I blame no one; I do not blame parents, I do not blame the media. I look to see what contributions each of these things are making. And if someone is predisposed or if they are moving in that direction it kind of fuels the fire. And I don't honor those things by purchasing them, having them here I think it is dishonoring to women in some of the things that are suggested. It is just not what we need. We have shifted from our models being at ideal weight to the average 23-25% under, which is a starvation rate. It is a dishonoring thing and fortunately there is a trend moving in the direction of honoring women at their natural body ideal weight as opposed to imposed weight. I think so many times those in the media feel pressured or pressure themselves to move in that direction. There are some of the weight regulated extracurricular activities, cheerleading in the past has been weight regulated and I think there's a trend toward being more common sense about that. For example a female cheerleader is at that ideal size, but has greater muscle mass, and may weigh more but is not larger than the weight that is the mandate. So she can't be on the team or in the past was not able to be. I think there's a move towards recognizing that that is not always the standard.
I think as parents we all need to "choose our battles;" honor the value system within the family. Most eating disorders have been diagnosed between the age of 14 and 21 and that's such an adjustment time. Control is such an issue whether someone is at that age or not, it can be such an issue. It's identity issue time, it's prepubescence, when females are shifting and it's a tough time. So parents need to work at pulling on to their values and standards and not being so rigid about the things that don't really matter and allowing their daughters to move into the direction of self control and self decision making with inputs from parents but not with rigidity. Does the family spend time together? How is the meal valued in the family? Does the family sit down and have meals together? There's information about the significance in meals because we have become such a busy society. So many females work outside the home, so it's a huge task to do their job and then come home and do all that women do. Most eating disorders are female disorders although approximately 10% or somewhat are males and I don't want to omit them because they are just a serious and just as compromising for males as they are for females. We are one of the few centers in the country that accept males as patients. There are some but most do not, and since then several places have been opened in recent years that treat only men.
