Anorexia is not a choice

Medical news:

Researchers studying anorexia in twins conclude that more than half a person's risk for developing the sometimes fatal eating disorder is determined by genes.

Most experts already believe there is a strong genetic component to the disorder, which mostly affects girls and women. The new study "hammers home the fact that these are biologically based disorders," said Cynthia Bulik, lead author of the study, who is a psychiatrist at the School of Medicine at UNC Chapel Hill.

"We need to stop viewing them as a choice. ... The patients feel guilty, the providers tell them things like they should just eat, parents are blamed, the insurance companies won't fund treatment because they think it's a choice. It's held us back."

If that is true, then I guess that I can quit trying to teach good eating habits to my daughter, and go back to making snide remarks about fat kids.