Thursday, June 17, 2010

Celebrity Gossip mags & Eating Disorders

Long ago I couldn't help but wonder what the , Celebrity gossip mags effects were on my daughter's eating disorder. Not being one to blame things outside of our control I let it go.

This is still good to see this research to encourage parents who may have a genetically predisposed child to keep these out of the house.

A study in Wales by Dr. James White of Cardiff University and Dr. Emma Halliwell of University of West England compared habits of 546 children ages 11-16 in South Wales. The research is being presented at the Appearance Matters conference in Bristol.

The study's results indicated that the one of the strongest risk factors for significant increases in eating disorder behaviours was how often teenage boys and girls read gossip magazines.

See the whole article here: http://www.physorg.com/news195918685.html

What have you seen in your child with an eating disorder? Do they enjoy these magazines?

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thank you for calling attention to the fact that these magazines focus on the illusory lives of shallow people and somehow seduce our young people into thinking they should be the same way.
What are some ways parents and society can counteract this influence without getting into censorship?

Becky said...

Thank you for the comment and question. Society in general can counteract this influence by speaking up and sharing helpful messages that accept people of all sizes, shapes, colors, etc. for being the amazing people they are. Write articles, send a note to magazine editors when you don't agree with what they are putting in their magazines. Don't buy the gossip magazines. I wrote a letter to Minnesota Monthly's editor after an upsetting spread they had with an emaciated model and the editor responded to me saying they got a lot of backlash and would change their ways.

As a parent you can ask a lot of open ended questions about what your teen thinks about those photos, people and editors who share this stuff. Try to not be judgmental yourself but share your values.

More comments?