Two excerpts from AMAs new policies relevant to eating disorders as reported by

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Speed Eating

The AMA came out against the practice of competitive speed eating, which involves rapidly consuming vast amounts of food (and calories) for the sake of competition. The resolution was brought up by the Young Physicians section, which asserted that speed eating sets an unhealthy example for spectators, not to mention that its participants are in danger of vomiting, reflux, choking, stomach rupture, diabetes, and enamel erosion.

Ads and Body Image

The AMA also adopted a policy encouraging advertising associations to work with adolescent health groups to develop guidelines for advertisements that discourage the altering of photographs “in a manner that could promote unrealistic expectations of appropriate body image.” The policy is particular aimed at magazines read by young girls and women, where models’ images are altered to appear stick-thin.

“The appearance of advertisements with extremely altered models can create unrealistic expectations of appropriate body image. In one image, a model’s waist was slimmed so severely, her head appeared to be wider than her waist,” said AMA board member Barbara L. McAneny, MD, in a press release. “We must stop exposing impressionable children and teenagers to advertisements portraying models with body types only attainable with the help of photo editing software.”