Pro-anorexia
websites lure youngsters
Health experts have highlighted their concerns about the image and advice of pro-anorexia websites. The support networks have come under the scanner for luring vulnerable young people into starving themselves.
Steve Broomfield, from the
Eating Disorders Association, claimed that the websites are literally
killing people.
The danger of these
sites is that often young people with an eating disorder don't understand what is happening to them, ‘The Independent’ quoted Bloomfield, as saying.
They are very scared of talking to their parents or teachers or doctors, so they turn to the Internet for information, he added.
Some of the sites offer tips on weight reduction alongside images of pencil thin celebrities and models.
Amanda Hills, a psychologist and counsellor from the National Centre for Eating Disorders, said the sites keep people in their illness' instead of directing them towards required medical attention.
Those who resist
treatment are also at risk of infertility and osteoporosis.
About one in five people who don't get appropriate treatment die prematurely, so
are literally killing people, Bloomfield added.
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