With the growth of new technology and the internet, there has also been a growth in the numbers of people suffering from eating disorders. The most worrying increase in admissions was in girls aged 10 – 15, which was up by nearly seventy per cent since 2011.
There are now over 200 diet and calorie counter apps available to download on smartphones, at just the click of the button. However these apps are poorly regulated, with little limitations on your daily allowance of calories or on the amount of weight they will let you lose, even if it means that your BMI (Body Mass Index) will become dangerously underweight.
A recovering anorexic, spoke anonymously about her experiences with these apps: “On an iPhone it’s there constantly, it’s very easy to get obsessed with them. Even now if I used it, I felt smug when I ate less than was recommended.”
As well as iPhone apps, there has also been a worrying increase in pro-ana and pro-mia websites; sites that promote anorexia and bulimia.
However, Leanne Thorndyke from leading eating disorder charity B-EAT, doesn’t think that simply banning these websites will solve the problem: “In the past, as soon as one got closed down another would pop up. We think that a ban would criminalise a very vulnerable group of people, it’s about signposting people to positive spaces on the internet.”
Eating Disorder Package – Sarah Maxwell