As eating disorders surge, experts urge society to take them seriously

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As eating disorders surge, experts urge society to take them seriously

Comedian Kim Sook deleted a YouTube video on her official channel last month because of how it ″joked about drastic fasting.″ It showed scenes in which celebrities claimed that a bite of watermelon was enough to make them full. [SCREEN CAPTURE]

Comedian Kim Sook deleted a YouTube video on her official channel last month because of how it ″joked about drastic fasting.″ It showed scenes in which celebrities claimed that a bite of watermelon was enough to make them full. [SCREEN CAPTURE]

 
Jang Won-young is one of the hottest K-pop stars right now. 
 
She kicked off her career by landing in first place in a fierce competition among 96 trainees and later became the center face for one of the most popular fourth-generation girl groups — IVE. Jang's tall and slender figure is a recurring topic of gossip and envy among fans on the internet.
 
The problem? There are teenagers online claiming that they are starving themselves in order to achieve her "look." 
 
Lee Yu-jin, 12, a sixth grader who lives in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi, is 145 centimeters (4 foot 9 inches) tall but weighs only 30 kilograms (66 pounds). She spoke to the JoongAng Ilbo, an affiliate of the Korea JoongAng Daily, on the condition that she could use an alias.  
 
Despite already being thinner than her peers, she has been on a diet for over a year now.
 
It’s Lee’s goal to be like superstar Jang.
 
Lee eats only two meals per day, each only consisting of two spoons of rice. One meal may consist of a tiny portion of chicken breast and salad.
 
“I’ve tried to tell her that she needs to exercise and eat well if she wants to be like Jang, but it doesn’t work,” Lee’s mother said. “And it’s not like I can force-feed her.”
 
Images of singer Jang Won-young of girl group IVE are frequently used as ″goal″ pictures among the pro-ana community online. [SCREEN CAPTURE]

Images of singer Jang Won-young of girl group IVE are frequently used as ″goal″ pictures among the pro-ana community online. [SCREEN CAPTURE]

 
Starving female teenagers



The number of teenagers suffering from eating disorders in recent years has shot up significantly. According to the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service earlier this month, the number of patients that have visited a hospital due to anorexia nervosa increased by 30 percent over five years, from 1,661 people in 2017 to 2,201 people in 2021.
 
In 2021, 1,648, or 75 percent, were women, with teenagers taking up the majority with 25 percent or 418.
 
For the past five years, excluding seniors in their 70s and above, female teenagers were the largest group that were treated for anorexia.
 
The pro-ana community posts photographs of underweight bodies. [SCREEN CAPTURE]

The pro-ana community posts photographs of underweight bodies. [SCREEN CAPTURE]

[AHN DA-YOUNG]

[AHN DA-YOUNG]

 
Pro-ana online
 
“Pro-ana” is a newly-coined term that refers to the promotion of anorexia and is against hospital treatment for it. On social media, people who describe themselves as pro-ana use phrases like “bone-thin body,” “eating and throwing up” and “target weight.” 

 
The pro-ana community online gives each other tips on how to lose more weight and reveals their “goal” bodies.
 
Online users post on Twitter with hashtags such as #Proana #ProanaGoals #ProanaTips (translated) along with photographs of extremely underweight bodies that show protruding bones or celebrities with very thin body types. Jang is one of these recurring stars. Some even post a picture of their thigh, comparing it with the width of a can of energy drink.
 
“If you starve yourself for a day [you lose] 0.5 kilograms, for two days 1 kilogram, for a week 3.5 kilograms, for two weeks 7 kilograms, for a month 15 kilograms, for two months 30 kilograms,” one Twitter post reads.
 
The pro-ana community has anonymous chatrooms on KakaoTalk where dozens of people come together to talk about things like “fasting for 11 days” and to “be careful not to eat with your mouth full when you eat.” When they share stories about their parents or friends urging them to eat, they refer to it as an act of “suffering.”
 
They frequently post information on which hospitals prescribe the so-called nabi appetite suppressant pills, which get their name from their butterfly shape, and other drugs used to treat obesity that come with a number of severe side effects.  
 
In the pro-ana community, they aim to have their height and weight difference to be within the range of 130 to 125. In other words, it would be “ideal” for someone who is 165 centimeters tall to weigh around 35 to 40 kilograms.
 
Vlogs of ppyeomalla, a newly-coined compound word of ppyeo (bone) and malla (slim) referring to bodies that appear as nothing but skin and bones, are being uploaded on YouTube. These videos also include the processes of how the uploaders went about losing such extreme amounts of weight. 
 
One YouTuber, who said she was 164 centimeters tall, posted a vlog of herself losing 4 kilograms to reach 40 kilograms in just one week. After drinking only tea or iced coffee for three days, the YouTuber finally ate two almonds on the fourth day.
 
 
YouTube vlogs depicting extreme weight loss journeys [SCREEN CAPTURE]

YouTube vlogs depicting extreme weight loss journeys [SCREEN CAPTURE]

 
Fatally overlooked
 
A 14-year-old girl who asked to remain anonymous told the JoongAng Ilbo that she is 160 centimeters tall and weighs 42 kilograms, but her goal is to reach 32 kilograms.
 
Though she admits that she gets hospitalized “on a daily basis,” she still “hates gaining weight to the point that I don’t eat anything except for water.”
 
Another 15-year-old girl said she is “fine with not eating,” and “wants to lose weight until there are only bones and skin left.”
 
Because many don't go to the hospital for treatment, experts estimate that there are more patients than what statistics say.
 
“These children are so obsessed with gaining even 1 kilogram of their weight that they are exhibiting signs of physical anomalies such as irregular menstruation, significant hair loss and drier skin,” said Hong Hyun-ju, professor of child and adolescent psychiatry at the Hallym University Sacred Heart Hospital.
 
“Eating disorder symptoms can result in becoming a disease that ultimately leads to death.”
 
Experts attribute this to the “fault of today’s society,” as the media has created an environment in which slimmer bodies are preferred and thought to be more attractive.
 

A Twitter post with hashtag #proana (translated). Some even post a picture of their thigh, comparing it with the width of an energy drink can, shown here. [SCREEN CAPTURE]

A Twitter post with hashtag #proana (translated). Some even post a picture of their thigh, comparing it with the width of an energy drink can, shown here. [SCREEN CAPTURE]

 
 
Less is never more



On social media, sosikjwa videos, which refer to people with bird-like appetites, have been trending — raising questions on whether it is promoting toxic diet culture.
 
When it first emerged online last year, it was deemed fresh as it contrasted mukbang, which usually involves devouring piles of food that are particularly high in fat. Soon after, however, it started facing backlash by the public for making it seem like the average eating habits are “wrong.”
 
Last month, comedian Kim Sook posted a YouTube video on her official channel that featured actor Park So-hyun and singer Sandara Park, both known for having lackluster appetites. Scenes in the video included both Parks eating one bite of a cracker and watermelon and saying that they were “full.” 
 
The video was subsequently deleted due to critical comments saying that it was “joking about drastic fasting” and that it could “give the wrong impression that it is okay to abstain from eating just to keep a thin body shape.”
 
“I’ll do my best to think from all aspects and make better content,” Kim said afterward.
 
In a post on local online community Nate Pann dated earlier this month that asked why sosikjwa is perceived as problematic as opposed to daesikjwa, or people with enormous appetites, the comment with the most likes points out that daesikjwa doesn’t “oppress” people who are unable to match their hunger.
 
“But sosikjwa treats people who eat a normal amount like pigs,” it reads. “That’s what angers us.”
 
This Twitter post claims that they ″personally hate fat people″ and that the only way to ″receive love from anyone as well as yourself″ is to ″lose weight.″ [SCREEN CAPTURE]

This Twitter post claims that they ″personally hate fat people″ and that the only way to ″receive love from anyone as well as yourself″ is to ″lose weight.″ [SCREEN CAPTURE]

 
A destructive lifestyle



One female middle-schooler, who is 160 centimeters tall and weighs 34 kilograms, said that she is “abstaining from food in order to reach 29 kilograms,” and that she became “jealous of skinny people because now even the average weight is deemed chubby.”
 
Another 16-year-old middle school girl, who has been undergoing treatment for her eating disorder since last October, said “society prefers slim bodies, and even the celebrities are all so thin — that’s why I’ve come to idolize them.” 
 
“Society has maximized competition so that it’s also caused teenagers to be swayed by what others say about their bodies, causing them to get addicted to these harmful diets,” said Oh Sang-woo, a professor of family medicine at Dongguk University Ilsan Hospital.
 
“Schools need to educate them from an early age about healthy food intake and nutrition as well as learning to feel comfortable in their own bodies. Society, as a whole, needs to create an atmosphere in which they do not comment about other people’s outer appearances.”
 
Kim Yul-li, a mental health professor at Inje University Seoul Paik Hospital, explained that adolescent eating disorders cause malnutrition in the brain and in severe cases, lead to death.
 
“They say that the United Kingdom has 2.5 million patients [suffering from eating disorders] but Korea does not have related data,” said Prof. Kim. “Korea needs to step up like an advanced country and take eating disorders seriously; at this point we need systematic research on how we’re going to resolve this matter.”

BY CHAE HYE-SEON, SHIN MIN-HEE [shin.minhee@joongang.co.kr]
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