Do you find this inspiring?
This is just one of thousands of pictures I found on a so called "thinspiration" site. These pro-anorexia (proana) and pro-bulimia (promia) sites promote the idea that eating disorders are a "lifestyle choice" rather than mental illnesses which can kill. On these sites there are pictures of dying girls and men, designed to "inspire" sufferers to become dangerously thin. These sites also contain tricks on how to hide the illnesses from friends and family, which in itself can be life threatening.
This campaign isn't just an internet site. We are working in the local community to raise awareness amongst teenagers and young adults of the dangers eating disorders and the damage these sites can do. We have held a gig which raised over £400, 75% of which went to B-eat (the Uk's leading Eating disorder charity who actively help sufferers), the other 25% going to our funds to put on more events. We also sell badges, t-shirts and eco-friendly bags and have been in the local media a lot, all helping to get our name out into the community.
So if you feel that there's enough wrong in the world without children as young as 8 being sent to hospital with Eating Disorders, then help support us.
Feel free to contact us on there or at [email protected]
The Fight To Live Campaign was set up by me, Meg, an average teen. I set it up because I realised just how poor people's understanding of eating disorders actually was. Over 1.15 million people in the UK are living with an Eating Disorder of some sort, this includes males and females as young as 8.
There are groups out there that promote eating disorders. They claim they are a "way of life".These ProAna (pro-anorexia) and ProMia (pro-bulimia) groups have pictures of dying girls which they use as "thinspiration" to inspire eating disorder sufferers to become dangerously thin.
The picture above is one I found on a "thinspiration" site. They also have tips on how to "detox" your body by starving yourself. These sites are dangerous because they prey on sufferers' vulnerability, they convince them they have no need to get better and convince them that what they're feeling is actually a choice not a mental illness which they in reality are.
Even worse a lot of their pictures are photoshopped so real girls are aspiring to be thinner than is actually physically possible.
If you agree that something needs to be done, then add us, hit reply and repost this message to spread the word.
[email protected]
Think this is sexy?This is just one of the many pictures I found on a "thinspiration" site. These pictures are designed to "inspire" sufferers to get thinner and thinner. There are tips and tricks on how to hide it from friends and family, weight loss competitions and ways on how to "detox" your body by fasting for days on end.These sites are dangerous, eating disorders kill, they are not a "lifestyle choice" they are mental illnesses which can kill. We aren't trying to shut these sites down, we want to inform young adults and teens of the dangers eating disorders can do and how unglamourous they are.In January we held our first ever event, in the form of a gig, we raised well over £400, 75% of which is going to B-eat, The UK's leading ED charity, the other 25% going to future events. Over 100 people turned out to support us and since then we have sold loads of badges to various locals.In the UK we have children as young as 8 being affected by Eating Disorders, male and female, surely that can't be right?Agree something needs to be done? Then hit reply and repost. :)
Click the images to add [email protected]
5 months ago this campaign was set up to help raise awareness of eating disorders and warn people, especially teens and young adults abut groups that actively promote Eating Disorders as a way of life. These sites can have pictures of dying girls which they call "thinspiration", dangerous starving tips, and tricks to hide it from family and friends.
As the number of children using the internet increase so does the chance of young children accessing these harmful sites. In 2006 the NHS admitted 58 children under the age of 10 with EDs and 35 of these were boys. I felt something needed to be done. For legal reasons we had to change our name, and as we don't add anyone (cause we believe people should make the choice themselves whether they''d like to support us), we are slightly down in numbers.
We had our first event this month which raised over £400, so thankyou to everyone who helped out; All the bands for playing for free, the venue for giving us the night free, and The Assembly House for sponsoring ticket costs.
Agree something needs to be done?
Click the Pictures to add.
Hit reply and repost for us, let's spread the word.
FIGHT TO LIVE HAVE FACEBOOK! Search "fight to live campaign" and Join the Group. Invite friends in!
If you'd like to contact us but don't have a myspace account email us at:
[email protected]
About the Campaign.
Fight To Live was set up by me, Meg, to help inform teenagers about Eating Disorders and the harm that groups that promote them as a "way of life" can do. There are a lot of common misconceptions about eating disorders and with over 1million people in the UK suffering from various eating disorders, I felt something needed to be done to help people understand.
What are proana and promia groups?
It's hard to distinguish the difference between Proana and ProMia groups (short for pro-anorexia and pro-bulimia)and support forums. The ProAna/Mia groups we want to warn young adults about are those that actively encourage dangerous eating habits. On these sites you can find "thinspiration"; pictures of dying girls to "inspire" sufferers to be thin, tips and tricks on how to hide it from friends and family and how to "detox" your body for fasting for long periods of time. These sites are dangerous; people with an ED are vulnerable and these sites prey on that by telling them they have no need to get better as what they're experiencing is a "lifestyle choice". They're not. Eating Disorders are mental illnesses which kill.
Who is affected by eating disorders?
Both males and females of all ages, however it's increasingly common between teenagers, as young as 8. Surely this can't be right?
So what do you do? What have you achieved?
Well since we formed on 31st August 2007, we have achieved a lot. In the first 2 months we had over 3000 online supporters and many more locally, unfortunately when we moved sites to this we had to start from scratch. We held our first event in January. It was a gig and had tremendous support from locals. It raised over £400, 75% of that was for B-eat (the UK's leading eating disorder charity) and the other 25% went towards campaign funding for merchandise future events etc. We have been on all of the local radio stations and in most of the local newspapers. We have people in London trying to get us into the national papers, and there have been talks of tv interviews, so watch this space. Since the gig we have raised a lot more money selling our merch. Eco-friendly bags, badges and tshirts.
We love hearing your ideas and comments!
Thankyou <33