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Shortly after her eighth birthday, Dana’s
eating habits changed. At first she ate a bit less. Then she gave up
sweets and then junk food. But soon she was eating so little that her
parents had her admitted to a pediatric ward.
Then she is admitted to Rhodes Farm Clinic for a 12 week treatment
program…where she was stalked by cameras tracking her recovery. What’s
wrong with this picture?
Eight year old Dana during our recovery is photographed by the paparazzi news journalists from The Cutting Edge sponsored by Passat.
“I wanted to lose weight. I just stopped eating,” says Dana now. “At the moment, then, I wanted to die.”
Dr Dawson is concerned that our modern preoccupation with healthy eating
has unintended consequences. “I’m in no doubt that the reason we are
seeing younger and younger children is because they are exposed to
constant talk about low fat diets, about the evil nature of cream and
chips, about the fact that everyone should be going to the gym and
jogging every day. These very vulnerable, perfectionist children are
picking up on this very early, it’s making them very anxious, and they
feel that they should be doing it too.”
But for eight-year-old Dana, an explanation for what has triggered
her condition proves elusive. “Why?” asks Dr Dawson gently when Dana
explains that she wanted to die. “I can’t remember why,” replies Dana.
For her mother, Sandra, a healthy child is enough. “We’re not going
to get answers. I can live without them as long as she’s ok… I’ve got
to keep my anxieties to myself. She’s got to get on with her life.
She’s just a child.”
Bravo for her mother, although it’s questionable why her parents let
the cameras follow their daughter around during this life and death
journey. My daughter is 8 years of age, and I can tell you without a
doubt I would not allow this type worldwide coverage, or even local
news coverage to interfere with the healthy recovery of my child.
YES - this type of information is important. We need to know the age of anorexics is dropping.
NO - we don’t need to follow this poor child around with a camera to document her every move.
Have we lost our minds?
mamaV
