Eating disorders: Media images make things worse

21st February 2011- The eating disorders charity, beat, is calling for new guidelines to be adopted to change the way the illnesses are reported in the media.  

Although the charity acknowledges that coverage has become more accurate and compassionate in recent years it is still seeking to change the illustrations used. It says far too often they portray the stereotypical image of extreme thinness and it’s distorting people’s idea of what an eating disorder is really like.

beat says the pictures can be indistinguishable from the ‘thinspiration’ images found on pro-anorexia websites which it says are harmful and most people think should be banned.

Chief Executive Susan Ringwood says in a press statement: “We are increasingly aware that the use of these images can be distressing and unhelpful to those struggling to beat their eating disorder.  They perpetuate the mistaken view that eating disorders are only about extreme thinness and we would call upon editors to act responsibly when reporting these issues.”

The three official categories of eating disorders are anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa and eating disorder not otherwise specified (EDNOS). The rarest disorder is anorexia and most people with an eating disorder will be over and not underweight.

Awareness week

More than 1,000 people responded to a national survey carried out by the charity for Eating Disorders Awareness Week which starts today. It found that images of excessively  thin people, often used to illustrate stories about anorexia, were potentially harmful to people affected by eating disorders.

• 86% felt real life images portrayed in the media were damaging
• 60% have found media images to adversely impact on their self esteem
• 70% have had their body image affected
• 47%  say media images have prevented their recovery

The charity says eating disorders are serious mental illnesses and the sooner someone gets the treatment they need, the more likely they are to make a good recovery.

It believes 1.6 million people in the UK are affected by the condition which can affect anyone at any time, but girls and young women aged 12-20 are most at risk.

New guidelines

beat says it wants the media to be truthful about eating disorders and it wants an end to images of emanciation that do more harm than good.

The charity says the Press Complaints Commission has agreed to look at including a guideline on these issues into the Editor’s Code of Conduct which will shortly be reviewed.

Professor Schmidt, Chair of the Royal College of Psychiatrist’s Eating Disorders Section said in a statement: “This is an absolutely outstanding and much needed set of guidelines which will go a long way in helping the media to achieve more balanced reporting of these devastating illnesses and to avoid the dual pitfalls of either trivialising or hyping up eating disorders.”