The ‘fitspo’ movement may be aiming to promote a healthier body image for women, but in truth it’s just another narrow set of ideals about what women should look like.
Young women (and men) have been dramatically restricting their calorie intake for centuries, but not all the symptoms of modern anorexia have always been present.
The French government is backing parliamentary plans to ban unhealthily thin models from catwalks, but do the bodies of these models really affect women’s self-image?
The US Food and Drug Administration has just approved the use of lisdexamfetamine dimesylate for the treatment of binge eating disorder. Licensed under the brand name Vyvanse, lisdexamfetamine is the first…
Launched in 1959, named after the inventor’s daughter Barbara, and owned by 99% of 3-10 year old girls in the USA, Barbie has been a popular request on young girls’ Christmas wish lists for 55 years. So…
The widespread perception that only women suffer from eating disorders has ill-effects on men who also suffer from problems such as anorexia and bulimia. A new study in BMJ Open points out that many men…
Nic Crowe, Brunel University London and Mike Watts, Brunel University London
Decoration and modification of the body have become a contemporary form of fashion. Aesthetic sensibilities once considered quite deviant (and now ordinary) commonly articulate our sense of self through…
Few people would argue with the idea that sleep is good for us, but not many of us know that a lack of sleep can cause weight gain. The health benefits of sleep are extremely well-documented. It provides…
Many people around the world take insulin injections to manage their type 1 diabetes. Although it’s essential for their health, some dangerously manipulate their treatment to lose weight. Insulin is a…
Since it was first published in 1952, the DSM has been the has been the diagnostic bible for many psychiatrists. Each time the manual is updated, new conditions are introduced, often amid much controversy…
Most people know that anorexia nervosa is a psychiatric illness associated with the maintenance of low weight and fear of weight gain. But we know very little about what causes this destructive disease…
Eating disorders that stem from a desire to be thin can be blamed in part on genetics, according to a new US study. The study, published this week in the International Journal of Eating Disorders, found…
Eating disorders are an increasing problem in children and adolescents. Recent Australian studies have indicated eating disorder behaviour has increased twofold in Australia in the last five years and…