Viewership of Pro-Anorexia Websites in Seventh, Ninth and Eleventh Graders

Objective: To examine the prevalence of visiting pro-anorexia websites by 13-, 15- and 17-year old adolescents and to explore correlates of visiting such websites and predictors of anorexia nervosa (AN). Method: Questionnaire in a sample of 711 secondary school children from the 7th, 9th and 11th grade in Flanders, Belgium. Results: 12.6% of the girls and 5.9% of the boys had visited such websites. In girls, visiting pro-anorexia websites was associated with a higher drive for thinness, worse perception of appearance and more perfectionism. Conclusion: The prevalence of visiting pro-anorexia sites is non-trivial and the significant correlations between viewership of pro-ana sites and predictors of AN suggest a potential for negative impact of exposure to pro-ana. sites. We conclude with some speculative remarks on the potential threat of the existence of pro-ana sites to organized health care. Copyright (C) 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and Eating Disorders Association.