Australian - 9/1/08
Teen girls need family meals
Meals at the family dinner table could be the key to preventing eating disorders, according to research published in the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine. SMH - 9/1/08
Don't blame skinny stars for anorexia
Research published in the American Journal Of Psychiatry, found a predisposition to the disease could be inherited or caused by a fault in brain development. SMH - 23/12/07
Thin line on eating disorders
What we need to be careful of, in genuinely confronting any obesity issues, is that we don't create a hysterical response that leads more young girls to think that a normal healthy child's body is actually fat. Courier Mail - 23/12/07
University of Sydney to lead International Anorexia study
An international treatment trial for sufferers of chronic anorexia nervosa involving Sydney, London and Chicago is a world first. Newsmedical.com - 5/12/07
Eating disorder may have genesis in womb
Researchers find that the male half of opposite-sex twins shares a similar risk as his sister of developing the eating disorder anorexia later in life, and suggest exposure in the womb to a female sex hormone may be responsible. SMH - 4/12/07
Youth stressing about looks
A survey of 29,000 young people aged between 11 and 24 showed one in three put body image on top when asked to rank 14 issues. Herald Sun 4/12/07
Dad's anorexia risk for kids
A dad's relationship with his daughter may influence whether or not she will develop an eating disorder, Australian researchers have found. Courier Mail 30/11/07
Anorexics find purging tips - and each other - online
People suffering from eating disorders are "competing to be thin" and exchanging dangerous dieting tips online. Ninemsn 28/11/07
The Adonis Complex
"Same Same" continues with a series of articles looking at body image, & why eating disorders are becoming more and more common with gay men. - SameSame.com.au 15/11/07
In flab war, junk food battles slimming products
Health experts call for stricter controls on the sale of rapid weight-loss products amid concerns they are being abused by girls as young as 12 - The Age 11/11/07
$4.1m Funding Boost for Eating Disorders Treatment in NSW
ABC News 23/7/2007
