DEADLY DIET Experts slam websites peddling
DIET websites are selling plans to urge people to reach weights that are “life threatening”.
The Sunday People found they encouraged users to aim for a body mass which would indicate severe anorexia.
One provider offered to design extreme weight loss regimes for pregnant women and used images of celebrities such as Friends star Jennifer Aniston on its social media promotions.
Our investigation comes in the week health chiefs revealed hospital admissions for eating disorders rocketed by 37 per cent in the past two years.
The findings horrified Dr Joanna Silver, lead eating disorder therapist at London’s Nightingale Hospital.
She said: “It’s disgusting these firms are spouting this stuff.
“This is serious. You’d be very unwell if you followed this. If you are a woman it’s likely your periods would have stopped. It could be life threatening.”
The Dofasting app boasts on social media that stars such as Jen, 50, and Halle Berry, 53, keep in shape by following similar regimes. Neither actress has officially endorsed the site.
The app encourages users to shun food for up to 16 hours at a time but not fast for longer.
But a users’ forum showed some customers have become so obsessed they have starved themselves for a week.
Dr Silver said: “These apps can make people very obsessive and competitive, against others or themselves.”
The site offered to sell for £50 a bespoke plan to an expectant mum aiming to lose a stone and a half through her pregnancy. Even though it would mean the 5ft 5ins woman would be just 6st 7lb stone and have a BMI of 14.8.
A BMI under 18 can indicate an eating disorder and medics say anything below 15 can signal a potentially fatal case of anorexia. Extreme weight loss in pregnancy can lead to multiple complications and in the most severe cases can result in the baby being born brain damaged.
Yet the firm said fasting for up to 16 hours a day was “safe” and boasted a woman could get to her desired weight by March.
It provided no information on how it would affect her