Thin

In an age where everyone is vying for equal rights on one plane or another, it comes as no surprise that some anorexics are now “exercising” the right to starve themselves.

Chock full of tips, such as the old “If you're being watched, try the opaque cup trick; pretend you're eating, and spit the food in the cup while you pretend to be drinking - don't forget to get rid of what's in the cup,” trick, underground sites like Ana Angels ( http://www.fortunecity.com/healthclub/allergy/20/index.htm ) are, thankfully, receding into the background due to harsh criticism from nutrition experts. Update: This site is now down.

Ana Angels’ author is an anorexic teenager who hid her site among thousands of other free sites at Fortunecity.com. Last time she updated her site, in 2001, her height was 5’5 and she weighed 109 lbs. Her goal was the have a BMI of 11 percent and a weight of 90 lbs. She seems to know the dangers of undereating and even warns people before entering her site that the anorexia is not suitable for everyone, and yet she is promoting these bad health habits through exploitation of her own anorexia.

The site’s main intention is to offer inspiration to like-minded anorexics who are not seeking recovery. On the front page she also warns that anorexic and bulimic individuals who are in recovery should not enter her site. This is good because inside, she offers resources such as a “thinspiration,” link, which consists of photographs of grossly underweight models, as well as some dancers.

She also seems to be trying to justify her own behavior and release bitterness over her past. It is obvious by her biography that the author has suffered some horrible experiences. She has a poetry section in which she writes about being raped. She ends one poem about the sadness she is feeling, with the line: “all this pain I cry about, will it never go away?”

Her talent for words may be doing more harm than good when it comes to her tips section. We can see her justifying her behavior when she offers this tip: “A little envy is a good thing. Competition is a great mobilizer. Notice how many girls are thinner than you and try to be thinner.” She uses positive words like good and great in helping others (and herself) stay anorexically motivated. She tells people how to burn more calories (lower the temperature in the house, take cold showers), feel fuller, deal with the pain of hunger, and fool others into thinking everything is OK. What she is actually doing is fooling herself and others into thinking their behavior is OK, when it’s actually life-threatening.

The information supplied on losing weight could potentially work, but what the site does not explore is the dangers of anorexia. Aside from death, anorexic behavior leads to a slower BMR, anemia, impaired immune response, poor nail and hair health, and a multitude of other problems that need to be dealt with. In fact, it is ironic when she warns people how dangerous it is to purge (as if being anorexic were any less risky).

Even so, the author realizes she has a problem when she describes her relationship with anorexia in a “Letter from Ana”: “Pretty soon, I (anorexia) am with you always. I am there when you wake up in the morning and run to the scale. The numbers become both friend and enemy, and the frenzied thoughts pray for them to be lower…” She seems comforted by her anorexia, while at the same time she understands that she has a problem. Hopefully she has gotten some help.

Eliminating Web sites will not solve the problem of anorexia. The Internet allows anorexics to band together for reassurance, but this is just an extension of the problem. By solving anorexia at its root, people won’t feel the need to network, because there will no longer be a problem.