Ms Anna Burke (Chisholm, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

A lot of politicians recently have been talking about the obesity epidemic in Australia. It is very important that we do talk about obesity, but tonight I want to talk about the flipside of that debate, and that is body image. This is primarily a women’s issue and, like many women’s issues, it tends to be ignored at a national level. But I think it is time to address a very scary trend that is emerging in our society. Eating disorders are on the rise in Australia; and, disturbingly, they are also on the rise in school aged children. Experts say that there are many reasons why an eating disorder may develop. One medical resource for doctors treating patients with eating disorders states:

Eating disorders are a complex interplay of biopsychosocial factors, including development issues, relationship and family factors, life events, biological vulnerability and socio-cultural influences.

But it cannot be denied that the media has played a large role in the erosion of women’s body confidence. Never before in history have Australians been so heavily bombarded with images of thin women, where thin is equated with beautiful, hip and cool. Thin sells—and the fashion industry, the advertising industry and the media know it. As a result, more and more young girls are growing up hating the way they look. They are being conditioned to despise themselves. In a recent article in the Sunday Age, the Australian Medical Association’s spokesperson on body image and eating disorders, Dr Rick Kausman, is reported as saying:

“I think there is increasing pressure on kids to grow up much sooner than what might be best for them, and I also think we’ve got caught up in a culture where the way we look is all important, even from a very young age ...”

He went on to say that doctors are now treating girls as young as eight for eating disorders and that there is an increasing incidence of self-harm. Dr Kausman described this trend as a mini crisis. Yet there seems to be very little national leadership to curb it.

It is now possible to access on the internet pro-anorexia websites which encourage eating disorders. If you log onto www.communities.ninemsn.com.au/AsLightAsAFeather, you will find a pro-anorexic community group. Although it appears that the community group is no longer operational, most of the content and pictures are still accessible. It features ‘thinspirational’ pictures of superthin celebrities and models—such as these ones—and there are dozens of pictures of gaunt young women with their bones jutting out. One picture features a caption which says ‘nothing tastes as good as thin feels’. It features messages from young women who are suffering from eating disorders and turning to these websites in their attempts to hide their illnesses. In April this year, one girl wrote the following message:

I weigh 64kg, am 168cm and I’m ... fat. I’ve been starving myself for a few days but my mum’s started to get suspicious. I need some support, advice and some links to some good pro-ana websites. If anyone can help me that would be great.

It has links to other so-called ‘pro-ana’ websites, including one called Cerulean Butterfly. On this page women can learn tips on how to suppress their appetites and hide their eating disorders. It is disturbing that for three years ninemsn, an Australian company, appears to have hosted a community group that contains such dangerous content. But a disclaimer on the website says:

Notice: Microsoft has no responsibility for the content featured in this group.

I think it does have a responsibility and I call on ninemsn to shut this community group down to ensure that young women cannot view its content or images.

One identity who features on the pages of many pro-anorexic websites as a thin inspiration is Nicole Richie, a young celebrity in the US. But it is not just on these websites that her pictures feature prominently. She has become quite the darling of many Australian magazines. No-one much in Australia had heard of Nicole Richie until she lost a lot of weight. Then, all of a sudden, she became a style icon with the Australian media. In a recent article in Vanity Fair magazine, Nicole Richie’s doctor said her weight was ‘in the realm of anorexia’. Although he did not confirm that she had an eating disorder, he did not rule it out. Despite the fact that it is possible she has an eating disorder, Australian magazines are portraying her as a role model. I would like to congratulate Australian Cosmopolitan magazine for banning images of Nicole Richie from a recent edition because she was too skinny. Sadly, other magazines continue to use pictures of her in their fashion sections.

The Victorian government is now calling for a national code of conduct on body image, and I congratulate the youth affairs minister on her initiatives. I urge the federal government to get behind them as a matter of urgency. We need a national forum to discuss body image, drawing together the media, the fashion and advertising industries, medical professionals and other community groups. According to a study by researchers from Flinders University, almost half of girls aged between five and eight years old wish they were skinnier. The fact that girls in kindergarten have body image problems should be a wake-up call to the government. The pressure on women to conform to a certain image is growing each day and we cannot continue down this path. We need to send a message that your image is not the sole purport of your being. (Time expired)