Post Style: Ana and Mia the Terrible Twins of Thin ; at a Time When Reported Cases of Eating Disorders Are at an All- Time High, a New, Alarming Trend has Emerged: Websites Which Actively Encourage the Pursuit Anorexia and Bulimia As a Lifestyle. Welcome to the World of Ana and Mia, Says Rin Simpson, Where ' Thin' Equals 'In

Birmingham Post › August 03, 2005

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Summary

D. Did you know that there are people out there who think anorexia and bulimia are not disorders but positive lifestyle choices, and cool ones at that? That they hold up super-skinny celebs like Victoria Beckham and Mary-Kate Olsen as icons, and wear colour coded bracelets to identify themselves as part of these 'secret society' groups? And did you know that you can easily find websites providing tips on how to hide the signs of starvation, sickness and malnutrition?

An estimated 1.1 million people in the UK, suffer from one kind of eating disorder or another and the numbers are growing every day. But this is just the tip of the iceberg - according to experts most eating disorders go undiagnosed. Anorexia nervosa, a dangerous and debilitating psychological disease which causes people to starve themselves, can result in skeletal waifs who refuse to eat for fear of getting fat. Bulimia nervosa is all about overeating and then vomiting so that no calories are digested. With many anorexics and bulimics refusing to see that they need help, doctors say denial can often compound the problem. But now this denial is being encouraged by a new breed of 'super anorexics' and 'super bulimics': the Anas and the Mias.

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Post Style: Ana and Mia the Terrible Twins of Thin ; at a Time When Reported Cases of Eating Disorders Are at an All- Time High, a New, Alarming Trend has Emerged: Websites Which Actively Encourage the Pursuit Anorexia and Bulimia As a Lifestyle. Welcome to the World of Ana and Mia, Says Rin Simpson, Where ' Thin' Equals 'In

An emerging phenomenon, Anas and Mias are girls who see their eating disorder as a positive lifestyle choice rather than a disease. They operate in internet communities, building websites to provide advice and 'thinspirational' images, and forming chat rooms on which to communicate with each other. The trend, which began in America but has spread to the UK, has been gaining media attention as more and more sites begin to appear.

Anas and Mias do not believe that what they are doing is wrong. Websites often tell them the issue is about making the conscious choice to abstain from or restrict ...

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