Soon after the advent of the internet and dial-up emailing, experts began to warn parents of the hidden dangers lurking in chat rooms and other seemingly innocuous venues.  Typically, these warnings were meant to alert parents to sexual deviance, and involved anything from kiddie porn to outright child abduction or rape.

According to a new study, there are new offenders that parents should be aware of, and they have nothing to do with pornography.  Instead, these sites are devoted to praising and encouraging eating disorders, such as anorexia and bulimia.

The common vernacular associated with these sites is that they are either pro-ana or pro-mia; ana stands for anorexia while mia indicates the site encourages bulimia (ABC).

Researchers from Johns Hopkins and Stanford discovered troubling, and altogether inaccurate, information on eating disorders on these sites, such as poetic musings called “Thinspirations” and other artistic expressions, along with pictures of obscenely thin models.  Information on how to continue an anorexic or bulimic lifestyle is also shared with visitors to such sites.

One expert told ABC News that approximately 1-3% of all women will become anorexic at some point in their lives, while 2-8% will become bulimic.  And, young men aren’t unscathed by eating disorders, either; 2-5% of them will develop one of them within their lifetime.

The problem, according to researchers, is that young women are finding a “connection” with other young women who are as emotionally troubled as they are. 

And the results can be deadly; roughly 5-10% of those stricken with anorexia and/or bulimia will die within ten years of the disease(s) becoming active, according to the National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders.

Unlike the agency’s counterparts, the Association provides information on how to get help for treatment and ultimate recovery from the disease, and is the oldest non-profit organization devoted to helping those with eating disorders (ANAD webswite).