I have never been one to read fashion magazines and such, and my ED started long before I had a computer, so the media has not influenced me very much. I have used pro-ana sites for thinspiration images, and still do sometimes, but my ED has its roots in childhood abuse and poor self esteem. I don't think the media has much impact on my continuing ED either. The ED behavior is so deeply entrenched that it keeps itself going without outside influence.

My eating disorder stemmed as a method of calming myself down as a child. Around 7-8, I realised that cutting out foods would make me less active. Around age 12, though, it became about being less hyper AND slimming my legs down due to pressure from other dancers and my mother's comments. I didn't really know about celebrity stuff until I went into treatment for the first time at age 20-21.

I'm really against all these pro-anorexia sites though. They're stupid and only propagate that EDs are glamourous and if you wanna be like a star, you have to starve yourself. Magasines also promote unhealthy nutritional guides (such as, "workout for an hour and eat 1200 calories and you'll lose weight!") Yeah, you'll lose weight, but you'll be starving yourself...duh. It's just as bad as anorexia, and you're more prone to developing the obsessive mindset of an eating disordered person. Ugh.

Nothing affected my ED accept my own sick way of thinking.

Mine started way before it was ever discussed. And, there was no big deal involving the media.

I still have no interest of someone is thin or not. In fact, my actual preference towards what I consider beautiful is usually a chunky type woman. Yeah, maybe that sounds strange, but it's true.

I do honestly believe it is a mental illness.

Its a very complex and immotive subject, I believe that anything that advertises and promotes an unhealthy lifestyle ahould be restricted, such as alcohol, tobacco, drugs, child pornography etc. The media is wrong to trade on peoples insecurities as it does, for instance in teenagers, "spot Cream", perfect complexion etc, for new Mum's, how to lose your pregnancy weight in 10 days, I could go on for a week. Using Victoria Beckham as a prime example she is No 2 in the pro anorexia charts as the "most desired" woman to lookalike, well if we saw her photographed in a bikini instead of designer clothes am sure we would not desire to be anything like her so you see image is wrongly portrayed and happiness is NOT, Victoria Beckham has nothing else to offer the world but her Eating Disorder, if she were wise and cared, she would gain her weight to a healthy one and make the media world change its focus. It would only take one celebrity to do this!

I do believe that media plays an influence in the prevalence of eating disorders. If you look at research, societies that value a robust, female body have lower rates of eating disorders than societies (like the US and much of Europe) that value thinness.

I think that France's recent legislation about making it illegal for websites, fashion magazines and advertisers to promote extreme thinness is another indication that the media plays a role in the overwhelming increasing rate of eating disorders.

Am I blaming my development of an ED on the media? No, but I believe that being bombarded with images of Victoria Beckham, Paris Hilton, Nicole Richie, etc did influence.

I somehow doubt that there would be a profusion of pro-ANA websites (and ED recovery sites) if we valued Rubin-esque women. I also think that America's desire for more, more, more or better, better, better adds to the development of EDs. We need to teach our children that being themselves is enough. They are worthy as is. They don't need to be stick thin, the best player on a team or the straight A student to be important. They are important because they are made in God's image. This is a lesson that I'm trying to learn because no one ever taught me.

I think in some ways the media can have a huge influence, watching programmes such as americas next top model, you've got very thin models who are being told at go sees that to be coture they need to lose more weight! and you sit there and think if they lost anymore they'd be invisible. Then it can make people think, wow if she needs to lose weight then i definitely do, so it can influence, i wouldn't say this is what influenced my ED, i believe that growing up in a household full of dieters, who were always constantly counting calories, low fat this and low fat that, contributed to my ED, plus other factors, in the sense that i do not like it when i am not in control, and my eating is a way of being in control, but i also think that the media has not helped, and i am all for banning pro-ana websites, they do not help the issue

My viewing of TV is limited, and I'm not a person who reads magazines or the paper. I truly believe the choices I'm making stem directly from my mother's influence when I was younger. I would liken it to living in a concentration camp. She marked all containers so she'd know exactly how much was in each one. There was hell to pay for the person who ate something without her knowledge. I was stick thin until my 12th birthday because while babysitting I'd raid the refrigerator and cupboards and had consent to do so by the people for whom I was sitting. Hence, an overeating binger was born. It provided me the comfort I needed from the abuse at home.

The media never played a role. Like slinkymink it is directly related to abuse. Eating causes flashbacks, no eating, won't get those flashbacks.

When I had an ED, I would go to pro sites but more to talk to people who were active in their disorder. I never wanted to look like anyone in the media and thought they looked sick, I just couldn't see myself.

The media will obviously have an effect on people, check out the Fiji study and what happened when they introduced Western TV shows.

I'm also with sophie and slinkymink- abuse and feelings of low self-worth due to the perfectionism my parents perpetuated is also a HUGE part of my ED. If I can't be above and beyond at something, then I'm just average. If I'm just average, I'll never do anything in life. Those kinds of thoughts bombarded my everyday tasks due to my parents' harassment. Cs in school were seen as a huge failure, and in some cases, I would be abused for them. I watched my mother break a yardstick on my sister when she got a D in a minute and silly subject. If we won second place in one of the hundreds of competitions we entered, we still didn't do enough; if we got first place, it was just expected, and it was time to move up to the next level of competition.

Basically, around age 14 or 15, my mother called us ungrateful for all her "help" to make us better people, and quit us from all the tons of activities she had us doing. It was a huge shock, and suddenly, I had nothing to control my life and fill my thoughts. So, I had to get better at the one thing I had for so long- my eating disorder. Well, I "got better" at it- so good that I nearly died that fateful 9 December 2007.

I doubt I would have ever really cared about magasines views on weight and pictures of ultra-slim models if I would have been taught that a natural body shape is, well...NATURAL. Whereas, I was told that I was "no supermodel" and "only pretty" and that I "should lose about five pounds." My mother also ALWAYS moaned about how depressed she was because she was fat, even though it really was that she was fat because she binge-ate while depressed.

I think the parents in eating disordered people are a lot to blame. If not the parents, the guardians or other people in the family/friends. The more pressure you get while growing up (whether it be about "be thin [from your grandmother]" or "man, if only Mommy could make her thighs smaller" or "hey fatso! [as some kid runs down the locker room hall] or "if only you could do SOMETHING right for Daddy"), the more likely you'll just cave to media influences, and validate the right to continue in it. It's a hugggeee vicious cycle. :\

For me the media never had anything to do with me becoming anorexic. As for the pro ana sites. Everybody can decide to go on there or not. I choose not to because I want to recover. But even when I didn't want to recover I never went on those sites. They always seemed perverted to me.

I pretty much agree with everyone here. Family was my reason and I don't know anything about media issues. Who cares about Victoria B and Paris Hilton anyway? Couple of bimbos.

No media didnt start mind i mean i'm only 17 but had it since i was 12,and ive had alot of issue in my life that cause me to have a ED.But like slinky i try to stay away from those magazines.