They call her ''Ana.'' She is a role model to some, a goddess to others -- the subject of drawings, prayers and even a creed.

She tells them what to eat and mocks them when they don't lose weight. Yet, while she is a very real presence in the lives of many of her followers, she exists only in their minds.

Ana is short for anorexia, and -- to the alarm of experts -- many who suffer from the potentially fatal eating disorder are part of an underground movement that promotes self-starvation and, in some cases, has an almost cult-like appeal.

Followers include young women and teens who wear red Ana bracelets and offer one another encouraging words of ''thinspiration'' on Web pages and blogs.

 
FULL STORY at
http://www.religionnewsblog.com/11323/Anorexia-now-cult-figure-named---Ana