Stick-thin celebs not main culprits when it comes to eating disorders

Published on Saturday 31 March 2007 00:14

ON THE front page of yesterday's Times newspaper, there was a very curious phrase. It was a quote from columnist Jane Shilling, who wrote: "There is nothing like planting a lettuce to take your mind off the shape of your body."

Given the somewhat congenial photo of Shilling's smiling face, I presumed the article would be some light-hearted commentary on the agreeable benefits of gardening.

Quickly, I turned to find out what further insights might be available on the cultivation of salad vegetables.

Inside, I discovered this was no gardening fluff piece. Shilling had written her column on the revelation that Allegra Versace - daughter of Donatella and niece of the late designer Gianni - is being medically treated for anorexia. The news itself was broken on Wednesday, to very little surprise, after years of speculation about the 20-year-old's diminishing size. Apparently, she now weighs around five stone - 32 kg - about half that of her healthy peers.

For a minute, my heart sank. The debate about size zero fashion models has been reignited in light of this story, and I instinctively thought Shilling would wade in to berate both the fashion industry in general, and Donatella in particular.

As someone with intimate knowledge of eating disorders, this kind of talk has incensed me for the past few months, and so I read with baited breath to see what Shilling would come up with.

Fortunately, she avoided the well-trodden route, and concentrated instead on her sad realisation that anorexia is simply "a competitive battle between insecure women for the admiration of other insecure women".

Her line about lettuce was part of an encouragement to give schoolgirls more wholesome activities with which to preoccupy themselves - including cookery, gardening and sport.

Shilling is absolutely correct in her conclusion, and I am thankful to her for moving the discussion forward.

But all of the recent arguments about eating disorders - sparked by the banning of size zero models (the equivalent of size four in UK terms) at various European fashion weeks - has missed the point about this crushing condition. Eating disorders are not primarily about weight, they are not about fashion and they are not about celebrity.

Perfectly healthy, happy nine-year-old girls do not develop into malnourished 16-year-olds simply because they have seen diminished teens on fashion catwalks, nor do they refuse to eat solely because they have seen magazine photos of Keira Knightley.

Eating disorders - much like alcoholism and illegal drug use - are an escape from some other pressure. Typically it is attractive, intelligent and high-achieving girls who develop this inappropriate relationship with food, and until we address the root cause of that stress, the endless ranting about stick-thin role models is utterly redundant.

Anorexia and bulimia result most often from a feeling of overwhelming anxiety and unbearable tension. Something in the sufferer's life feels so acutely intolerable that they choose instead to preoccupy their minds with thoughts of food. The nervousness and difficulty with eating, the obsession with daily meal choices and the constant arithmetic of calorie equations - all of it is, for whatever reason, subconsciously preferable to their previous psychological environment.

In these cases, nutrition becomes a focus for anorexics because it is a fundamental expression of self-esteem. If you believe in yourself, you look after yourself. But if you have a basic understanding that you are flawed or inadequate, a way to live out that belief is to lose respect for your body, to punish your very being.

Yes, under those circumstances, having pictures of underweight women festooned across all media is no way to encourage better eating habits. But putting size 14 women on a catwalk won't do it either.

The longer we argue that our love of celebrity is the root of all evil, the further we get from solving the problem.

Removing the stimulus of anorexic idols will help, but only because it frees us to enjoy more psychologically fruitful pursuits.

Broaden the parameters of what it means to be a success; make it easier for people to feel wholly appreciated. Only then will we begin to turn the tide.