THEY had been firm friends since they were toddlers and Hannah Fuller always looked forward to spending family holidays with her vivacious cousin Amy. The days would be spent walking in the fresh air around Loch Lomond and enjoying hearty family meals together.

But two years ago, the then 14-year-old, who had already been secretly harbouring a deep disquiet about the way she looked, became quietly jealous of her friend, who she began to view as being slim and popular.

"My cousin and I were really close but I've always felt quite jealous of her because she's always been really slight and slim," explains Hannah. "She's also a very confident person, and I felt I wasn't as good as her and people didn't like me as much. I felt that somehow, if I could be slimmer, people would like me as much as they liked her."

That holiday marked the start of a dangerous obsession that would see 5ft-5ins tall Hannah's weight plummet from more than eight stone to just under six stone.

At an age where most children would happily enjoy a sweet treat, the pretty teenager was so frightened of being fat, she could not bring herself to eat.

"I just looked emaciated," recalls 16-year-old Hannah. "My arms were like twigs, my bones were sticking out and my clothes were really baggy on me."

But despite the frightening weight loss, Hannah, of Leith, remained determined not to eat more than 400 calories a day – just a fifth of the 2000 calories recommended to maintain a healthy, balanced diet.

Typically, Hannah would begin her day with half a portion of dry Weetabix – milk was a definite no no – and then she would eat nothing further until the evening.

Then, if her parents were around, Hannah would force herself to eat a low-fat ready-meal that clearly displayed the calorie count on the packaging.

But if left to her own devices, she would fill a bowl with lettuce and munch on the leaves until she had tricked herself into believing she'd had enough to eat.

She believed that by leaving a crumb-covered plate in the kitchen sink her parents – who were doing all they could to encourage her to eat – would believe she had eaten something substantial.

"After I had been on holiday, I lost a bit of weight and I thought I looked really good," recalls Hannah. "From then on, it became an obsession.

At the start, I decided it would be a healthy thing to do but it really took a grip of me."

Eventually, just over a year ago, Hannah was referred to a psychiatric hospital in Perth, where anorexia was diagnosed.

But despite weekly counselling sessions and impassioned pleas from her parents Gordon and Lizanne, little could be done to persuade Hannah to eat.

As her energy dwindled, she also became reclusive due to her fears that a night out with friends would end at a pizza restaurant.

"For a period of four to six weeks, Hannah went from being a very healthy weight to us beginning to notice there was a problem," recalls Gordon, 45, who owns the Sky Bar & Restaurant at Ocean Terminal.

"Then in five months, she went from being a very healthy 14-year-old to being diagnosed as anorexic and being weeks away from being admitted to hospital.

"It was a very traumatic time and very confusing for all of us. It's an illness that is so full of contradictions. As an outsider, you just wanted to shout 'eat, eat' but as a parent you can't do that because the more you try to help, the more resistance you meet.

"You feel so helpless. To see your daughter do this to herself and not be able to help was so frustrating."

Hannah clearly regrets putting her parents through so much distress and she becomes tearful at the memories of what they went through.

"They would cry a lot and I knew they weren't sleeping," says Hannah quietly. "I would hear my mum through the night, crying in the bathroom.

"I had never seen my dad cry before but, when we were coming back from the hospital, he would be crying too and it felt so horrible, knowing I was making them feel so bad but not being able to help it.

"They would say, if you can't eat for yourself, do it for us, but I just had no control. I felt hopeless."

In desperation, Gordon began to seek out alternative treatments and eventually Hannah agreed to visit a neuro-linguistic programming (NLP) therapist in Edinburgh. Hannah allowed herself to be hypnotised and she learned a technique to release stress by tapping certain points of her body.

But most helpful of all was the counselling, which enabled her to imagine herself eating healthy food and having a good time with her friends.

Remarkably, within two weeks, Hannah had put on half a stone and, within a two months, she was healthy enough to go on a school trip to Italy, where she indulged in pizza and pasta.

Having never taken on any sport, she also joined her father at the gym after he challenged her to take part in the 5k Great Winter Run in Edinburgh.

Not only did she complete the race, which took place just over a fortnight ago, she also beat her dad to the finish line.

This week, in recognition of her overcoming her disorder and regaining her health, she was named Edinburgh Leisure's healthiest hero. As a prize, she will be given a year's free gym membership.

"It was such a great feeling when I finished the race because I got such a sense of satisfaction," she grins. "It was especially good to make my mum and dad proud and happy.

"Before, it had been such an effort to even get out of bed and walk down the stairs – I didn't have any energy at all. So to actually run and feel so good afterwards was so amazing."


THIN END OF WEDGE

SUFFERERS of anorexia nervosa tend to restrict the amount they eat and drink, often to dangerous levels and as a way of demonstrating that they are in control of their body weight and shape.

Ultimately, however, chemical changes in the body affect the brain and distort thinking, making it almost impossible for patients to make rational decisions about their food.

As the illness progresses, sufferers experience exhaustion as a result of starvation.

The Eating Disorders Association estimates that around 60,000 people are receiving treatment for anorexia nervosa or bulimia nervosa, another eating disorder, at any one time in the UK.

NHS figures showed that the average age of the girls diagnosed with anorexia nervosa in the Lothians is 14, with an estimated 400 being treated by their GPs.

Research suggests only a third will make a complete recovery from the disorder.