Slimming
disorders show rise among Singapore girls
South China Morning Post October 5, 1999
DEUTSCHE PRESSE-AGENTUR in Singapore
EATING disorders among young Singapore girls anxious to emulate
the svelte figures esteemed in the West are on the rise, leaving them emaciated
from anorexia nervosa and bulimia, a study showed yesterday.
Ung Eng Khean, a psychiatrist with the National University Hospital, told the Straits Times he had witnessed about 50 new cases of eating disorders in the past year, compared with only 20 in 1996.
A study on the eating habits of Singapore Chinese revealed girls as young as 12 who are already underweight are seeking to become thinner. The trend is not surprising as they are exposed to more Western culture placing a premium on slender waists, psychiatrists said.
Dr Ung said people had to be realistic.
"The danger is when they don't accept their limits, get carried away with their diets and become something their bodies were never designed to be."
Most of those affected range in age from their pre-teens to their early 20s. Some weigh as little as 30kg.
Lee Ee Lian, a psychiatrist at the Institute of Mental Health at Woodbridge Hospital, reported 30 new cases last year from five in 1994.
About 70 per cent of the anorexics were being treated in hospital, Dr Lee said, with treatment lasting several months.
Published in the South China Morning Post. October 5, 1999.