According to the National Eating Disorders Association, 40 percent of anorexics are girls between the ages of 15 to 19. How do these young girls learn about this disease at such an early age? The internet. Many sufferers are turning to one of the thousands of pro-ana (pro anorexia) and pro-mia (pro bulimia) web sites in their quest for what they see as physical perfection.

*Katie was fourteen and at a healthy weight when she first stumbled across a pro-ana site. The next four years she would struggle with anorexia and its many negative side effects.

"At first it was just a few changes to my diet to lose some weight. Then it was things like harshly restricting how many calories I would have in a day. After a few weeks, if I went over five-hundred calories a day, I would feel guilty and exercise for hours to burn it all off."

Most of the Web sites share similar features, including message boards where members post their daily caloric intake and offer support and advice to others who are starving themselves, and a section usually called "thinspiration." This features is peppered with photographs of emaciated girls. They offer a variety of tips to help trick your friends and family and to hide an eating disorder.

"I would spend hours on pro-ana and pro-mia sites. It's so easy to get sucked in and start to think 'Oh, well, I'm just doing this to lose a few pounds and when I get to my goal weight I'll just stop.' Then your goal weight gets lower and lower. Before you know it your in a hospital with a feeding tube down your nose."

Pro-ana group creators insist that they aren't recruiting anorexics, but merely supporting each other. In fact, there are some groups that are legitimately focused on recovery. Still, the effects of these "support groups" are likely not as safe as some fans claim. "The more types of these sites that you use, the higher your risk for disordered eating is," says Stanford professor Rebecka Peebles, M.D., acknowledging that the connection doesn't prove that the sites necessarily caused the disorder. A 2006 study that she preformed found that 96 percent of teens diagnosed with eating disorders who visited pro-eating disorder Web sites learned new dieting and purging techniques, and almost 50 percent of teens who visited sites devoted to eating disorder recovery also learned new weight-loss tips.

"When you lose those first five pounds its like the worlds at your fingertips," says Katie. "But believe me, you do not want this disease. And thats what it is, a horrible disease. The best thing anyone can do is to stay away from those sites, eat healthy, and exercise. If you know anyone excessing these sites, list of some of the side effects. Not so glamorous anymore, huh?"

*Names have been changed