-Caveat Lector-
From
http://www.sunday-times.co.uk/article/0,,9004-2001531093,00.html
}}}>Begin
SUNDAY NOVEMBER 18 2001
Starving �Annas� fight to spread anorexia gospel
JOHN HARLOW, LOS ANGELES
THE �Annas� are on the march. Up to 100,000 militant anorexics,
who claim that their shrinking body shapes are �lifestyle choices�
rather than symptoms of a dangerous illness, are setting up a $1m
fund to fight legal attempts to stop them winning new converts to
their cause.
The group, whose members look to celebrities such as Calista
Flockhart, star of the television series Ally McBeal, and Lara Flynn
Boyle, Jack Nicholson�s girlfriend, as role models, began two years
ago as a loose alliance of anorexics and bulimics sharing weight
loss tips over the internet.
They are rapidly turning themselves into an organised force,
however, amid signs that authorities are trying to close down the
internet sites they run. These are aimed at the estimated 8m
Americans � more than double the number a decade ago � now
thought to suffer from eating disorders.
One of the leaders of the �Annas� gives her name only as Sahara
and describes herself a 22-year-old student from the prestigious
Stanford University, near San Francisco.
A computer specialist, she runs a website that provides detailed advice for those who
want to starve themselves � coupled with tips on fooling parents, friends and doctors.
She also helps to maintain a private database of
100,000 sympathisers who aim to raise more than �700,000 to employ lawyers to
challenge the health experts who are trying to close down their websites.
�This is only the first step,� said Sahara, who has shrunk from eight stone to less
than five stone over the past 18 months � and who still claims to be half a stone from
her target weight.
�Twenty years ago homosexuality was still classified as a disease. Ten years ago who
would have thought that fat people would organise so successfully that Californian
fire services have to employ people so overweight the
y cannot climb a ladder or else risk being sued? �At least we are not risking any
lives here, at least only our own. If we want to die this way, then that should be our
choice.�
Her site is not the only one to carry such an extreme message. The Sunday Times last
week identified a total of seven that describe themselves as �pro- anorexic�. Having
warned away those recovering from the illness, they
give step-by-step instructions on how a healthy teenage girl can turn herself into a
walking skeleton in six months. Several are dedicated to �the Goddess Anna�.
Supporters � some of whom have set themselves the target of doubling the number of
anorexics � are also planning to set up a radio network and even a television station
devoted to their cause.
The authorities are mobilising against them, however. Brooke Shields and Jacqueline
Bisset, the actresses, and Chris Evert, the former Wimbledon champion, are among
celebrities being recruited to head the fight against a
condition that is blamed for killing thousands of people each year, largely through
heart attacks and related organ failure.
The Chicago-based National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and
Associated Disorders (Anad) has appointed a full-time official to
monitor internet sites that promote anorexia and persuade internet
service providers to close them down.
There are worrying indications that anorexics are getting younger,
with a marked increase of those aged eight to 11 in the past five
years.
�These are the introverted kids who spend their lives on computers,
who are vulnerable to the poison gospel of the Annas,� said Dr John
Idreriot of the University of Southern California. �There is no point in
bullying or scaring them into treatment. All parents can do is keep
a closer eye on what their kids are up to. Nobody else can save
them from the Annas.�
Copyright 2001 Times Newspapers Ltd.
End<{{{
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