Anorexia Wasting Pre-teens In Argentina
BUENOS AIRES — The 4-year-old with curly blond hair smoothed her dress and told the psychiatrist what was bothering her.
"My doll is very fat," she said, describing the dimpled pink cheeks on the baby doll her parents had given her. "I hate her."
Worried about getting fat herself, the child had begun watching television diet shows, refusing to eat bread and vomiting after eating sweets, a trick she apparently learned from her mother, an anorexic.
Today, the girl is in treatment at Argentina's Association Against Anorexia and Bulimia, one of a growing number of children falling victim to a disorder that strikes nearly 1 in 10 Argentine teenage girls.
In Buenos Aires, South America's most European and fashion-conscious city, thin is always in. Shop windows are packed with bony mannequins draped in the latest body-hugging styles. Most women and some men merely nibble at the country's famed steaks or survive on little more than salads and yogurt in an effort to be as rail-thin as the models whose slim bodies grace magazines on the city's newsstands.
By Argentine standards, even wispy model Kate Moss looks a little flabby.
"Strangers will stop you on the street to tell you that you look fat," said Manuel Faraco, a psychiatrist at the Association Against Anorexia and Bulimia, better known as ALUBA.
Weight gains or losses of as little as two to five pounds are noticed, he said, with gainers sometimes earning the nickname "gorda"--fat girl--and losers being rewarded with "flaca," or skinny. One brings bright tears, the other smiles.
It's not surprising, then, that children are increasingly feeling the pressure. Argentina, a wealthy nation on a continent better known for hunger and poverty, has one of the world's highest rates of eating disorders, afflictions most common in the affluent.
ALUBA, which runs programs throughout Argentina and in Spain and Uruguay, two years ago began a program designed to treat anorexics and bulimics under 7 years old. The association, which runs a treatment program for about 1,200 people with eating disorders at its main center in Buenos Aires, has 15 children under 7 in its new program and dozens more in programs for older children and young teenagers.
Helping young children requires treating the family more than the kids, Faraco said, but the rules are the same: no talk about diets, no television programs on diets or modeling, no scales in the house, no sizes in clothes, no fashion magazines, and especially no remarks about appearance. Families are encouraged to talk about anything else because making judgmental remarks "reactivates the problem," Faraco said.
Treating children is in some respects easier than treating adults, the psychiatrist said, because the behaviors are less ingrained and the parents can set rules about eating.
What researchers are discovering is that anorexia, bulimia and other eating disorders appear to have a genetic component. The disorders run in families--mothers and daughters often share the problem--and are more common in people who also suffer from alcoholism, depression, manic-depression or obsessive-compulsive disorders.
Sufferers lose weight in an attempt to solve underlying problems that have nothing to do with body shape, experts say. Most continue to lose weight far beyond a point that would be regarded as reasonable because their problems haven't vanished with the weight.
No reliable studies on death rates among anorexics and bulimics have been done in Argentina. In the United States, studies put the mortality rate at 10 to 20 percent.
Victims die of suicide or heart and brain damage brought on by malnutrition and of weakening of the immune system, Faraco said.
Estefania F., an intense 17-year-old with heavy black circles under her eyes, came to ALUBA four months ago after becoming anorexic at age 10.
She began losing weight, she said, because "I wanted to be perfect."
Her parents, each of whom had eating disorders, warned her to quit a school field hockey team she adored, she said, because they worried she would get "too muscular." Instead, she quit eating, subsisting on little more than a quart of milk a day for months.
At ALUBA, she eats regular meals each day with a group of other anorexic girls and talks about her problems with them under the guidance of a psychologist.
Souce-(http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1997-12-15/news/9712150040_1_buenos-aires-anorexia-bulimia)
"My doll is very fat," she said, describing the dimpled pink cheeks on the baby doll her parents had given her. "I hate her."
Worried about getting fat herself, the child had begun watching television diet shows, refusing to eat bread and vomiting after eating sweets, a trick she apparently learned from her mother, an anorexic.
Today, the girl is in treatment at Argentina's Association Against Anorexia and Bulimia, one of a growing number of children falling victim to a disorder that strikes nearly 1 in 10 Argentine teenage girls.
In Buenos Aires, South America's most European and fashion-conscious city, thin is always in. Shop windows are packed with bony mannequins draped in the latest body-hugging styles. Most women and some men merely nibble at the country's famed steaks or survive on little more than salads and yogurt in an effort to be as rail-thin as the models whose slim bodies grace magazines on the city's newsstands.
By Argentine standards, even wispy model Kate Moss looks a little flabby.
"Strangers will stop you on the street to tell you that you look fat," said Manuel Faraco, a psychiatrist at the Association Against Anorexia and Bulimia, better known as ALUBA.
Weight gains or losses of as little as two to five pounds are noticed, he said, with gainers sometimes earning the nickname "gorda"--fat girl--and losers being rewarded with "flaca," or skinny. One brings bright tears, the other smiles.
It's not surprising, then, that children are increasingly feeling the pressure. Argentina, a wealthy nation on a continent better known for hunger and poverty, has one of the world's highest rates of eating disorders, afflictions most common in the affluent.
ALUBA, which runs programs throughout Argentina and in Spain and Uruguay, two years ago began a program designed to treat anorexics and bulimics under 7 years old. The association, which runs a treatment program for about 1,200 people with eating disorders at its main center in Buenos Aires, has 15 children under 7 in its new program and dozens more in programs for older children and young teenagers.
Helping young children requires treating the family more than the kids, Faraco said, but the rules are the same: no talk about diets, no television programs on diets or modeling, no scales in the house, no sizes in clothes, no fashion magazines, and especially no remarks about appearance. Families are encouraged to talk about anything else because making judgmental remarks "reactivates the problem," Faraco said.
Treating children is in some respects easier than treating adults, the psychiatrist said, because the behaviors are less ingrained and the parents can set rules about eating.
What researchers are discovering is that anorexia, bulimia and other eating disorders appear to have a genetic component. The disorders run in families--mothers and daughters often share the problem--and are more common in people who also suffer from alcoholism, depression, manic-depression or obsessive-compulsive disorders.
Sufferers lose weight in an attempt to solve underlying problems that have nothing to do with body shape, experts say. Most continue to lose weight far beyond a point that would be regarded as reasonable because their problems haven't vanished with the weight.
No reliable studies on death rates among anorexics and bulimics have been done in Argentina. In the United States, studies put the mortality rate at 10 to 20 percent.
Victims die of suicide or heart and brain damage brought on by malnutrition and of weakening of the immune system, Faraco said.
Estefania F., an intense 17-year-old with heavy black circles under her eyes, came to ALUBA four months ago after becoming anorexic at age 10.
She began losing weight, she said, because "I wanted to be perfect."
Her parents, each of whom had eating disorders, warned her to quit a school field hockey team she adored, she said, because they worried she would get "too muscular." Instead, she quit eating, subsisting on little more than a quart of milk a day for months.
At ALUBA, she eats regular meals each day with a group of other anorexic girls and talks about her problems with them under the guidance of a psychologist.
Souce-(http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1997-12-15/news/9712150040_1_buenos-aires-anorexia-bulimia)
CRITICAL REFLECTIONS QUESTIONS
Question: Why is preventing anorexia important?
Answer: Preventing anorexia is important because it has affected many people globally. Statistics have showed that anorexia is the third most common illness among adolescents. Apart from that at least 80% of 13 year old girls dieted because they believe that they are overweight. Its important to bring up this matter because it is slowly becoming more and more influential towards the younger generations. Media has given the message that if you are thin, you are beautiful and people would like you. Therefore, most adolescents are more likely to be anorexic in order to be less insecure about themselves. However, This is often ineffective and they fall deeper into insecurity and depression. Anorexia is important because it has affected so many people globally and only 1 in 10 people receive treatment for anorexia composing of 60% making a full recovery, and 20% a partial recovery and the last 20% stay dangerously underweight.
From the article, even a young girl of age 4 thinks her doll is fat. Thus, she began hating it. She also turned anorexic due to following her mother who is an anorexic.
Therfore, combating anorexia is an important topic because it has affected so many people globally, ages from as young as 4 years old to adults and even men. Hence, we have to bring this matter up to show the world the dangers of anorexia.
Question: How is losing weight through exercise and healthy eating better than being anorexic?
Answer: Never starve yourself, it is unhealthy and will damage your body. It is completely possible to be of a healthy weight without changing how much you eat. Anorexia is neither a "better" or "easier" way of being thin.
In order to get rid of fat deposits while still being healthy, our body needs food and nutrients. We also need food to keep our cells alive and functioning. A continual deprivation of calories and food, which occurs in anorexia, will shut your body down and can result in health complications.
Anorexia usually stems from an unhealthy, self loathing mindset or pressure from society. It is known that some friend circles actually encourage their peers to become anorexic.
As these tweets show, some people are proud of being anorexic. This only encourages their peers others to follow in their footsteps.
Answer: Preventing anorexia is important because it has affected many people globally. Statistics have showed that anorexia is the third most common illness among adolescents. Apart from that at least 80% of 13 year old girls dieted because they believe that they are overweight. Its important to bring up this matter because it is slowly becoming more and more influential towards the younger generations. Media has given the message that if you are thin, you are beautiful and people would like you. Therefore, most adolescents are more likely to be anorexic in order to be less insecure about themselves. However, This is often ineffective and they fall deeper into insecurity and depression. Anorexia is important because it has affected so many people globally and only 1 in 10 people receive treatment for anorexia composing of 60% making a full recovery, and 20% a partial recovery and the last 20% stay dangerously underweight.
From the article, even a young girl of age 4 thinks her doll is fat. Thus, she began hating it. She also turned anorexic due to following her mother who is an anorexic.
Therfore, combating anorexia is an important topic because it has affected so many people globally, ages from as young as 4 years old to adults and even men. Hence, we have to bring this matter up to show the world the dangers of anorexia.
Question: How is losing weight through exercise and healthy eating better than being anorexic?
Answer: Never starve yourself, it is unhealthy and will damage your body. It is completely possible to be of a healthy weight without changing how much you eat. Anorexia is neither a "better" or "easier" way of being thin.
In order to get rid of fat deposits while still being healthy, our body needs food and nutrients. We also need food to keep our cells alive and functioning. A continual deprivation of calories and food, which occurs in anorexia, will shut your body down and can result in health complications.
Anorexia usually stems from an unhealthy, self loathing mindset or pressure from society. It is known that some friend circles actually encourage their peers to become anorexic.
As these tweets show, some people are proud of being anorexic. This only encourages their peers others to follow in their footsteps.
Similarly, the article above shows that in Argentina, even young children are pressured into looking thin. They are told again and again that "fat is ugly" by their peers, the media, and in some cases, even their parents. This negative social culture is affecting more and more people-- even 4 year olds.
Question: Why is this happening?
Argentina is known for its fashion-conscious lifestyle. Argentina is seen to live by the mantra “Thin is in”. Their society is one that believes that depriving their bodies of food is a way to be beautiful. As a result, family values are altered such that it is custom for their meals to be extremely downsized.
Shops in the country are famous for their bony mannequin displays, draped in the latest fashion. It is also very difficult to find trendy clothes in Argentina if you are large sized. In fact, according to a survey performed by AnyBody Argentina, about 65% of the Argentine women interviewed stated that they've had difficulty finding fashionable clothing in their size. This leads them to believe that they are larger than the average woman, leading them to try losing even more weight.
Bello, who opened ALUBA (Association Against Anorexia and Bulimia), in 1986 hoping to give women hope for the future, said society is largely influential. “The culture is sick,” the psychologist said. “Globally everyone wants to look the same, to be thin, to be attractive. Family values disappear and girls grow up without a sense of security.”
This practice and culture is hugely blamed for the high anorexia cases in the country. It is hard to change the society’s perspective of what helps to keep you beautiful, which is in this case, eating less , and it is even harder to tailor family values and teachings.
Argentina is known for its fashion-conscious lifestyle. Argentina is seen to live by the mantra “Thin is in”. Their society is one that believes that depriving their bodies of food is a way to be beautiful. As a result, family values are altered such that it is custom for their meals to be extremely downsized.
Shops in the country are famous for their bony mannequin displays, draped in the latest fashion. It is also very difficult to find trendy clothes in Argentina if you are large sized. In fact, according to a survey performed by AnyBody Argentina, about 65% of the Argentine women interviewed stated that they've had difficulty finding fashionable clothing in their size. This leads them to believe that they are larger than the average woman, leading them to try losing even more weight.
Bello, who opened ALUBA (Association Against Anorexia and Bulimia), in 1986 hoping to give women hope for the future, said society is largely influential. “The culture is sick,” the psychologist said. “Globally everyone wants to look the same, to be thin, to be attractive. Family values disappear and girls grow up without a sense of security.”
This practice and culture is hugely blamed for the high anorexia cases in the country. It is hard to change the society’s perspective of what helps to keep you beautiful, which is in this case, eating less , and it is even harder to tailor family values and teachings.