Self proclaimed playboy and ex-Big Brother contestant Kenneth Tong claims that he launched his ‘managed anorexia’ campaign as a ‘marketing case study’ to prove the powers of the internet, specifically Twitter. What Tong has failed to realise is that, irrespective of whether it was a hoax or not, he has glorified this life threatening disease to the thousands of teenage girls who followed him.
The Facts
It is believed that Anorexia affects three or four people in every hundred but many deny they have a problem and many more are depressed. This might not seem like a particularly high statistic compared with more common illnesses like flu, but the affects of eating disorders, both mentally and physically can stick with a sufferer for the rest of their lives. Some may never be free of the disease.
Anorexia, which has been known to run in families, is an eating disorder best described as a refusal to maintain a healthy weight. People suffering from anorexia are said to have a fear of becoming fat and have a distorted image of their bodies, thinking that they are bigger than they are, even when they become extremely thin. Despite the way they feel about themselves most anorexics have no history of being overweight.
Ninety per cent of Anorexia cases occur in women and often start as a simple everyday diet in order to lose a few excess pounds, before spiralling out of control. It often leads to intentional starvation and vigorous exercise as well as the use of laxatives and diet pills.
The Symptoms
The illness can also lead a patient to excessively study the foods they come across daily, whether they eat them afterwards or have no intention of eating them at all. This can include obsessive calorie counting.
The symptoms of Anorexia usually become noticeable in the teenage years, fifteen being the average age of those who develop the disease, however, it can occur at any time, including childhood. The long term affects of the disorder can be as life threatening as Osteoporosis (bone weakness), Kidney Disease and Heart Failure.
Medics believe there is a common link between Anorexia and Bulimia, an eating disorder in which a person binge eats and then makes themselves sick after to get rid of the calories.
One of the most common problems relating to Anorexia is denial. Patients often struggle to admit that there is anything wrong with their behaviour, and even in those who do seek help, relapses are common.
The Treatment
The treatment for the eating disorder involves therapies such as behavioural therapy, which aims to change the patient’s attitudes, alongside nutritional support to help them gain weight safely.
Reportedly 20-30% of people with Anorexia do not respond to these treatments. A shocking 5% die from complications caused by malnutrition, an unbalanced diet from which key nutrients are missing.
The Size Zero Battle
Organisations such as beat, the UK’s leading charity for people with eating disorders and their families, work endlessly to help and advise those who develop an eating disorder. The size zero craze was also investigated by the British Fashion Council (BFC) in 2007 when they set up the Model Health Inquiry, to look into the health of stick thin catwalk models.
Vogue, the world’s most respected fashion magazine banned size zero models from its pages and demanded that designers sent clothing to fit more curvaceous women. Similarly, Victoria Beckham has banned size zero models from her New York Fashion Week collection this summer.
Despite the fashion industry discouraging the unhealthy image of size zero in recent years, Kenneth Tong still managed to gather a frightening amount of support for his so called ‘size zero pill’, which he claimed would help women establish ‘Managed Anorexia’.
Tong expressed the belief that ‘Managed Anorexia’ would help women maintain a size zero figure. ‘Managed Anorexia’ is not a medical term, and no medical professionals were consulted during Tongs campaign. Anorexia is a serious illness that threatens the lives of young women in particular; no one should glorify an illness that can be both mentally and physically damaging to another human being.
Female First- Rachael Patan