The use of spectrally-thin models in glossy magazines is cited as a possible cause of anorexia, encouraging teenage girls to aspire to an unnatural body shape. One expert said last week that most women are designed to be size 14, but fashion encourages them to aspire to wear size 8 or 10. Another theory is that anorexia and obesity are tied up with discomfort about female sexuality. Women who are abnormally thin stop menstruating, while obese and anorexic women alike defy narrow cultural prescriptions of beauty and sexiness.One of the findings from the Australian study casts new light on these questions.

The team found a striking link between weight and psychiatric problems, reporting that girls who suffer from anxiety and depression are seven times more likely to have an eating disorder. This implies that over-eating and anorexia are symptoms rather than conditions. It also opens up a discussion about what might be distressing these young women, and why they are manifesting destructive effects on their bodies. What I am about to argue is an unfashionable view, and someone will no doubt cite evidence to the contrary: the higher rate of suicide among young males, for instance.But I believe the answer lies in the fact that this is still a man's world, in which girls are taught from an early age to be both self-critical and painfully self-conscious. Every day we experience an avalanche of messages telling us that specific women are too fat, too thin, too old, too promiscuous, too ambitious, too noisy, too demanding.

Anxiety is, in that sense, the quintessential female condition. (It is hard to imagine a man asking friends: "Does my bum look big in this?") The responses I have been talking about - over-eating and self-starvation - can be seen as different strategies to contain it. Many overweight women eat too much for comfort, using food as a substitute for affection. Anorexic and bulimic women demonstrate how well-behaved they are, how much in control, at least in this one intimate area.The Australian researchers' advice, that overweight teenage girls should take more exercise instead of dieting, is sensible in that it avoids making them even more self-conscious about their eating habits. But I cannot imagine women abandoning a tendency towards eating disorders until we become more relaxed and confident. And that is not going to happen while so many people, from politicians on moral crusades to the multi- million-pound slimming and fashion industries, have a vested interest in maintaining our high levels of anxiety.. BBRRNNGG! Ah, yes, the shrill jangle that gives urgent notice of another illuminating insight into the fascinating world of power and celebrity! For it is the telephone, and, on it, my food and drink editor, RAC Quart, with a hot one.