"One reason for this is the undue influence of fashion and the overwhelming desire to be slim and desirable."
KUALA LUMPUR: While it is normal to want to maintain an ideal weight to remain healthy and attractive, it is, however, abnormal to obsess over it until one resorts to unhealthy methods.
Malaysian Mental Health Association deputy president Associate Prof Dr Andrew Mohanraj said societal demands, the pressure to look good and media influence had led to indiscriminate use of slimming pills, often resulting in fatal consequences.
"Television and media often equate beauty with being slim. This is not only seen in women but in men as well. The 'metrosexual man' is portrayed as a fashionably thin individual rather than a healthy man with an appropriate weight."
He said anorexia nervosa was perceived as an illness of the "West" but an increasing number of cases had been spotted in Malaysia recently, especially among urban middle- and upper-class societies.
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Category(s):Eating Disorders
Source material from New Straits Times
