ating disorders clinics suggest the following for friends and parents to help prevent anorexia and bulimia:

• Share the information you have about the dangers of dieting.

• Help others to understand the purposes of advertising images, and why they must not be taken to heart.

• Do not push children or friends to excel in sports and other areas.

• Examine your own motives for wanting those associated with you to excel.

• Adolescents need a mix of rules and freedoms in their lives, without being overprotected or abandoned to fend for themselves. Let friends and children work through their pain and problems by themselves, with your support. Your role is to love, support and encourage. Help young people to understand the difference between a good diet (nutrition) and dieting. Avoid encouraging young people to lose weight.

• Be a good role model for other women. Avoid criticising your own body. Stop talking about physical appearance and diets. Express admiration for healthy bodies, even if they are not thin.

• Be a good role model for other men by not criticising women who do not meet your standards of physical beauty. Don’t encourage your wife, girlfriend, sister or daughter to lose weight because you think it would make you feel better.

• Talk to friends and children about why they want to lose weight. If it is because of feelings of inadequacy, deal with those issues. If the feelings continue, find a counsellor who is trained to work with eating disorders. The Anorexia and Bulimia Nervosa Groups have more information.