A doctor at one of Sweden’s largest eating disorder clincs has spoken out and claimed that modelling agencies have been trying to recruit their paitents as ‘new talent.’
Sweden’s Metro newspaper is reporting that Dr Anna-Maria af Sandeberg has revealed that shameless modelling agencies were targetting her eating disorder clinic in Stockholm because they knew that the girls who attended the clinic were “very thin.”
Dr Sandeberg revealed to the newspaper that one of her patients, who was so ill she was in a wheelchair, was also asked if she would consider becoming a model.
The agencies have been targeting patients while they are out for walks
Dr Sandeberg said that the above incident (which occured last year) forced the clinic to change its procedures when it came to allowing patients to go on walks because this was when they were being targeted. She described the activity by the agencies as “repugnant” and added that it sends “the wrong signals when the girls are being treated for eating disorders.”
Many of the girls who were approached by the agencies were in their teens and long-term patients at the clinic.
The Stockholm Centre for Eating Disorders offers treatment for hundreds of patients of all ages, with a particular focus on “starvation and binge-eating/vomiting.”
According to reports, some patients at the clinic have a body mass index as low as 14. It’s worth noting that an average, healthy, adult woman usually has a body mass index between 18.5 and 24.9.
For more information about eating disorders or for support please visit BodyWhy’s website by clicking here.
