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![Researchers say Government would be justified to ban photographs of very skinny models]()
PA
New research from the London School of Economics suggests that banning photographs of very thin models could help to reduce some of the social pressure women feel to be thin.
The Guardian reports that the first-ever economic analysis of anorexia, which studied almost 3,000 young women in the UK and Europe, has concluded that the social and cultural environment influences women's decisions to starve themselves in order to achieve the 'perfect' body shape.
As a result, LSE economist Dr Joan Costa-Font and Professor Mireia Jofre-Bonet from City University say that reducing the number of photographs of very thin models and celebrities, and restricting the adverts in which they appear, could help to improve women's self image.
In their paper, which is to be published in the academic journal Economica later this year, they write: "Government intervention to adjust individual biases in self-image would be justified to curb the spread of a potential epidemic of food disorders.
"The distorted self-perception of women with food disorders and the importance of the peer effects may prompt governments to take action to influence role models and compensate for social pressure on women driving the trade-off between ideal weight and health."
Dr Costa-Font says: "More generally, it is becoming increasingly apparent that standards of physical appearance are important and powerful motivators of human behaviour, especially regarding health and food. Excessive preoccupation with self-image is regarded as a contributing factor to the proliferation of food disorders, especially among young women."
She concludes: "We found evidence that social pressure, through peer shape, is a determinant in explaining anorexia nervosa and a distorted self-perception of one's own body."
The researchers found that anorexia is a socially transmitted disease and is more common in countries such as France, where women are thinner than the European average. It mostly affects women between the ages of 15 and 34.
In the UK, the average women's BMI was 25.98, the highest of the 17 countries in the study. Women in Austria had the lowest average BMI at 23.67, against a European average of 25. For young women the lowest average BMI was in Italy, at 21.40.
The highest rates of anorexia were in Austria, Italy and Ireland. On anorexia, the UK came 12th, with a rate of 0.34%, compared to Austria's rate of 1.35%.
Do you think that photographs of skinny models encourage anorexia? Let us know below...
Click on the image below to find out which celebs have struggled with food...
- Demi Lovato
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The 19-year-old Disney star recently came out of a stint in rehab for bulimia, drugs and alcohol. From the age of 12, the star started to starve herself, before beginning the binge and purge cycle in her teens. "At my worst, I was doing it five times a day. I threw up so hard and so much, it was just blood in the toilet," she told <em>People </em>magazine. Since leaving rehab, Lovato has been vocal about eating disorders, even lashing out at the Disney channel on Twitter for an eating disorder joke on one of its programmes.</p>
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- Jane Fonda
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The exercise queen has had her share of eating and body image issues over the years. She told <em>Harper's Bazaar</em>: "I wasn't very happy from, I would say, puberty to 50. It took me a long time. It was in my 40s, and if you suffer from bulimia, the older you get, the worse it gets. It takes longer to recover from a bout."</p>
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- Kirsty Young
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The Desert Island Discs presenter told the <em>Radio Times</em> she was working as an au pair in Switzerland when she began to suffer from bulimia. "I feel funny saying it because I'm now a different person Although it was horrible, I don't want to overplay it because people suffer for decades. I was lucky. I talked myself out of it in six months."</p>
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- Diane Keaton
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In her autobiography, the 65-year-old opened up about her bulimia, which "outshone the power of my desire for Woody. Pathetic, but true." She used to binge on large quantities of food, eating a dozen buttered corn muffins, three fried eggs with bacon, pancakes and four glasses of chocolate milk just for breakfast. She revealed she got the idea for throwing up because she overheard another actress talking about it.</p>
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- Kate Thornton
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The former <em>Loose Women</em> presenter revealed on <em>This Morning</em> that she became anorexic from the ages of 11 to 15 after suffering bullying at school. She is currently working on a documentary about the condition. "There was a 20-year distance between me and my recovery. And I have to say I completely misjudged it. I found it really hard. It is the hardest thing I have ever done. I can't watch it. I was looking away then when that clip was on. It is undignified, it's embarrassing, but it's happening all around us. It is a deceptive illness, a lonely illness and still one that's really difficult to fathom."</p>
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- Mel C
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The singer became bulimic as a reaction to the fame she experienced in the Spice Girls. "I felt like I wasn't in control of my life, I was public property and I was fixated on my body image. Controlling my food was my way of fighting back and not feeling powerless," she told <em>She </em>magazine. She credits having her baby, Scarlet, with changing her relationship with her body into a positive one. "Having Scarlet hasn't just changed my life, she's saved it."</p>
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- Alanis Morissette
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Morissette revealed she suffered from anorexia and bulimia as a teenager. In her blog on iVillage.com, she wrote: "We of the Hollywood standard-affected variety (read: sadly, the world) work tooth, nail and treadmill to adhere to this number (measuring tape, scale and otherwise) that hovers directly below any that would allow for a cupcake here and there... I remember being at my most thin one day, feeling like I could barely drag my lethargic body around, only to be met with the most compliments I had ever received. There are often traumas and abuses/neglect that are begging to be healed... I often find anxiety, fear, boredom, disappointment, loneliness, excitement and grief to be the top feelings food can attempt to prevent. My fraught relationship with food and fat has always been a cloaked invitation into a more profound kindness to myself (one I have so often ignored)."</p>
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- Christina Ricci
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The Pan Am actress suffered from an eating disorder in her younger days, and body image issues that caused her to cover up all the mirrors in her house. She has blamed her disorder on family life rather than Tinsel Town, but Hollywood did contribute - in its own strange way. "At the time that I was starting to diet and stuff, I saw this TV movie, and I thought, 'Ooh - anorexia. I could probably do that,'" Ricci told <em>The Guardian</em>.</p>
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- Lily Allen
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The singer-turned-retailer/designer admitted that she fell victim to the pressures of the spotlight, and began to suffer from bulimia. "It is not something I am proud of. But I tell you what, a lot of people used to come up to me and tell me how great I looked. And I was on the cover of every magazine with them saying, ‘Lily is looking amazing – look how much weight she has lost’. I thought I looked good. It was great to try on clothes and walk out of the shop feeling a million dollars. When you have been a victim of people saying the complete opposite, you want more of it. But I wasn’t happy, I really wasn’t. I would like to be the skinniest, mini-est person in the world, but I know I can’t do that without being unhappy. I like my food."</p>
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- Portia De Rossi
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Portia De Rossi's struggles with eating began as early as age 12, but she hit her lowest point when she began working on the show <em>Ally McBeal</em>. "I weighed 5st 12lb when I collapsed on a film set in early 2000," she says. "I had osteoporosis and signs of cirrhosis of the liver. My potassium and electrolyte balance were at critical levels, threatening my organ function. I had to accept that I'd chosen the wrong road - one that led to sickness and death," she revealed in her autobiography. After she started eating again, she developed bulimia and her weight ballooned, and the star credits her wife, Elle DeGeneres, with helping her come to terms with her body. "We first met in 2001 when I weighed 168lb, but she says she never saw me as heavy - only the person inside."</p>
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- Princess Diana
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In 1995, Diana admitted in a television interview that she had suffered from bulimia. "I had bulimia for a number of years. And that's like a secret disease. You inflict it upon yourself because your self-esteem is at a low ebb, and you don't think you're worthy or valuable." Once the news was revealed, there was an increase in the number of bulimia diagnoses, as many people felt more comfortable admitting their problem. This became known as the "Diana Effect."</p>
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- Lady Gaga
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The singer recently opened up to a group of schoolchildren about her body image issues as a teen. "I used to throw up all the time in high school. So I'm not that confident. And maybe it's easier for me to talk about it now because I don't do it anymore," she said. "I wanted to be a skinny little ballerina but I was a voluptuous little Italian girl whose dad had meatballs on the table every night." She revealed she became bulimic, and it was singing that finally prompted her to stop - the acid was damaging her vocal chords.</p>
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