Anorexia nervosa
Witness History
BBC
4.5 • 1.6K Ratings
🗓️ 29 March 2021
⏱️ 11 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
The American singer, Karen Carpenter, died in 1983 of anorexia nervosa. She was one half of a world famous brother and sister duo called The Carpenters. She was aged just 32. Up until then anorexia nervosa had often been referred to in the media as the "slimmer's disease". Skinny celebrities were seen as both beautiful and successful and anorexia was somewhat glamorised. Claire Bowes has been speaking to Dr Pat Santucci, a psychiatrist who helped set up the world's first national organisation dealing with eating disorders, the National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Eating Disorders, known as ANAD. Dr Santucci says wherever western culture has an influence, you will find anorexia nervosa.
Photo: courtesy of Science Photo Library
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Choosing what to watch night after night the flicking through the endless |
| 0:06.8 | searching is a nightmare we want to help you on our brand new podcast off the |
| 0:11.8 | telly we share what we've been watching |
| 0:14.0 | Cladie Aide. |
| 0:16.0 | Load to games, loads of fun, loads of screaming. |
| 0:19.0 | Lovely. Off the telly with me Joanna Paige. |
| 0:21.0 | And me, Natalie Cassidy, so your evenings can be a little less |
| 0:24.9 | searching and a lot more auction listen on BBC sounds. Hello and thanks for downloading witness history from the BBC World Service with me Claire Bose. |
| 0:40.3 | Today we're remembering the moment when the eating disorder, anorexia and a vosa, first gained public recognition. |
| 0:48.0 | While anorexia cases were on the increase in the 1970s, it wasn't until 1983 that the devastating effects of |
| 0:56.7 | the illness became widely understood, with the death of the American singer Karen Carpenter. |
| 1:04.0 | Some listeners may find this podcast upsetting. |
| 1:08.0 | Why do birds suddenly |
| 1:15.0 | on here. |
| 1:18.0 | 9th |
| 1:15.0 | down in community hospital in approximately 923 this morning. |
| 1:20.0 | She was in full arrest, our emergency department personnel administered to her. |
| 1:24.7 | She expired and was pronounced dead at 951. |
| 1:29.6 | Karen Carpenter's heart just stopped beating. She was 32. At the time she was a hugely |
| 1:36.8 | successful singing star part of a brother-and-sister duo. In the 1970s the carpenters were household names. a |
| 1:43.9 | in the 1970s the carpenters were household names. |
| 1:45.7 | Karen Carpenter's death really was kind of an announcement to the world literally |
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