FitSugar

The Dark Side of Posting Calorie Counts

FitSugar — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 03:00:05 -0700

Posting calorie counts has been nothing if not controversial. In NYC the restaurants complained, and now on college campuses students are questioning the practice. In attempts to fight the freshman 15, dining halls have begun posting calorie counts, but there have been some negative consequences. Although about a third of all college students fall into the American College Health Association's obese or overweight categories, the calorie counts might be inadvertently provoking eating disorders.

The unstructured collegiate life, along with all-you-can-eat dining halls, can lead to disordered eating, which is broader than just anorexia and bulimia and includes unhealthy dieting practices. Students and nutritional advisers alike believe calorie counts oversimplify the thought process needed to learn balanced nutrition and that there is a better way to educate vulnerable students about weight gain. Some colleges now post nutritional information online, rather than in the cafeteria, and others have created healthy dining halls, free of french fries, fried chicken, and white bread. Hopefully, higher education can incorporate lessons of healthy living into campus life and help students learn the value of healthy eating and an active lifestyle.

How do you feel about posting calorie counts? Do you feel it can inspire a negative relationship with food?

Anorexia and Autism: Is There a Connection?

FitSugar — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 03:00:00 -0700

Both anorexia and Asperger's, a form of autism, remain highly misunderstood. Ongoing research out of the Maudsley Hospital in London points to a surprising relationship between these two conditions. Maudsley researchers believe anorexia is an inheritable trait, rather than a psycho-social problem, and is related to autism. Although the two conditions present differently, both conditions, according to autism expert Simon Baron-Cohen (Sacha's cousin) share a "narrow focus of attention, a resistance to change and excellent attention to detail." Research has also shown that 15 to 20 percent of patients diagnosed with anorexia are also on the autism spectrum.

Does the US Pay More Attention to Obesity or Anorexia?

FitSugar — Tue, 19 May 2009 14:30:00 -0700

We refer to obesity as an epidemic and talk about anorexia as an eating disorder, but both illustrate our extreme relationships with food. Disordered eating is a regular topic in Lifetime movies and TV talk shows, and there are occasionally real-life documentaries of young women battling anorexia. When a fashion model suffers from an eating disorder, we hear about it in the news.

Obesity has been making news headlines for the past decade or so, with a heavy hand coming down on fast-food restaurants. Obese individuals have made their stories public with several reality TV shows, and there's a push for parents to take responsibility for teaching their kids' healthy-eating habits.

In a recent interview, Vogue Editor in Chief Anna Wintour surmised her thoughts on eating issues in the US.

I'd just been on a trip to Minnesota, where I can only kindly describe most of the people I saw as little houses. There's such an epidemic of obesity in the United States, and for some reason, everybody focuses on anorexia.

Ironically, Minnesota is one of the healthiest states in the nation. Do you agree with Anna's comment about everyone focusing on anorexia?

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Scarlett Johansson Sets the Weight Loss Record Straight

FitSugar — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 14:30:00 -0700

Not unfamiliar with tabloid news drama, Scarlett Johansson is setting the record straight about her fit physique. She professed not only her distaste for tabloid body gossip but for chin-ups and lunges in the Huffington Post. This actress, who has never been much for dieting or gym time, has been training for her upcoming role in Iron Man 2. She may have to wear a latex cat suit for the film, but she has not binged dieted to lose weight for her costume, and she wants to be clear about this. Scarlett doesn't want to add fuel to the media blitz about body size, which she wholeheartedly feels contribute to eating disorders.

To see what she has to say about her weight, read more.

In response to an article stating she lost over 10 pounds, she writes:

If I were to lose 14 pounds, I'd have to part with both arms. And a foot. I'm frustrated with the irresponsibility of tabloid media who sell the public ideas about what we should look like and how we should get there.

Looking forward to ending her complicated relationships with dumbbells, post filming Scarlett plans to dedicate 30 minutes a day to exercise using moves that require no equipment like squats, planks, and jumping jacks. Seems reasonable enough to me.

To learn more about the eating disorders, body image, and the media, visit the National Eating Disorder Association website.

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Speak Up: How Have Eating Disorders Affected You?

FitSugar — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 16:30:00 -0800

National Eating Disorders Awareness Week encourages eating disorder sufferers to get help and educates the public. Some of you are all too aware of them, whether you've personally suffered or watched someone close to you.

Part of raising awareness is speaking out. Whether it's recognizing their effects on the mind, body, and relationships or understanding recovery is possible, opening up about your story could help someone else. How have eating disorders affected you?

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Do You Have a Troubled Relationship With Food?

FitSugar — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 09:00:00 -0700

Last week, I wrote about some surprising findings on women's eating behaviors based on a poll conducted by Self Magazine. This poll found that the majority of women, 75 percent in fact, have "disordered eating behaviors," or basically a troubled relationship with food. I admit I was a little shocked. On the other hand, I have seen so many troubling food behaviors in my time.

So I thought I would do a very unscientific poll and pose this question to you . . .

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Family Meals and Eating Disorders

FitSugar — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 08:45:00 -0800

It is National Eating Disorders Awareness Week, and the subject can't really be contained to one week. When thinking about eating disorders, and frankly getting a little sad about them, I remembered a positive news story I read a while back. There was a study on family meals and eating disorders, that as mother of two girls I found heartening.

Researchers found that sitting down for regular family meals may actually help prevent eating disorders. Girls who ate five or more meals with their families weekly were one third less likely to practice extreme weight control behaviors. Extreme weight control behaviors range from vomiting, taking diet pills and abusing diuretics. Interestingly enough, family meals did not seem to lower unhealthy weight control behaviors like binge eating, smoking or skipping meals. It is important to note that the researchers did say that how the family acts during these meals is important, because they could also promote unhealthy eating habits. Enhancing the meal time atmosphere and saving possibly emotionally loaded topics, like potential prom plans, for other times might promote a healthy relationship with food too.

In the News: Eating Disorders

FitSugar — Mon, 24 Sep 2007 09:30:00 -0700

In a society where "thin" is often equated with attractive, it is no surprise that women are 10 times more likely to suffer from bulimia than men. I have noticed lately that more research is being done on the complexities of eating disorders and the national discussion on this topic is becoming, well, more robust. Here are a few stories, studies and interviews on this subject that I wanted to share with you all.

At MSNBC, I just read that more research is being done on purging disorder. It is similar in many ways to bulimia, but more difficult to detect. Those that suffer from purging disorder are normal weights and they don't binge eat. They do, however, feel compelled to purge, usually by vomiting, even after eating only a small or normal amount of food. There are also long term health consequences associated with this disorder.

USA Today is reporting on behaviors that are considered precursors to anorexia. Women and girls who feel uncomfortable eating in public may be at risk for developing unhealthy relationships with food.

Binge Eating Disorder is a fairly common eating disorder and it has received more attention lately in the press. iVillage has created a quiz to help you determine if you have a problem with binge eating. It is an interesting diagnostic quiz and will get you thinking about your relationship with food.

Leslie at Weighting Game recently interviewed Dr. Stacey from the blog Every Woman Has an Eating Disorder. Dr. Stacey is a clinical psychologist and although the title of her blog might seem a little exaggerated, she feels women think about food and our bodies too much. Basically, we are not so healthy in our healthy obsessions.

If you are looking for some help on any of these issues, check out Something-Fishy. It is a great pro-recovery website dedicated to helping people recover from eating disorders.

Manorexia: Eating Disorders in Men

FitSugar — Wed, 14 Mar 2007 11:16:59 -0700

Recently, the FitSugar pages were filled with posts on eating disorders for National Eating Disorder Awareness Week and here is an unfortunate follow up - the number of men suffering from eating disorders is on the rise. Seems eating disorders are not just for the ladies anymore.

Harvard researchers reported the results of the first national study of eating disorders and in a population of nearly 3,000 adults they found that 25 percent of those with anorexia or bulimia and 40 percent of binge eaters were men. Researchers were surprised by the numbers since previous studies estimated the numbers closer to around 10 percent.

Experts believe that males are becoming more vulnerable to social pressures to achieve the perfect male body - the ultimate "six-pack" abs. Men are often reluctant to admit they have an eating disorder because they feel it is a woman's problem. Additionally they do not like to admit that they feel out of control around food. However there are a few celebrities that have spoken publicly about their problem. Dennis Quaid sought treatment for his disorder after losing 40 pound for a movie role - in fact I believe he helped coin the phrase "manorexia." Billy Bob Thorton has battled with anorexia and lost 59 pounds, while Elton John has divulged that he suffered from bulimia.

Hopefully, as more attention in the press is paid to the growing number of men afflicted with eating disorders those suffering will seek help. And women too. "Be comfortable in your genes" was the motto of National Eating Disorder Awareness Week and I hope these men and women with eating disorders can.

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Body Image Therapy for Eating Disorders

FitSugar — Thu, 01 Mar 2007 10:15:00 -0800

It light of National Eating Disorder Awareness Week I wanted to tell you about the therapies used in recovery programs. I often associate eating disorders with control issues, but according to professionals at the Menninger Clinic in Houston folks with eating disorders spend nearly every waking moment - up to 80 to 90 percent of their day - obsessing about their appearance. Replacing this negative habit with a positive body image is essential to recovering from an eating disorder.

According to Dr. Fassihi who helped create the program:

It's very difficult to do because we live in an anorexic culture where the thin ideal is all we see in the media and people basically have to challenge that definition of beauty in order to recover. In research, we've found that body image issues are the last thing to change when we are treating people with eating disorders.

A key part of the program is taking a body image history, where the patient begins to construct how her destructive body image came to be. Many patients find that their's developed at quite an early age, with thin messages coming from society and the media and chubby messages coming from family and peers.

Aside from constructing a personal history, patients learn the true size of their body in comparison to their mental images. I found the string exercise especially interesting. Patients are asked to measure out how much string it would take to encircle a particular body part (often the parts the patients find "offensive") like a thigh or the waist. Often the string is at least 3 times the actual circumference of the body part. In seeing the vast differences between the two the patients begin to recognize the internal idea versus the external reality.

There is more to the program, so read more

Group therapy plays a key role in the recovery process as well. Patients participate in "body image parties" where they describe their bodies and the group helps turn negative descriptions into positive ones.

“Patients gain some important insights through the body image groups while at Menninger,” Dr. Fassihi says. “They learn about how their body image issues impact their lives, and most seem to re-evaluate the importance they have been placing on appearance.”

To learn more about the Menniger Clinic visit their website. To find a recovery program in your area, check out the Finder page at Something Fishy. Help is out there, you just need to take the first step.