Eating Disorders Rise in Australia

From the ABC

One in five teenage girls have eating disorders, according to a new Australian Study. The rate has almost doubled since 2000 when the last study was completed.

"There was a doubling of the number of girls who said that they starved themselves for two days or more to try to lose weight," Dr O'Dea said.

"That was across the social classes. It wasn't high-income girls, it was low, middle and high-income girls.

"So we need to be careful - we don't want to promote this starvation, the vomiting, the laxative abuse, the cigarette smoking - that I found in this study."

But she says the programs against eating disorders are struggling against a society that sends a very different message.

"I think the crux of that sort of poor body image, that sort of desperate need to try to achieve the perfect body comes from this idea that, 'to be a better person, to have a successful life, to be happy, I have to lose weight - that's what western society tells me'.

"Celebrities have become very thin since the year 2000 - celebrities like Victoria Beckham, Paris Hilton, Nicole Kidman, they're very, very thin. They're probably underweight, clinically.

"I think girls look to these role models and say, 'I need to be like that to have a happy life'."

While the differences for this group is not income based, obesity in younger kids was significantly higher in lower income groups.

"The trend was there in 2000 for the lower-income children to be more likely to be obese or overweight and it's there again in 2006, and I think it's more pronounced in 2006," Dr O'Dea said.

"I think it's a trend that we really need to look at - how can we affect low-income schools, low-income families, disadvantaged families.

Both of our kids are completely normal for their age. Our daughter, only eight, is already very conscious about her appearance and asks whether she is fat. It is not surprising as the author noted, given the look and feel of many of her female heroes. Her best friend is very overweight, just like her parents. It doesn't seem to get in the way of their friendship. I wonder what it will be like in a few years.