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Tips abound to help fool physicians at patients' weigh-ins
Ever since pro-eating disorder Web sites came to light recently, health professionals have been wondering how to respond to these disturbing online communities where people with anorexia encourage each other to starve.
"Hi. My name is Aly and I'm 16. I didn't eat anything for eight days," reads a recent posting on one Web site. "Are there any tips you have that could keep me going for 14 days with no food?"
Dr. Katherine Austin Leonard, medical director of the child and adolescent eating disorders program at North York General Hospital in Toronto, recalls the first time she saw a pro-eating disorders Web site: "I had a patient last winter who had printed out pages from a Web site ... I was aghast."
Typically, the sites present anorexia and bulimia-fondly referred to as "ana" and "mia"-as a lifestyle and a choice, not an illness. They offer tips such as how to fake eating by chewing and then discreetly spitting into a cup, or how to vomit efficiently after gorging.
Sites also feature "thinspirational" quotes, photos of...