• Around 75% of the users of PROTEGELES? services on anorexia and bulimia are children between 14 to 18 years of age. The remaining 25% are university students. We receive requests for help from eight countries: Spain, Argentina, Mexico, Chile, Peru, Colombia, Uruguay and Honduras. However, most of users are girls from Spain.
  
• On a first roughly approach to the study, we realised that most girls turning towards PROTEGELES seeking help have developed or are developing bulimia nervosa (36%). An additional 23% of the attended girls alternate anorexia and bulimia. Consequently, we can condlude that around half of the girls or young women using our services are affected with bulimia. 28% of the demands for help come from girls that can be considered as anorexics and 4% have problems with compulsive eating. The remaining 19% cannot be included in any of the groups mentioned above or we don?t have enough information as to evaluate their situation on a reliable way.
  
• The impact of bulimia is much larger among university students (72%) and among 18-year-old girls (62) than among younger girls: around 17% of 17-year-old girls and 31% of 16-year-old girls 46% of 15 year-old girls and 45% of 14 year-old girls.
  
• Reasons why minors turn towards PROTEGELES::
  • They want information and advice on how to get rid from an Eatind Disorder. Girls seeking this kind of help are usually aware of their illness and are willing to face it and do their best to put an end to it. 44% of girls are looking for professional help.
  • They are looking for support and understanding to fight an Eating Disorder related illness: 31% of the requests for help we receive ask for help, support or understanding in order to face the problem.
  • They want suggestions on how to loose weight in a healthy way. Around 10% of the girls asking for advice to PROTEGELES think or are overweighed and need information on how to loose weight. In these cases, we act as explained on the next paragraph.
  • They need help and advice in order to avoid developing and Eating Disorder. Around 7% of the total requests have a preventive aim: young girls seeking help in order not to develop an Eating Disorder or to prevent suffering a relapse of their old unhealthy habits.
  • They would like to receive guidance on how to stop vomiting. Around 5% of the received demands are about stopping self-induce vomiting and purging behaviours.
  • They want to control and stop compulsive eating. 3% of the demands are about this particular problem.
• It is specially worrying the high percentage of girls that do not count on any kind of support from their close relatives when overcoming an Eating Disorder-related illness. One girl out of three (33%) states not receiving any kind of help from their parents to face their eating problem.
  
• Nearly half of these young girls have not and is not receiving any specific medical care.
  
• 61% of girls we assist at PROTEGELES admit being afraid of the illness and of course the illness is adopting. On the other hand, the remaining 39% say they have never felt neither afraid nor surprised.
  
• Around 16% of the assisted girls have inflicted injuries on themselves. Most of the times, girls cut or burn themselves with cigarettes on their hands or arms.
  
• Committing suicide is a valid option for about 29% of the young girls PROTEGELES is working with, while 71% of them don?t consider it as an alternative solution.
  
• 15% of the girls that have sought help at PROTEGELES had seriously tried to commit suicide.
  
• During the time PROTEGELES has been dealing and working with girls affected by an Eating Disorder, we have noticed that some of these young girls were sexually abused during childhood. This is the case of 5% of the girls.
  
• In order to develop our work with girls suffering from an Eating Disorder, we call this service we provide First and Personalized Aid, it is specially relevant to define the reasons why these young girls have preferred to seek help through the Internet over face to face treatment. The main reason is that they appreciate and value the following characteristics of an online assistance, like the one we offer:
  • Unselfish help. 50% of the girls admit that the aspect they value the most is the fact of getting guidance and advice from professionals in an unselfish way.
  • Professional help. Most chatrooms where young girls meet seeking help and support to face their illness are not attended by professionals on the subject. 34% of the girls assisted by PROTEGELES appreciate the fact that they can access professional help.
  • Remaining unidentified. Around 11% of the girls appreciate the fact that they can keep their identity anonymous all the time if they wish so. They do not need to facilitate their name neither their address. On the other hand, anonymous help ensures a very high level of sincerity and spontaneity.
  • Not being judged. 5% of the girls value the most the fact that they do not feel judged at any moment.

CHARACTERISTICS OF THE STUDY

The first pages of the study explain the main characteristics of the study. All data have been compiled by PROTEGELES from the work realised with 200 girls that turned towards PROTEGLES seeking help to face some kind of Eating Disorder. The study also includes a detailed explanation of PROTEGELES? proceedings and, which vary depending on each girl?s needs. The study also includes a presentation of the materials created and employed in out campaign : ?YOU ARE MORE THAN AN IMAGE?.