Pro anorexia
What exactly is pro anorexia?
Pro anorexia is support of anorexia as a
lifestyle choice and promotes negative body
image. It does not recognize anorexia as a
disorder.
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Why to anorexics seek out pro anorexia sites?
There are many pro anorexic web sites offering
community support and encouragement to people
suffering from anorexia nervosa. Anorexia can
often be a very lonely existence, and the
proliferation of pro-anorexia on the internet has
become an easy way for anorexics to find acceptance
within the framework of their altered self-body
image.
The loneliness is so pervasive that the anorexia disorder becomes
the anorexics only friend who understands them. The disease is
often personalized and referred to as "ana". Bulimics also
personalize the disorder and will often refer to it as "mia" or "bella".
Within the pro-anorexic community they will often refer to their
"support sites" as pro-ana sites.
Help stop pro anorexia sites on the web
The National Eating Disorders Foundation has been waging a
campaign to get these pro-ana sites removed from the internet.
The have successfully lobbied some influential search engines like
Yahoo! from removing these destructive sites from their search
results pages, or simply disabling the link to their site.
Unfortunately, for every pro-ana site that is removed from the
internet, many more pop up. It is unrealistic to expect that
all of these sites will be removed from the internet as it violates
some of principals of free speech.
Steps you can take to protect your children
The internet is a wonderful and powerful tool, parents need to
pay close attention to what their children are visiting on the
internet. Software tools and tips are available to restrict
access to this content, and to actually see what your children are
surfing for on the internet:
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Check the browser history. You
can access the last few weeks of pages viewed on the
internet by reviewing your browsers history cache. In
each type of browser their is an option in their tool bar to
review the history of pages viewed.
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Install filtering software.
There are several commercial software options available that
can help you block access to internet sites deemed
objectionable content. Some of the more popular
packages are Net Nanny, Cyber Patrol, and Cyber Sitter.
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Install recording software.
This step is more involved and actually records a copy of
every single page screen viewed on your computer.
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