Eating disorders should be banned

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wlaurel
wlaurel Posts: 43
in Fitness and Exercise
I think MFP is a great website, but it does need to work on keeping unhealthy lifestyles off of here. This website should monitor diaries with substantionally low calorie intakes and expel them or SOMETHING. I will never understand their sickness, I know this. I am not a cruel person... and I'm not trying to discriminate those with eating disorders. But they don't seem to understand how much impact their sickness has on other people's mental state. Just because you say "you don't promote eating disorders" and you "wouldn't wish your sickness on anyone," doesn't stop some people, especially young girls, from getting "thinspired" by your thigh gaps and low calorie intake. My heart breaks for those with EDs, and I want to shake the people around you for not picking you up and carrying you to the hospital like my loved ones would do for me. However, I think you are doing more harm than you realize my publicising your ED.

Replies

  • emmamc252
    emmamc252 Posts: 56 Member
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    i personally think that there is so much information out there for young girls or anyone else to find that its not something we can sensor anymore. anyone that develo[ps a serious eatinjg disorder does so through lack of proper nutritional education, low self esteem and probably out of confusion as to what a healthy lifestyle and body is!
    as a teacher I think its disgracefuk that there is so little curriculum based on a healthy lifestyle and far too little to help girls and boys imptove their self esteem. I spend a small fortune having water, flavoured waters and fruit in my clasroom for my kids because I think its important. I am not allowed to drag the parents of one of my students who is hugely overweight into school to ask them why the hell they give their obese 12 year old a jar of nuttella to "snack" on every day and to point out that foot long sandwiches are probably not needed for a child that has school dinners!
    I teach teenageres and have had many girls starving themselves and when I talk to them about it, they do it because they don't know how to lose weight, or how to have a healthy diet and often because they have no control over the food they are given so they just stop eating it!
    to me it doesn't matter what magazines print, photoshop, what pro-ana sights say, if we educated our children better then the problems would go down!
  • Madelinew22
    Madelinew22 Posts: 289
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    I in no way have a ed( maybe binging, but I don't feel like crap about it I just Like food) but when I had lots of friends on here everytime I saw a younge girl lose weight I either felt bad, or wondered if it would work for me. But I deleted pretty much everyone so I can just focus on me now
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,121 Member
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    You never know where people will find strength, as well. Maybe someone will finally start to eat correctly. If you see a post that blatantly promotes Ana or Bulimia, you are free to report it - the site does have Guidelines.

    ....and no way the Admin is ever going to "monitor" Diaries :laugh:
  • RhonndaJ
    RhonndaJ Posts: 1,615 Member
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    You never know where people will find strength, as well. Maybe someone will finally start to eat correctly. If you see a post that blatantly promotes Ana or Bulimia, you are free to report it - the site does have Guidelines.

    ....and no way the Admin is ever going to "monitor" Diaries :laugh:

    This.

    And the reality that those are not the only eating disorders out there. How would you judge who gets tossed?

    Do you ban someone because they have a low calorie intake but are slowly creeping it higher when we have people with high calorie intakes who are slowly working on getting in lower? How do you judge is someone is trying but keeps failing?

    Just things that crossed my mind.
  • wlaurel
    wlaurel Posts: 43
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    You never know where people will find strength, as well. Maybe someone will finally start to eat correctly. If you see a post that blatantly promotes Ana or Bulimia, you are free to report it - the site does have Guidelines.

    ....and no way the Admin is ever going to "monitor" Diaries :laugh:

    This.

    And the reality that those are not the only eating disorders out there. How would you judge who gets tossed?

    Do you ban someone because they have a low calorie intake but are slowly creeping it higher when we have people with high calorie intakes who are slowly working on getting in lower? How do you judge is someone is trying but keeps failing?

    Just things that crossed my mind.

    How I would judge who got tossed: People who eat between 300-800 calories daily, have pro ana "thinspiration" pictures, are obviously deprived, and have unhealthy quotes on their page about not eating.
  • wlaurel
    wlaurel Posts: 43
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    i personally think that there is so much information out there for young girls or anyone else to find that its not something we can sensor anymore. anyone that develo[ps a serious eatinjg disorder does so through lack of proper nutritional education, low self esteem and probably out of confusion as to what a healthy lifestyle and body is!
    as a teacher I think its disgracefuk that there is so little curriculum based on a healthy lifestyle and far too little to help girls and boys imptove their self esteem. I spend a small fortune having water, flavoured waters and fruit in my clasroom for my kids because I think its important. I am not allowed to drag the parents of one of my students who is hugely overweight into school to ask them why the hell they give their obese 12 year old a jar of nuttella to "snack" on every day and to point out that foot long sandwiches are probably not needed for a child that has school dinners!
    I teach teenageres and have had many girls starving themselves and when I talk to them about it, they do it because they don't know how to lose weight, or how to have a healthy diet and often because they have no control over the food they are given so they just stop eating it!
    to me it doesn't matter what magazines print, photoshop, what pro-ana sights say, if we educated our children better then the problems would go down!

    Yeah I feel your pain.. I have worked in childcare for about three years now. There are about a handful of kids who come into the daycare with mcdonalds breakfasts. I wanted to talk to their parents about it, but I didn't know if I would be crossing a line. Plus I realize that some families feed their kids fast food because buying a cheeseburger off the dollar menu is a lot cheaper than buying fresh fruit and veggies at the super market. It's sad, but true.
  • LexyDB
    LexyDB Posts: 261
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    Oh my, a nineteen year old, book burning nazi airs her view. Why stop there? Why not those who are overweight by a certain amount? Are they not encouraging people to eat when they post they can't stick to their diet and consume more than is necessary? Why stop there? Delete their account, log their I.P. address so that they can never inflict anyone with their corrupt, insidious ways.

    Or maybe recognise it is a psychological disorder and they need greater help than this site and people like you can provide.
  • EmCarroll1990
    EmCarroll1990 Posts: 2,849 Member
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    Are you just specifying people with lower calorie intake disorders, or those that see food and eat it until they can't move disorders?
  • histora
    histora Posts: 287 Member
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    How about all the members that have "I have an ED (be it anorexia, bulimia, or morbid food addiction) and have no interest in getting fat/getting skinny. Nothing wrong with having an ED, leave me alone!" on their page?

    People in remission from either end of the spectrum, sure, makes sense to be here. People intent on killing themselves, either way...well,

    And this is coming from a recovered bulimic. I don't look at profiles anymore because I kept coming across all these pro-ED profiles, complete with pro-ana or pro-emi links and pics and sayings.

    But I also realize that no one at MFP is actually going to bother.
  • myfitnessnmhoy
    myfitnessnmhoy Posts: 2,105 Member
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    Plus I realize that some families feed their kids fast food because buying a cheeseburger off the dollar menu is a lot cheaper than buying fresh fruit and veggies at the super market. It's sad, but true.

    So, I'm sorry, it's simply not. As both a parent and a frugal *kitten*, I've done the math.

    Hannaford My Essentials frozen chicken breasts: $6.99, 10 serving package: $0.69 per serving.
    Hannaford Frozen Mixed Vegetables, 1 pound bag (5 servings) $0.99: $0.20 per serving
    Hannaford Multigrain Loaf (~16 slices per loaf, so 8 servings): $4.00, $0.50 per serving
    1% Milk, Gallon (16 8oz servings): 3.95, $0.25 per serving

    $1.64 per serving for "heat-and-eat" or minimal cooked food that will take less time than sitting at the damned drive-through and provide ten times the nutritional quality. Round it up to 2 bucks if you want some form of sauce.

    I've never seen a kid leave a Mickey D's without a small fries, and usually a cookie. That with a cheeseburger is WAY over 2 bucks.
  • histora
    histora Posts: 287 Member
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    Plus I realize that some families feed their kids fast food because buying a cheeseburger off the dollar menu is a lot cheaper than buying fresh fruit and veggies at the super market. It's sad, but true.

    So, I'm sorry, it's simply not. As both a parent and a frugal *kitten*, I've done the math.

    Hannaford My Essentials frozen chicken breasts: $6.99, 10 serving package: $0.69 per serving.
    Hannaford Frozen Mixed Vegetables, 1 pound bag (5 servings) $0.99: $0.20 per serving
    Hannaford Multigrain Loaf (~16 slices per loaf, so 8 servings): $4.00, $0.50 per serving
    1% Milk, Gallon (16 8oz servings): 3.95, $0.25 per serving

    $1.64 per serving for "heat-and-eat" or minimal cooked food that will take less time than sitting at the damned drive-through and provide ten times the nutritional quality. Round it up to 2 bucks if you want some form of sauce.

    I've never seen a kid leave a Mickey D's without a small fries, and usually a cookie. That with a cheeseburger is WAY over 2 bucks.

    I think the "Why McDonalds is horrible and not cheap" thread is down that hall <
  • wlaurel
    wlaurel Posts: 43
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    Interesting opinions ladies :)
  • wlaurel
    wlaurel Posts: 43
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    I live in the upper eastside, food at my market doesn't come that cheap. Sorry, you can't provide statistics based off of one life experience... your own.
  • erinkeely4
    erinkeely4 Posts: 408 Member
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    I delete people when they eat too few calories because I can't see it without suggesting they eat more, and I can't suggest they eat more and make absolutely no impact with my words and be okay with that. But I don't think they should be banned from this site. That's pretty discriminatory, and unhelpful for everyone involved.

    Deal with your own crap. Friend who you want. Let other people deal with their own crap.
  • AshinAms
    AshinAms Posts: 283 Member
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    Hmm, I wonder if anyone recognises that being obese is also an 'eating disorder' in that you don't get to be in that situation by having a healthy relationship with food.

    Yes, if you are anorexic it ISN"T recommended to track food obsessively so sites like MFP should be a definite no, especially if the anorexic in question is in therapy, but considering that an anorexic will track calories whichever way they want - in their head, on paper etc - it's unreasonable to expect MFP to go weeding out those who don't 'fit the profile'.

    Everyone here is just trying to get by in their own particular way.
  • Pebble321
    Pebble321 Posts: 6,554 Member
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    You know, this topic comes up about once a week. Please, live and let live.
    If you have someone on your friend list who doesn't fit with your philosophy, delete them. How hard is that?

    This is an open internet forum, and no matter how much someone might think something isn't RIGHT, we can't stop anyone from making a profile and using this tool in any manner they choose. I'm also not sure how you suggest that this is policed... do we have an obligitory BMI check? Do we all have to get a doctor's referral to be allowed to use MFP? Do we all have to be over 18? (Of course the answer to the last one is yes, but you know that isn't the case for everyone, and how can you stop it?)

    I don't like seeing pro-ana profiles either, but I'm really hoping that for even one of those people that some of the "healthy eating, try moderation" message might sink in. Surely they are better hanging around here than on a completely ana/mia site.

    I also think that I'm not in any position to critisise someone who has unhealthy eating habits. I didn't get into the obese BMI category by eating perfectly, and I'm betting the OP didn't either.
  • sweetchildomine
    sweetchildomine Posts: 872 Member
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    I don't see how people are comparing overweight people with someone who is pro-ana. If an obese person is on here and they eat too much - they are here because they are at least TRYING. If someone is a recovering anorexic its the same thing BUT if they are waving their Pro-ana flag high and have no intention of trying to become healthier - THAT is a problem. Unfortunately there is no way to police how much people are eating but I do think they should be banned if they are promoting unhealthy habits. That includes if an obese person is posting links to pro-obesity websites. I've NEVER seen that happen but...hey, there's a first time for everything lol.
  • Promqueen_74932
    Promqueen_74932 Posts: 203 Member
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    Any unhealthy relationship with food is an eating disorder, whether is it bulimia, anorexia, or compulsive overeating. I have an eating disorder, I am a cumpulsive overeater. When I get fearful I use food as a crutch. I managed to get up to 265lbs by the age of 25. I am proud to say that I have been in a 12 step recovery for years and have managed to lose 100lbs. It's not easy. I'm tested every day, but I do my best to keep a balance. MFP has helped me a lot with keeping better track of my caloric intake & outtake. I used to log everything on paper and Oh MY that can be time consuming! So thanks to MFP I have done much better. I think MFP is a great place, without it I would still be tracking everything on paper. It has simplified my life. Do I think eating disorders should be banned? No. Do I think people should be aware of what an eating disorder is? Yes. I think if everyone was better aware and educated about eating disorders then those who need help will be more capable of getting it.

    Thanks for the post.

    Sara

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