Friday, February 02, 2007

Eating Disorders...should we blame the parents.

Recently, Supermodel Gisele Bundchen claimed that eating disorders are caused by "bad" families. She claimed that her family has always been supportive to her, and therefore she never developed an eating disorder! Does she really think that all women (and men!) with ED had unsupportive families?! Does she really think the only factor in developing an eating disorder is support? She lashed out against the media and recent claims that the modeling industry itself promotes eating disorders. This sociocultural perspective claims that young women see the bodies the fashion industry touts as beautiful and leads to them trying to reach that impossible ideal.
There is a wonderful article that I have posted below to show Gisele's claims have no scientific support. There is, however, interesting support that shows a genetic link in EDs.

Alert: NYC fashion shows are thinking of banning underweight models? Do you think it is a good idea or not? Spain has recently banned underweight models from runway shows...should the US follow suit? Anyone with a BMI (Body Mass Index) under 18.5 would not be allowed to work the runway!


Problems creating a link...copy and paste this:
http://www.usmagazine.com/gisele_bundchen_0

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Shiela, I think this has a bad link to article. I tried it repeatedly w/no success. Tom Russell

Natasia said...

I couldn't access the web page either but I agree with both sides of the arguments. On one side of the scale it is a documented fact that children who are raised in a controlling environment grasp hold of anything they can be in charge of. In this case what they consume.

While little girls are growing up they try to emulate women that are perceived beautiful. What they don’t realize is that the women they see in magazines and on television are not healthy the majority of the time. I have heard Tyra Banks and many other models state that when they have shoots they don’t eat for a couple of days to a whole week before hand. I specifically remember hearing something about a grape diet. That's when a model would have 3 grapes for breakfast, two for lunch and one for dinner. I have many young girls in my family aging from 10-13 and they are already showing signs of dieting and not eating correctly due to the way women look in magazines.

I believe that the USA should adopt the same rules as in Spain. At least then we give young girls a fighting chance.