HOW TO SURVIVE ON 185 CALORIES EACH DAY; Website advice fuels teen eating disorders.(News)

Byline: By AODHAN O'FAOLAIN

SINISTER websites are telling Irish children how to survive on just 185 calories a day, a leading doctor warned yesterday.

The average person needs more than 10 times that amount to stay healthy and Dr John Griffin said he feared the numbers suffering from eating disorders could increase because of the internet.

Dr Griffin, head of the Eating Disorders Unit at St Patrick's Hospital in Dublin, added: "One site showed how a person managed to survive on just 185 calories a day.

"These sites have advice on how to diet, how to burn calories and worst of all how to purge food from the body.

"They also show pictures of individuals, including some celebrities, which were likened to images of victims of Nazi concentration camps."

The doctor explained many of the sites are shut down after internet providers become aware of them but added that new ones constantly spring up in their place.

And Dr Griffin said some websites are presenting new challenges to those dealing with eating disorders. He added: "People don't realise there are many medical complications associated with eating disorders. It is very important that parents are aware what their children are looking at on the net."

The doctor said he knew of one case where a girl's eating disorder relapsed because of a website.

And he warned that the average age of those suffering from disorders is getting younger.

Children as young as 10 or 11 years of age have been diagnosed in the past and Dr Griffin said: "Kids are now being conditioned to be slim."

Many stars have caused controversy with plummeting weight and recently The Simple Life's Nicole Richie was slammed for her change in body shape.

But Dr Griffin also warned that the percentage of males with the condition is rising and said the first signs someone could be suffering from an eating disorder is a change in personality rather than a dramatic loss of weight.

It is thought more than 10 per cent of medical cases are related to eating disorders.

Irish Mirror Comment: Page 6

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