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Toot?

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The presentation addresses gender segregation in the gym and you have informed this critique with evidence and literature about this gender ‘division’. You’ve identified the extent to which social media (which has the potential for participatory counter-discourses) can reify dominant gendered norms of physical culture through their focus/marketing.  You cover some of the key concerns in the opening part of the presentation about gender discourses which then sets up the focus on gender and social media apps. I’d encourage you to further develop this by engaging with the online lecture this week about post feminism, intersectionality etc to make clear how gender is understood in the contemporary moment. Intersectionality might also help you to respond to some of the dragons questions/concerns about the ‘public’ you are identifying e.g. all men and women and the feasibility of change. You make the case that the images are unachievable and that many are photoshopped, now tease out why this matters… What is the significance of this in terms of the ‘so what’ of your project? Is the discussion about the ‘illusion of agency’ in reference to the failure to understand that social context plays a role in the opportunities people have to shape their bodies/health in particular ways? If so, how does this play out in terms of contemporary neoliberal culture? You also offer a critique of the corporations involved in this site – How does this relate to the literature describing the privatization of public spaces or the infiltration of companies into what are ‘private’ spaces .. eg. Into social media. How are we to address the blurring of the private/public in this? Its good that you are focusing on broader concepts of health (make clear what approach this is) but it wasn’t clear in your public pedagogy how it will address issues of wellbeing. Finally, ensure you make reference to the public pedagogy literature and its not clear why you consider your approach to technology as 'deterministic' (this is a little at odds with your public pedagogy) There have been attempts elsewhere to ‘flip’ gender (see the debates about mixed PE, or the work by Brownyn Davies in relation to children’s stories and gender). What are the barriers given how culturally engrained and the power relations through which gender in constructed?

Feedback from Dragons based on the questions they asked you: The individual parts of the presentation could be integrated more strongly. Good use of concept e.g. biocitizen. Clarify the particular public pedagogy (how and what are people learning) Good use of social media/contemporary artefacts. Highlight the unique benefits of web 2.0.

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App/campaign challenging media representations of gender norms, body ideals and hegemonic masculinity /femininity aimed at breaking down gender segregation in the gym/fitness environment

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Overall, excellent presentations. Some things that could perhaps be more clearly highlighted in all of the presentations

- Look back at the first seminar session and think about what makes your approach a public pedagogy. Clearly identify this and your particular 'public'. The Article by Hickey-Moody et al (pedagogy writ large) helps to make clear the 'pedagogy' of these approaches. ie how does this differ to simply 'socialising' someone into something. Consider what makes it 'pedagogy'

- Avoiding contradictions ... be careful that you haven't smuggled back into your responses some of the very things you are trying to critique (e.g. if critiquing healthism then making reference to the importance of the individual making choices etc)

- I'd encourage all of you to have look at the lectures by Jess and Angela McRobbie for this week and to think about the differences between equal access and equity and consider whether your approach is moving more towards equity/inclusion? Few of you made reference to the 'intersectionality' and this can be a useful conceptual tool for helping to pinpoint the 'publics' you are targeting and why

- Ensure you really make clear the contemporary relevance and why - e.g.not just that obesity is a contemporary problem but how physical culture, reality tv, medicine, the shift towards surveillance society are all constributing factors in the emergence of an obesity discourse at this particular time. Look back at the lecture about contemporary crisis and how we identify a conjunctural moment and consider whether your poster has made this clear?

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A big thank you to the Dragons today (Lewis, BJ, Sophie, Rhianna and Cameron) for working with the assignment criteria to help with the panel - Do make sure that as a group you discuss what the dragons have learnt today about the judgement criteria for the assignments. You should tweak your presentations with this in mind. Well done to all of you for such an engaging and enjoyable series of seminars. Your contributions throughout the unit have been excellent. I look forward to seeing your final presentations!

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Well done today... excellent presentations, engaging, interesting and innovative ideas and clear attempts to engage with a range of theories and topics we have explored across the unit. Feedback from me below. Furthermore, some key points from the dragons based on the questions and answers.

I've also provided some generic feedback which pertains to all presentations scroll down below)

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This presentation seemed to focus on the need to make visible the realities of social context of health/body and a critique of the popular imagery which is populated across a range of physical cultural sites. The reference to instagram is certainly timely and interesting, but I would encourage you to make clear the contemporary relevance of this – References to literature around the significance of social media in young people’s lives, why instagram and why the focus on the visual? For example, you might like to consider the role of ‘affect’ (through  visual images) in the way that people learn (there is an extensive literature around ‘affect’ the body and image e.g. Featherstone). Furthermore, how does this then connect with your particular public pedagogy? Some good attempts to integrate the theory (ensure you explain what these are and how these concepts relate to the context of instagram). A number of studies now reveal that young women are aware that these images are unrealistic but this might stop them desiring that body…. How will your public pedagogy approach shift ‘desire’ (ie this is not simply that girls have a ‘deficit knowledge’).  Consider the role of your celebrities then in this process. Consider the specific contexts as guided by the questions asked by the dragons and intersectionality – you could say something here of the way in which class, ethnicity etc come to influence gender and the body (see the online lecture by Jess and the online link to a lecture by Angela McRobbie who offers a sophisticated analysis of gender and popular which might be very useful!) e.g is postfeminism relevant to your discussion? Consider other campaigns of this nature (e.g. Dove campaign) … how might using social media offer a different approach to say the promotion of different body types by a company like Dove (these are different public pedagogy approaches)

Feedback from Dragons based on the questions they asked you:
What is meant by ‘recontextualised public pedagogy’ . Liked the phrase ‘moral panic towards the sexy biocitizen’ Interesting critique of deviant embodiment. There are moments where intersectionality is implied but the concept not used (e.g. in relation to the rich get richer… the role of social class and femininity). Could the literature around post ‘isms’ be included? Good use of contemporary/relevant site (Instagram)

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One of the strengths of this presentation is thinking about future trends, the trajectory of health in the context of an increasingly posthuman culture. Theoretical concepts are used well throughout the presentation and link together nicely. You make some key points about shifting from individual and the problems of retrenchment but this could be contexualised in terms of the UK (NHS, welfare, Big society, NHS focus on Apps, surveillance medicine in uk, ‘informed patient’). In other words, make clear the policy context in which these claims are articulated. You make some compelling arguments about the problems of quantification and the shift towards more ‘qualitative’ forms of experience. Here, you could draw further on the literature – e.g. experiential, embodied, affect, the ‘pleasure of movement’, slow leisure). Good reference to the approach to technology but could say more about the specific type of pedagogy and what it is that people will ‘learn’. through this shift in conceptualization of health. Ground the ‘holistic’ notion of health in the literature (e.g. have you explored salutogenic?). Consider whether you need to justify focusing on particular girls (intersectionality) and how pedagogic force influences their ‘learning’. Make clear whether the intention is to use google glasses and the experiences of a select view to prompte an alternative discourse, or whether the focus is on making these available to all (does it even need to be made available to all or is this just about making visible an alternative way of thinking about health which could then be taken up in relation to other technologies)

Feedback from Dragons based on the questions they asked you:
Could you make clearer the actual project that will be undertaken with the funds? What are the implications for the cost of the google glasses – is the intention for everyone to have access to these. Example of iphone taking 5/6 years to become affordable and accessible.  Excellent use of terms and concepts throughout.

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WINNING DRAGONS DEN BID! 50k awarded by dragons den ... 

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WINNING DRAGONS DEN BID! 50k awarded by dragons den ... 

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A well thought through presentation with a clear medium identified. You make reference to a study in the daily mail – Try to identify the published study (e.g. was this originally published in something like the British Medical Journal and then picked up by the press). A good attempt to describe the conjunctural moment, but this could be expanded in terms of the contemporary media which has constructed the discourse around Britain’s ‘deficit knowledge’ about food/cooking (e.g. Jamie Oliver programmes and references to the significance of reality tv in shaping public pedagogies of this kind). You seem to be indicating that obesity is an issue which is either an individual problem or one which is to be curtailed through regulation – Wouldn’t regulation limit people’s choices? Work by Lawrence indicates that there is a frame contest between arguments around personal responsibility and those of corporate/public policy. What is you response to this based on your presentation today? Be careful of the slippage between overweight/obesity (the article indicates that in the study there is weight gain e.g. to ‘overweight’ but then much of your critique is about obesity). Is it a problem that students are gaining ‘weight’? At what point does this becomes risky? In other words, is the problem about weight gain/loss or one which the concern is about the diet of students in a broader sense (nutrition, social aspect of meals etc). Good use of concepts e.g. biopolitics, neoliberalism, normalization of body dissatisfaction. There could be a clearer link between the different parts of the presentation (ensure you signpost). Good reference to web 2.0 (the participatory ‘productive’ element) In relation to sharing of recipes, but make clear why this might be beneficial. The dragons questions about the ‘costs’ of food and having different budget options seems to tap into this (again, consider the backlash to the Jamie Oliver campaigns of this nature.. Rich 2011 ‘I see her being obesed’). The app is usefully targeted at a particular public (students) but you could engage with the concept of intersectionality to think about the particular socio-cultural ‘isms’ which may effect particular students (e.g. how does socio-economic, gender, ethnicity). What about the cultural dispositions towards particular foods? Is this where the sharing of recipes might aid? What type of public pedagogy is this?

Feedback from Dragons based on the questions they asked you:

This was the ‘winning’ dragons bid for £50k. The justification for the award of funds:
Identifies a contemporary issues. Critiques current approaches to thinking about the problem. Transfer of lifelong habits (impact). A clear breakdown of app in terms of what it would do (but could relate this more clearly to the pedagogic functions…eg what and how do people learn) Sustainable in terms of a clear route for progression. Could further develop: Clearer articulation of which students? All? Particular backgrounds. If particular, what is the justification for targeting them (e.g. access to healthcare, socio-economic status)

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Some really good use of the concepts to set up the socio-cutlural problem. Clear integration of relevant artefact to make clear why this is a contemporary issue. In your presentation you mentioned that as a group you ‘take an issue’ with the ‘deep state’ of neoliberalism but you now need to ground this in the critique about what the ‘issue’ is. Don’t assume the audience know what is problematic about e.g. ‘neoliberalism’. Good reference to fatphobic culture, but could support this claim even further in terms of the conjunctural moment (e.g. why is ‘fatphobia’ a form of ‘civilised oppression’ (Harvey, 1999) or the last form of ‘legitimized discrimination’ – there is some interesting literature on this). This will help justify its contemporary relevance. Good use of concepts …e.g. discourse. Careful not to slip back into reductive ways of thinking about the way people engage with discourse (you mention ‘everyone believes it’ but people might negotiate, resist, avoid positioning as cultural dupes). You also refer to ‘giving people back individual responsibility for their own health’ – Isn’t this at odds with your critique of neoliberalism? Good use of contemporary artefact in the form of London muscle .. be clear what you mean by ‘lack of theoretical grounding’. You suggested you wanted to ‘educate to be more cynical’ – Do you mean cynical or is this about developing critical skills? Political thinking/action? Critical media skills? The public pedagogy literature will aid this discussion. In other words, can you use a term from the theoretical approaches/literature rather than cynical? Be sure to be clear on the difference between a public pedagogue and a public intellectual in terms of your reference to using sports stars. The dragons raised some good questions about context.. in terms of ‘which publics’ consider how particular groups are targeted in obesity discourse… this will help you to connect with the issues of intersectionality, the post isms of this weeks lecture content. E.g. how does class feature in obesity discourse? Think about the backlash to the Jamie Oliver campaign. Ensure you make a clear case for why you are focusing on schools and why your particular public pedagogy is appropriate. Also ensure you really make clear what the ‘problem’ is from the outset.

Feedback from Dragons based on the questions they asked you:
Much stronger Justification of chosen public and the context (e.g. why these particular school contexts). Could this be a pilot study? What is the difference between a public intellectual and citizen journalism? Good use of social media and cultural artefacts to draw attention to the contemporary meaning/relevance

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Do we have to reference (aloud) any influential or significant academics in our presentations?

Emma: Yes, important to draw on key references where appropriate - For example, these might be more focused/specific refs

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Civilian Journalism

Capitalising upon healthism discourse in order to position yourself as an 'expert'

Educating children from an early age to be cynical of these experts and the knowledge they provide

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Healthism within the neoliberal society where a bio-citizen is becoming the norm.

In which media is a dominant public pedagogy

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Alternative Persepctives

Combining Google Glass with qualitative, holistic experiences

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Tamsyn, Katy, Millie & Sophie - Healthy eating app for students 

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Tamsyn, Katy, Millie & Sophie - Healthy eating app for students 

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"The average student gains two stone in the first year of university" A lack of accessibility and knowledge of healthy foods appears to be the main issue contributing to this weight gain. We intend on counteracting this problem by providing students with the knowledge and access to healthy food via a smart phone app.

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Today, one member from each of the presentation groups will sit on a dragons den panel and discuss the judgement criteria for the presentations. If you have a questions about the poster assignment/criteria post it here.... By the end of the session, through the dragons den activity we should be able to address any concerns about the group presentation and how it is being assessed ...

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Post a summary of your dragons den pitch with the names of members of your presentation group. Add any links to relevant artefacts if you are using any

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Key concepts/terms: equity, intersectionality.

We will consider some of the long standing equity issues in sport and physical activity and their contemporary manifestations. The concept of intersectionality will be introduced as a means to understand contemporary concerns related to identity and inclusion in sport, coaching and physical activity.

In preparation for the seminars on Tuesday you need to meet as a group an think about a contemporary ‘ism’ that you will address. You need to prepare in your groups a 5 minute pitch that you will present to the Dragon’s Den on Tuesday. This pitch needs to bid for funding for a scheme/initiative/research project to develop more inclusive practice/policy/advance our understanding of the issue. You have up to £100k to bid for and you need to clearly make your case in terms of the social issue it will combat and evidence for why this is needed. This is a great opportunity for you to get some formative feedback about the public pedagogy approach you might be devising as part of your ssessment so think about it in detail

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Seminar and Reflective and Journal Questions 

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Seminar and Reflective and Journal Questions 

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(1) Identify a particular contemporary crisis associated with sport, physical activity, health & describe how it has emerged at this conjunctural moment

(2) How is this impacting the particular seminar themes you are interested in?

(3) How would you address this through a public pedagogy approach?

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Seminar & Reflective Journal Questions:
 

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Seminar & Reflective Journal Questions:
 

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What are the current barriers to developing sport & physical activity within a ‘big society’?What are the potential positive and negative implications for your potential future Professions

The big society suggests that sport can be a panacea for social problems.. What are your views on this? Prepare a position for or against this…How do your cultural artefacts/readings/understandings of neoliberalism inform this perspective?

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How might this influence 'norms' of the body/body heirarchies?

What are legitimate applications of biomedicine in sport/health and who ought to decide this?

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What is the direction that technology might take us in the future?

Why are there concerns about this 'dehumanizing' us?

How are debates about medical vs enhancement purposes complicated?

How does biocultural capital come to influence these techno-scientific modifications within different sport/health contexts?

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I just think we've got the focus wrong... the elite can access ever increasing ways to advance/enhance themselves and yet there is a massive gap between this and third world poverty and health care concerns... just basic access to health care

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Doesn't the advancement of technology and increase in technology lead to new ways to carry out surveillance... things like google glasses... couldn't that mean more surveillance... what about third party issues?

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There's more than genetics in performing well... psychology.. opportunity...

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I would have loved it.. if a test showed me that I was likely to be good at something or never going to make it ... then I wouldnt waste time and resources investing in something

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There's more to a sport than just performance, what if I wasn't genetically oriented towards something that I actually enjoyed?

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When asked how many of you would have used a genetic test to make a decision about lifestyle/physical activity/sport when you were younger, few answered yes..... some comments from the discussion....

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ABSTRACT: "Over the last two decades the Paralympic Games have gained a high public profile.As a result there has been an ever increasing commercial marketplace for aerodynamic and feather light racing (wheel)chairs as well as biomechanically and ergonomically responsive prostheses that have helped create a legion of cyborg bodies that is manifest in the image of the sporting supercrip. Mobility devices that enhance performance have also created a divide between different impairment groups and also amongst ‘developed’ and ‘developing’ nations. This article highlights the development of a technocentric ideology within the Paralympic Movement that has led to the cyborgification of some Paralympic bodies. It questions whether the advances in technology are actually empowering disabled athletes."

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Genetic tests for ability and the value of an open future 

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Genetic tests for ability and the value of an open future 

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What are your views on genetic tests for ability?

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Lose Weight Are you tired of restricted diets that leave you starving the entire day? Losing weight doesn't have to be that way. The key to successful weight loss is achieved through hours of heart-pumping sweat and major discipline in your diet.

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Emma Rich: Different public pedagogies - so consider which sites matter to different 'publics' in relation to your assignments. Why is your particular public pedagogy approach more appropriate than others in terms of the 'public' you are addressing

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Emma Rich: Some interesting work by Bethan Evans and Rachel Colls on the National Child Measurement Programme

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DNAFit - Genetic Information for Fitness & Nutrition (US)

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We put the power of personal genetics in your hands, helping you reach your fitness and nutrition goals on the most personal level possible. Guided by a simple saliva test, we create a truly personalised solution to unlock you, but better. We're DNAFit, on a mission to change fitness and nutrition, one genome at a time.

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DNAFit - Genetic Information for Fitness & Nutrition (US)

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We put the power of personal genetics in your hands, helping you reach your fitness and nutrition goals on the most personal level possible. Guided by a simple saliva test, we create a truly personalised solution to unlock you, but better. We're DNAFit, on a mission to change fitness and nutrition, one genome at a time.

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Emphasises the use of prosthetics and suggests that all disabled athletes are post human - yet this is not the case!

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Is it cheating ?

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International Cycling Union to strengthen anti-doping operations after independent audit

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The International Cycling Union (UCI) will strengthen its Anti-Doping Programme after an independent audit identified nine areas for improvement.

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Make It Wearable | Episode 2: Human Health

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Wearables will impact future medical technology, affecting our health and fitness decisions and redefining the doctor-patient relationship. In Episode 2, we speak with academics, researchers, and a former NFL athlete to explore how wearables can improve our way of life and change the way we treat everything from mental disorders to sports injuries.

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Lose weight with the SP6 appetite control patches

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SP6 appetite control patches reduce weight by stimulating acupuncture points.

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Protesters hold signs while demonstrating in front of the Twitter Inc. headquarters in San Francisco, California, U.S. (Bloomberg)

And, most of all, there is anger over spiralling rents and evictions as young tech workers colonise previously low-income areas.

Miss Slocum is one of several thousand "explorers" across the world road-testing Google's latest gadget. As with any late-night bar fracas, there are conflicting accounts of what happened at 1.30am in Molotov's, a dimly lit, cash only bar.

But she insists she was not recording anyone or invading their privacy, simply demonstrating the device to some interested patrons, when some other customers began rolling their eyes.

She said: "A few minutes later ... they cursed at me. I started feeling threatened. At that point I decided I was going to turn on the camera and start recording this hateful, threatening behaviour.

"Then a guy and a girl charged me. The guy started waving his hands and trying to grab the Glass. I couldn't believe they were behaving that way. All I could do was say, 'I'm recording you. I'm recording you'. They were calling me the B-word."

After a hiatus, someone threw a dirty bar rag at her, she said, and a woman came over and said: "You're killing this city."

Curses were exchanged and, according to Miss Slocum, a man ripped the device off her face and ran out of the bar with it. She pursued and grabbed him, regaining the Glass after a scuffle.

What was perhaps more telling than the incident itself was the reaction after she detailed her encounter on Facebook and said it constituted a "hate crime".

There was some of the sympathy one would expect, but many blamed her for having taken a recording device into a bar in the first place.

Google Glass (Rex)

In the days that followed, a series of bars and coffee shops banned the device. At The Willows, which is popular with young technology types, a sign in the window shows the Glass with a red line though it. "Our patrons have expressed concern with being recorded while enjoying themselves," it reads. One customer said: "The Google Glass is extreme tech. You don't know you're being recorded. People want some privacy."

The furore follows another divisive controversy in San Francisco, that of its "Google Buses", which has pitted technology workers against residents of traditionally low-income areas such as the formerly bohemian and artistic Mission district.

Giant, air-conditioned, internet-equipped buses with tinted windows now glide past the thrift stores and second-hand book shops there, taking workers to their jobs 30 miles away at companies such as Google, Facebook, LinkedIn, Apple and Yahoo.

Watching them go by, long-time residents see a visible reminder of the "one percenters" in their midst as they are forced to rely on a more rickety, century-old public transit system. It has led to protests, bus tyres being slashed and stones hurled. Signs have been taped to the vehicles reading "F--- off Google".

A recent study found the average passenger on these buses is a 30-year-old man earning more than $100,000. But when The Telegraph visited a pick-up point in the Mission at 7am, the people didn't look very happy about it.

A line of workers stood against a wall attempting to look inconspicuous, wearing earphones and staring determinedly down at their smartphones in silence.

The question "Excuse me sir, do you work for Google, are you getting on the bus?" elicited the wary response: "Er, I'm very sorry, I don't feel comfortable talking about it." Even anonymously? "No."

One employee eventually broke ranks but still declined to give his name. He said: "This a real problem and there's a big internal dialogue going on in our companies about what to do, whether to make the buses look different, and also about rent control. The free market people don't agree with rent control, but someone put a brick through one of the bus windows recently so they're worried.

"You have all these nerds who grew up feeling fairly victimised and now they are in positions of extreme privilege and wealth. But they're getting picked on and a lot of them feel like they're right back at high school again being bullied. People are upset."

Tony Robles, who runs a Mission housing advocacy group for the elderly and disabled, and who has been involved in peaceful protests against the buses, said: "Do you honestly think I want to get up at 6am and chase a bus? It's reached boiling point. We're seeing the rise of the tech-washed digital human.

This insulated world they live in is creating a lot of resentment with long-time residents, the people that contribute culturally to our city." Mr Robles said the technology workers were "aloof" and like "shadows" but the main problems were caused by "mean-spirited speculators" buying properties and evicting long-term tenants, so that rents can be raised astronomically.

In San Francisco, 23.4 per cent of residents are below the poverty threshold, according to a recent study. In December alone, rents went up by 10.6 per cent. In the Mission, a two-bedroom apartment recently went on the market for $10,000 a month, which probably had the regulars at Molotov's spluttering into their $2 beers.

Google, whose motto is "Don't be evil", knows it has a problem and is determined to make San Francisco love it again. Last week it donated $6.8  million to the city, which will allow underprivileged children to ride public buses free of charge for the next two years.

Miss Slocum believes differences will be resolved. "I'm really excited about the time we're living in," she said. "Every day there is some new invention that's going to dramatically change our lives."

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Google Glass attack: tech giant accused of 'killing' San Francisco

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Protesters hold signs while demonstrating in front of the Twitter Inc. headquarters in San Francisco, California, U.S. (Bloomberg) And, most of all, there is anger over spiralling rents and evictions as young tech workers colonise previously low-income areas. Miss Slocum is one of several thousand "explorers" across the world road-testing Google's latest gadget.

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weight loss glasses

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What is the problem? Link it to an ‘ism’

Discourses that affect it? Why a problem? Contemporary crisis?

Transformation of our bodies – technoscientific changes.

Optimisation – obligation to enhance our bodies

How does optimisation relate to neo-liberalism? - Enhancing the individual through an neo-liberal obligation

Transhumanism – the movement which supports the view that we ought to modify ourselves. E.g. in sport in order to create spectacle and push records we ought to be using tech-scientific adaptation

Post-humanism – critique of new technologies and modifications. Where will it go? What are the health implications?

Better than well’ – using technologies to protect ourselves and become extended version of what we know it is to be human

Are we still human? – how far can we push it? Has what it means to be human altered and changed as a result of our interdependent relationship with technology? Is to be human what’s on the inside or the outside? Period of enhancement.

Market of consumption.

Ethical side of technology e.g. googleglass – secretly recording individuals who don’t consent to it.

Why should we spend so much money on a spectacle? What is the good? Why not spend it on health.

Distinction between using technoscience for medical purposes and enhancement is blurred. So much crossover.

Links with freemarket and neoliberalism – commercialisation off drugs, marketing, explotation by major companies, commodification of health, bio-medicalisation – trying to transform biology and health

Mapping your human genome – would you do it?

Motivation behind most the drugs/technology? To make money or aid humanity?

Can technologies enable us to be physically active later in life? Pros and cons of ageing population

Unforeseen uses of drugs recreationally

Immersion in technology

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http://www.meerssemanlab.com/Meersseman_Lab/Inside_AC_Milan_Lab.html

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Weight Loss & Slimming Patches | Slimming Solutions

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Challenge Slimming Solutions to help you achieve your weight loss goals with our one-a-day slimming patches. Peel, stick, and lose weight. We ship worldwide.

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High-tech swimsuits used in the 2009 world championships indeed artificially enhanced athlete performance, according to a new study.

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Fina World Championships
Date: 17 July-2 August (swimming starts on 26th) Venue: Foro Italico, Rome
Coverage: Live/highlights on BBC Two, Red Button and BBC Sport website
Performance-enhancing, non-textile swimsuits will be banned from 1 January 2010, world swimming's governing body Fina has announced.
Fina had said the ban might not take effect until April or May, three or four months later than expected.

But it was brought forward when Olympic legend Michael Phelps threatened to withdraw until the suits were outlawed.

Twenty-nine world records were set in the first five days of the current Fina World championships in Rome.

Only two of the current world records, both men's and women's, were set before the introduction of polyurethane suits in 2008.

And, with the ban being implemented in January, it is likely that many of the current records may not be broken for many years.

The return to common textile suits, men in shorts and women in suits above the knee and to the shoulder strap, would mean world records would be almost impossible to better in the short term.

The World Swimming Federation's decision came amid calls from a number of national swimming federations for record-breaking suits to be banned.

However, the question of exactly how to define "allowable textiles" is unlikely to be determined until the next Fina bureau meeting in September or October.

"If what I have been told is spot on, it's a return to textiles. It's the only way to go," said British swimming's performance director Michael Scott.

Scott also backed the idea of putting an asterisk by world records that were achieved in polyurethane suits to distinguish them from records before and after their introduction.

Double Olympic champion Rebecca Adlington refuses to wear one of the new, faster suits but many of her rivals, including fellow Briton Jo Jackson, will.

"I think it's a shame to be honest," the 20-year-old Adlington told BBC Sport. "Swimming always used to be a level playing field.

"I can remember watching when they were just in trunks and 100% textile suits, whereas now it's very, very different.

"The technology has just taken off in the last year, it's come from nowhere. We need to go back to putting rules in place, just to make it a fair playing field for everyone."

Adlington, the first British female swimmer to win Olympic gold for 48 years, has stuck with the Speedo LZR she wore in Beijing.

But she still claimed bronze in the 400m freestyle, despite being the only swimmer in the final not wearing a 100% polyurethane suit.

The LZR is a 50% polyurethane swimsuit which caused controversy in 2008 as a series of world records were set by swimmers wearing it.

Since it was unveiled in February that year, 135 long and short course world records have been broken.

Scott expects less than 50% of the British team to be wearing Speedo despite them being the team sponsors.

"Rebecca is entirely comfortable in the Speedo and she is very confident. She is totally comfortable and relaxed," he said.

"Suits come down to an individual choice, they come down to body type, you also also have to look at the distance and the stroke so it's not a simplistic thing to say that suit X is not good."

But since the Olympics, a second generation 100% polyurethane swimsuit has emerged, which is said to compress muscle, add extra buoyancy and provide more forward propulsion.

Jackson, who won silver in the 400m free, used the Adidas Hydrofoil, which Britta Steffen wore when she slashed the 100m freestyle world record in June.

German swimmer Steffen said the suit made her feel like a "speedboat" and felt no pain at the end of the race.

Fina rejected some of the new suits in March after complaints they trapped air around a swimmer's body, thus making them more buoyant, but the ban was lifted after manufacturers provided evidence that they did not trap air.

Australian swimming star Libby Trickett told the BBC: "It has taken the limelight from people's performances and that's not right.

"I don't think the sport should have headed in the direction it has, in terms of neoprene and polyurethane suits.

"I don't believe that is right for our sport at all and it's disappointing it's gone in that direction and it's disappointing that Fina allowed it to progress the way it did."

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Fina World Championships Date: 17 July-2 August (swimming starts on 26th) Venue: Foro Italico, Rome Coverage: Live/highlights on BBC Two, Red Button and BBC Sport website Performance-enhancing, non-textile swimsuits will be banned from 1 January 2010, world swimming's governing body Fina has announced.

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Banning of sharkskin like swimsuits. Makes swimmers to fast as to advanced technology, seem as unfair

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Fina World Championships
Date: 17 July-2 August (swimming starts on 26th) Venue: Foro Italico, Rome
Coverage: Live/highlights on BBC Two, Red Button and BBC Sport website
Performance-enhancing, non-textile swimsuits will be banned from 1 January 2010, world swimming's governing body Fina has announced.
Fina had said the ban might not take effect until April or May, three or four months later than expected.

But it was brought forward when Olympic legend Michael Phelps threatened to withdraw until the suits were outlawed.

Twenty-nine world records were set in the first five days of the current Fina World championships in Rome.

Only two of the current world records, both men's and women's, were set before the introduction of polyurethane suits in 2008.

And, with the ban being implemented in January, it is likely that many of the current records may not be broken for many years.

The return to common textile suits, men in shorts and women in suits above the knee and to the shoulder strap, would mean world records would be almost impossible to better in the short term.

The World Swimming Federation's decision came amid calls from a number of national swimming federations for record-breaking suits to be banned.

However, the question of exactly how to define "allowable textiles" is unlikely to be determined until the next Fina bureau meeting in September or October.

"If what I have been told is spot on, it's a return to textiles. It's the only way to go," said British swimming's performance director Michael Scott.

Scott also backed the idea of putting an asterisk by world records that were achieved in polyurethane suits to distinguish them from records before and after their introduction.

Double Olympic champion Rebecca Adlington refuses to wear one of the new, faster suits but many of her rivals, including fellow Briton Jo Jackson, will.

"I think it's a shame to be honest," the 20-year-old Adlington told BBC Sport. "Swimming always used to be a level playing field.

"I can remember watching when they were just in trunks and 100% textile suits, whereas now it's very, very different.

"The technology has just taken off in the last year, it's come from nowhere. We need to go back to putting rules in place, just to make it a fair playing field for everyone."

Adlington, the first British female swimmer to win Olympic gold for 48 years, has stuck with the Speedo LZR she wore in Beijing.

But she still claimed bronze in the 400m freestyle, despite being the only swimmer in the final not wearing a 100% polyurethane suit.

The LZR is a 50% polyurethane swimsuit which caused controversy in 2008 as a series of world records were set by swimmers wearing it.

Since it was unveiled in February that year, 135 long and short course world records have been broken.

Scott expects less than 50% of the British team to be wearing Speedo despite them being the team sponsors.

"Rebecca is entirely comfortable in the Speedo and she is very confident. She is totally comfortable and relaxed," he said.

"Suits come down to an individual choice, they come down to body type, you also also have to look at the distance and the stroke so it's not a simplistic thing to say that suit X is not good."

But since the Olympics, a second generation 100% polyurethane swimsuit has emerged, which is said to compress muscle, add extra buoyancy and provide more forward propulsion.

Jackson, who won silver in the 400m free, used the Adidas Hydrofoil, which Britta Steffen wore when she slashed the 100m freestyle world record in June.

German swimmer Steffen said the suit made her feel like a "speedboat" and felt no pain at the end of the race.

Fina rejected some of the new suits in March after complaints they trapped air around a swimmer's body, thus making them more buoyant, but the ban was lifted after manufacturers provided evidence that they did not trap air.

Australian swimming star Libby Trickett told the BBC: "It has taken the limelight from people's performances and that's not right.

"I don't think the sport should have headed in the direction it has, in terms of neoprene and polyurethane suits.

"I don't believe that is right for our sport at all and it's disappointing it's gone in that direction and it's disappointing that Fina allowed it to progress the way it did."

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Fina World Championships Date: 17 July-2 August (swimming starts on 26th) Venue: Foro Italico, Rome Coverage: Live/highlights on BBC Two, Red Button and BBC Sport website Performance-enhancing, non-textile swimsuits will be banned from 1 January 2010, world swimming's governing body Fina has announced.

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Transhumanism - we ought to move towards technology, a value system

Posthumanism - a critique, questioning this movement, implications

Definition of what it means to be human has altered due to our interdependent relationship with technology

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dr kevin fong watches the england rugby sevens team in training

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Dr Kevin Fong watches the England Rugby Sevens team in training, Monitor Me, 2013-2014, Horizon - BBC Two

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Dr Kevin Fong watches the England Rugby Sevens team in training.

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Optimization- enhancing the capacity expectation to be all that we can be.

link to neo-liberalism 'obligation to use them'

distinguish transhumanism- 'movement supports that we ought to modify ourselfs'. prosthetics, adaption in disability sport, change the way we view disability sport. What is means to be an athlete? Value system, technology to modify our bodies

Posthumanism, critiques that. Where does technology lead us, health, sport...should we be using these technoscientific tools to enhance our bodies. 'Better than well' - preventative measures, to become an extended version of what we know being human.

Argument- We are not human anymore?

'Depends on the context'

'tiger woods, laser eye- almost robotic'

'everyday life, we are still human, however, we have already changed, we are used to what we used to. advanced so quickly, don't realise we have changed'

'what human is has changed'- altered through interdependent relationship we have with technology'

'superiour athlete race- future microchips. not less human just technologically advanced'

'social class- rich get rich, poor get poor, rich techno-advacned, what happens to the poor'

'does it create hierarchies?'- Bio-medicalisation, who has access to those and why. bio-cultural-capital. way in which people consume technology. how we modify our bodies as athletes, health consumers. medicine to treat social problems, sold on the basis of its marketing, making life better?

'buying organs, who has the opportunity to buy a liver transplant, the smoker or the person who needs it'- acceptance of the boundaries in which we stop bio-medicalisation? part of the market of consumption. ethical boundaries become fluid. Big donor show- example

google glass- wearable technology. changes the way we interact with our environments.

were seen as futuristic- now become reality. Experiencing someone's environment...opening up possibilities.

3rd party issues, ethics of photography. surviellance, government.

'if there was no technology now, would we still be alive'

'dangerous technology can be- end of human race, something that we create which will end us'

polarised debate- about enhancement or medical therapeutic meanings- link to Feenbergs position of how we link technology within reality.

'rebelllious side to technology

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Thanks for exploring with us. The journey doesn't end here. You'll start to see future versions of Glass when they're ready (for now, no peeking).

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Post your individual posthuman artefact on the board so we can see the 'diverse' range of techno-scientific developments within sport/health/physical activity

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What are your views on the nanotechnology store?

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Nanotechnology provides health benefits with LifeWave patches, homeopathic LifeWave Plus products and Theta Nutrition

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Energy Enhancer, IceWave, Silent Nights, SP6 and Y-Age help increase energy, relieve pain, improve sleep, suppress appetite and fight aging

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In this session we will explore how  bodies are minds are being shaped in what are being perceived as ‘controversial’ forms of technology utilised to enhance sport, health and physical activity. Increasingly, a range of technologies are available for athletes to optimize their biology and enhance their performance. These can include genetic tests, genetic modification, prosthetic enhancements and bring forth new concerns beyond those traditionally considered within anti-doping. The long terms impact of enhancements of these kind may be unclear, but in this session we will explore how new technologies and the emergence of the cyborg athlete relate to new capacities and understandings of the physically active/healthy body and bring forth tensions between modernist naturalistic notions of the body and postmodern and posthuman readings of the body.

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Do you think they brought the band out because its more functional on a day to day basis

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No nutritional information available - plays a significant role

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Thats exactly what nike want you to do ... spread the word

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Need to follow plans in the gym.. social class issues

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Nike training club - different representations of female form

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Tweets by LDN_Muscle

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Specifics of particular activities and the app

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Gap between the claims of the app and the body ideals and what you can actually achieve

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Targeting of products and your own health / physical activity intentions

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What about a 50 year old who has never done exercise before - e.g. zumba app

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They way they present e.g. different bodies but not 'feminine' colours

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Rather than one app... different ones

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Future of an app... e.g. women in all different sizes

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change the images on the apps ... e.g. like men doing yoga

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Do you not think men and women need different training plans

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http://www.nike.com/us/en_us/c/womens-training/apps/nike-training-club

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Samsung Galaxy S5 with health band and watch (all monitor heart rate)
Instrumentalist approach- freeing up doctors time/personal trainers "The Galaxy S5 is at the head of a move by tech giants to turn the ever more sophisticated mobile phone into a substitute doctor and personal trainer."

Dehumanisation- the band allows you to see when you have emails/texts etc whilst you are exercising and monitoring your heart rate

Political aspect- individual responsibility for your health and neoliberal aspect as we are the consumers of the gadgets and these gadgets are there to make money

Quantified self- uploading all the data of your workouts and your diet

Surveillance- Edward Snowden (US whistleblower) revealed that the internet use and mobile phone records of ordinary citizens being monitored by the security services. Could they now monitor our health through our phones?

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The flagship model was unveiled at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona along with Gear Fit - a wearable fitness device

It has a 5.25-inch screen, 16MP camera and runs Android KitKat 4.4

Software and icons now look similar to Apple's 'flatter' iOS design

Handset comes in four colours: black, white, blue and gold and is dust and water resistant

Prices have not yet been announced but it will be available in April

In a world almost bursting at the seams with fitness bands, smartphones, wearables and cameras it takes something special to stand out - and Samsung hopes its new Galaxy S5 will do just that.

The Galaxy S5, dubbed the 'superphone' has handpicked features from its competitors and put them all into a single handset.

Samsung claims it crams in a professional camera and a powerful fitness tracker while being water and dust proof - and comes with fingerprint sensor technology, just like arch rival the iPhone 5S.

Selective Focus camera

Finger Scanner, Heart rate sensor

The new flagship device includes a built-in heart monitor, pedometer, fitness apps and fingerprint recognition.

It will go on sale in April, although prices have not yet been announced.

The Galaxy S5 is at the head of a move by tech giants to turn the ever more sophisticated mobile phone into a substitute doctor and personal trainer.

Samsung's S5 has its own health functions, but it will also connect to the company's second generation smartwatch, the Gear 2, as well as a new wearable band device, the Gear Fit, which will play a role in measuring fitness.

The watch and fitness band can pick up the pulse through the skin on the wrist and display it on the small screen throughout a normal day, or during a workout.

All of the information gathered by the devices can be used to calculate the number of steps taken, calories burned and general fitness.

HOW MUCH WITH THE S5 COST?

The firm's 'S Health 3.0' software creates graphs or tables of the results to track changes in activity and health over time.

Samsung's apps can then develop a fitness regime, including a range of activities from jogging to climbing the stairs rather than using the lift, to help people improve their health.

'Exercise, food, sleep, stress, and weight.

'You can monitor and track each of these areas with Samsung's Lifestyle Coach app. Part of the S Health suite,' the company said.

'We've decided to go back to basics with the Galaxy S5 and focus on the features and things that matter the most to our customers - namely the camera, ability to view and download data and content quickly and their health and wellbeing,' said Simon Stanford, Vice President of IT & Mobile division, Samsung Electronics UK & Ireland.

'People want a smartphone that enhances and enables their mobile life.

'The Galaxy S5 represents just that and we're excited to see the response to our latest flagship smartphone device.'

The S5 has a 16MP camera - an improvement on the 13MP camera seen on the S4 - and features a number of advanced editing and focus tools similar to those on the 5S.

The new camera has twice as many megapixels as Apple's iPhone 5S.

MAILONLINE'S VERDICT - AN IMPRESSIVE DEVICE

The camera has phrase-detect as well as contrast-detect autofocus, which Samsung claims is the fastest autofocus in any smartphone.

Samsung's Galaxy S5 has got better battery life than its predecessor.

Even when the battery is on 10 per cent, it has 24 hours of time left before it gives up the ghost.

The smartphone is also the first with Wi-Fi MIMO, which Samsung claims nearly doubles Wi-Fi connection speeds.

HOW THEY STACK UP - THE 5S VS THE S5
The Galaxy S5 features a perforated pattern on the back cover creating a 'modern glam look'.

Its new contoured shape comes in an array of colours, including: Charcoal Black, Shimmery White, Electric Blue and Copper Gold. It is dust and water resistant.

Like Apple's iPhone 5S, Samsung's latest handset has a Fingerprint Scanner, providing a secure, biometric screen locking feature.

VP of electronic communications at Samsung, Jean-Daniel Amye, said: 'The finger scanner uses your fingerprint as the ultimate password to your identity.

'All it takes is a simple swipe of your finger to make secure payments.

'Also finger scanner unlocks Private mode where secure files can be stored. I can now keep my passport in a secure way'.

Rob Skinner, Director of PR, PayPal UK, said that the world is moving away from passwords that are a hassle and easily forgotten.

'Combining Samsung's fingerprint authentication with PayPal means users will no longer need to remember passwords or login details when they shop. This new method strikes the perfect balance between convenience and security and we believe this will be the future for 2014 and beyond,' he said.

'ONE TRUE SUPERPHONE' - WHAT THE EXPERTS SAY

GEAR FIT SPECIFICATIONS

Connectivity: Bluetooth v4.0 LE

Mr JK Shin, president and CEO of Samsung Electronics said: 'Samsung has been one of the major contributors of the mobile industry's high growth.

'Especially, the Galaxy S series has been a key driver of smartphone growth.

'A total of 200 million people use Galaxy S devices, he added.

'People are easily excited about technology - disruptive and breakthrough. We're interested in meaningful innovation.

'It's surprisingly simple.

'Our customers don't want eye-popping technology, they want design.

'Our consumers want a simple yet powerful camera.

'Our consumers want powerful and seamless connectivity and our consumers want a phone that helps them stay for,' he said.

Mr Shin unveiled a companion device to the new phone - Gear Fit - by simply pulling back the sleeve on his left arm.

The wearable device gives users notifications about SMS, missed calls, while also serving as a way to monitor their heart rate while exercising.

It has a 5.1inch Full HD Super AMOLED display that can be dimmed - 'it is equipped with a screen that fits perfectly on your wrist,' he said.

The Samsung Gear Fit is designed to 'comfortably contour to the wrist while offering a vivid Super AMOLED display,' Samsung said.

The company claims it provides 'much more' than other fitness bands as it keeps users up to date with incoming calls, emails, SMS, alarm, S-planner and third party apps while they are on the move so they can stay connected.

For style-conscious wearers there are changeable straps in black, orange and grey and it's water resistant.

Weighing just 27 grams, the Gear Fit will offer real-time fitness coaching and personalised workout advice when it goes on sale in April.

The Gear Fit is compatible with 20 Galaxy devices.

Interestingly, there are built-in heart rate monitors in both the Gear 2 and Gear Fit and the company admitted that users would have an 'overload' of sensors if they had both the Gear 2 and Gear Fit.

Mr Shin said: 'Gear 2 and Gear Fit - quite a team.

'Well, if you buy both and the S5, you'd have an overload of heart rate monitors.

'Surely one is sufficient.'

While there appears to be a fair amount of overlap with Samsung's new products, it's clear that the firm is making each one marginally different to attract the widest range of users as possible.

It's unlikely one customer will buy all three but Samsung is undoubtedly hoping that by attracting a new user to one or two of its devices it will develop a loyalty that will last into future releases.

The Gear 2 smartwatch, unveiled at the weekend, lasts three times longer than the first watch, which was criticised for being chunky and expensive at £300.

SAMSUNG'S SMARTWATCH - THE GEAR 2

However, experts say the phone maker could still struggle to persuade users to upgrade.

The updates are so minor that on first glance most consumers would be hard pressed to notice that it has changed from the previous version,' Nick Dillon, senior analyst at Ovum said.

'Still, this should come as no great surprise, given the maturity of the smartphone market and the pressure on the Samsung not to mess with its winning formula.

'Samsung reminded us quite how successful this formula has been, noting that it has sold 200 million Galaxy S devices since launching the franchise in 2010.'

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Samsung takes a swipe at Apple with the launch of its Galaxy S5

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The flagship model was unveiled at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona along with Gear Fit - a wearable fitness device It has a 5.25-inch screen, 16MP camera and runs Android KitKat 4.4 Software and icons now look similar to Apple's 'flatter' iOS design Handset comes in four colours: black, white,

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Instrumental, determinist, substantive, Critical - What is the view of your cultural artefact.. how is it perceived by particular groups/organisations.. What are the discourses that frame it? challenges... opportunities.

think about the utopian/instrumental views embedded in this video found on the NHS digital first website

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In the last five years mobile and internet based environments have developed at a rapid pace leading to the advent of what has been described as Web 2.0. The capacity for information sharing and knowledge construction through a range of web based platforms which focus on user experience, online interaction and participation and increased capacity for data sharing. In this session we will examine the various ways in which these new media are shaping sports events and embodied subjectivities. We will examine how new multimedia platforms and in particular social media, are shaping sports (eg the Twitter Olympics). With new technological tools for the monitoring and surveillance of our bodies (online calorie counters, personal traininers) and the incorporation of ‘exergaming’ in Physical Education, we will also examine the potential and realized capacities for increased forms of disciplinary practices undertaken on our bodies. Finally, we will explore some of the challenges these new technologies present in relation to young people and embodiment brought about by the blurring of the boundaries between private/public issues (eg facebook) and the way in which information is being instantly reported (eg through twitter).

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Should we even be drawing attention to those overweight? Who might still be healthy?

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Should we be drawing attention to those overweight? Eg with the

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Children exposed to less public pedagogies - as older can explore social media

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"With weighing someone the more you highlight it the worse it could be in terms of how a child responds to it"

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"what else do you do? how do you approach it?"

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Surely they shouldnt even tell them that they are 'obese'

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Health 2050

National obesity forum predicting the health of the nation in the future

Medicalisation of bodies, recotexualised through the media

Neo-liberal discourse, societal preoccupation with obective 'truth', unrealiable statistics and claims, accepted as truths

Social responsibility and citizenship

Big Society- weight loss programs being cut

Moral panic- fear of fatness

Department of Health claim obesity is the biggest public health challenge

Media visualization- knowledge processes of demonized obese individuals

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Proana as public pedagogy taken to the extreme

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Slowing down this idea of inevitability, preventative society, m

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Overweight and obese blurred line

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DNA sample to tailor your diet to your needs - fat gene

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Give more reason to be lazy - not my fault I have an addiction

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Some people think they will just get fatter so they can have the procedure

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Increasing numbers of young people are being admitted to hospital because of eating disorders, figures show, with the blame in part being put on the rise of social media that has helped develop an obsession with image.

In the year to October there was an 8% increase in the numbers, according to the government's Health and Social Care Information Centre.

Most of the 2,560 who went to hospital for inpatient treatment were very young - 15 was the most common age of admission for girls and 13 for boys. But children aged five to nine and the under-fives were also admitted.

Those who end up in hospital - often for lengthy stays - are the most severely ill, but they are just a relatively small part of the story, according to Beat, the support charity, which says that 1.6 million people in the UK suffer from eating disorders. One in five will die prematurely, sometimes from the consequences of their illness and sometimes through suicide.

"The vast majority of people will be treated as outpatients or in private clinics," said Rebecca Field of Beat. "Some won't be treated at all." The statistics that exist were not a true reflection of what was going on, she said.

Beat would like to hope that the rise in hospital admissions is a result of more people becoming aware of the existence of eating disorders and getting the help they need. But it was also possible, said Field, that people were struggling with increasing social pressures, such as relationship breakdowns, bereavement and bullying at school - as well as the desire to do well academically in a world where jobs are increasingly competitive.

Facebook and other social media, together with the continuing obsession of the media with actors and models who have perfect bodies, all play a part. "With the rise of social media and the celebrity culture, people are being bombarded by these images of what seems to be the ideal body."

Facebook encourages an obsession with image, as girls and boys post photos of themselves and their friends "like" them - or not, she added. Celebrities including Victoria Beckham have spoken publicly about their battle with eating disorders.

Eating disorders were also caused by serious mental illness, which affected all sorts of people, said Field. "We also get people who have never picked up a magazine in their life," she said.

The "pro-ana" and pro-bulimia sites are also a problem. These are online communities where young people confide in each other, but they encourage anorexic and bulimic behaviours, said Field. Yet it would be inadvisable to ban them, because that would drive people with eating disorders further into the shadows and away from potential help, she said.

The hospital figures show that three-quarters of patients were admitted with anorexia and one in 20 for bulimia. One in five is discharged the same day but 6% stayed in hospital for more than six months. Most of those admitted were women or girls - there were nine times as many females as males, a proportion that has remained steady in recent years.

The highest rate of admissions was in the north-east and south-west, where there were 6.5 admissions per 100,000 population, with the lowest rate in the east Midlands, where it was 2.8 per 100,000.

That could mean there are fewer people with eating disorders or it could be to do with the availability of treatment. "We carried out a waiting time survey in October and found 26% of people had waiting times of six months or longer," said Field. The charity has heard of people who were still waiting for help after two years. Those sorts of waits, Field said, increased the chances that people would get worse and need admission to hospital rather than being treated as outpatients.

The Royal College of Psychiatrists says there are many causes of eating disorders. It can be about "longstanding unhappiness which may show itself through eating", says the college. It can be triggered by a desire for control over an aspect of life or it can be a reaction to the family - some children feel that saying "no" to food is the only way they can express their feelings. But it can also be connected to puberty, depression, low self-esteem and social pressures. Genes may also play a part by predisposing some people more than others.

Experts say it is difficult for families to deal with a son or daughter who refuses to eat or hides and disposes of the food they are given. Beat advises parents to try to promote a healthy attitude to body size and shape, their own as well as their child's. It also warns against allowing food and eating or not eating to become an issue. If a child will not eat, they say, ask whether something is troubling them or whether they are unhappy. The problems with eating are a symptom of something more profound, Beat suggests.

The GP is the first port of call if a child appears to need help, they say. Cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) is often successfully used to help people understand and cope with their problems.

Case study: 'I was getting called fat when I really wasn't'

It took Kathryn a long time to understand that she had a serious illness. In fact, the 16-year-old says she was in denial until she found herself in hospital having a tube fed down her nose. "That is how it is," she said. "People are in denial for so long. If you don't have the right help and support and see something is wrong with you, you don't have the chance to recover."

It started when she was 11. "I was getting bullied at school. It was the second year and people were picking their options for the third year. They were talking about jobs and what they wanted to do and it was quite stressful. Mum and Dad were thinking about selling the house so that was quite stressful too." And she had body image concerns. "I was getting called names by my so-called friends at school. I was getting called fat when I really wasn't."

Feeling under pressure, she stopped eating. "It was a way of controlling what I had left of my life," she said. She didn't think of it as an eating disorder. She had always been thin, so her weight dropped dramatically, to the point where her mother took her to the GP. She was referred to the local child and mental health service (CAMH) team, but she didn't understand the doctor and feels she did not get the support she needed. Eventually Kathryn was admitted as an in-patient at an adolescent mental health unit. She was in hospital for nine months.

That was when she understood. "Eating disorders are serious mental disorders," she said. "It is inside your brain. It is like cancer or the flu. People don't understand that because they lack the knowledge." In hospital, she was with other young people with all kinds of mental dsorders. They supported each other.

Since her discharge she has been under the care of a different CAMH team for the past four years. "They have helped me so much," she said. "I think if I'd had the support beforehand, it could have been a totally different story."

She's now back in school and doing really well, having caught up on the work. "I had to drop two subjects but I have still managed to do all I wanted to and get the grades I wanted," she said.

"But recovery is a long process and it does take a long time. I still have trouble sometimes and worry about things, but I am learning how to control it."
Topics

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Rise in hospital admissions for young people with eating disorders

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Increasing numbers of young people are being admitted to hospital because of eating disorders, figures show, with the blame in part being put on the rise of social media that has helped develop an obsession with image. In the year to October there was an 8% increase in the numbers, according to the government's Health and Social Care Information Centre.

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"We are often objectifed through health discourses - You could look at the body as you would a chair - its just objectified .. but weight doesn't tell us much... are they happy, healthy ?"

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"Its like the focus on health in 2050 ... well why not concentrate on the here and now? how can they predict what will happen to health stats by 2050?!"

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"spaces for corporate giants"