How Thin is Too Thin?

By Dr. Randi Fredricks, Ph.D.

While the modern diagnoses of anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and binge eating disorder were first recognized as major health problems in the 1950s, many of the behaviors that characterize eating disorders have been practiced for centuries.

Today, we see evidence of eating disorders everywhere. Magazines on newsstands full of photographs of celebrities and models who are painfully thin, If the celebrity on the magazine cover is a normal weight, she is airbrushed to look thinner.

For years not, television shows have been showing unhealthily thin actresses with bones jutting out and silicone implants instead of real breasts. What we don't think about is how these supermodels and actresses are so unnaturally thin that they are most likely anorexic, They risk infertility, osteoporosis, kidney and organ damage, as well as death.

Anorexia nervosa is a disease of self-starvation. Recognition of its symptoms can be the first step toward getting help for yourself or someone you care about. The following is a list of some of the symptoms:

  1. Refusal to maintain body weight
  2. Fear of gaining weight
  3. Talk about feeling fat
  4. Difficulty with eating full meals
  5. Rigidity with what they will eat
  6. An obsessive preoccupation with body size
  7. Over-exercising
  8. Intense dissatisfaction with physical appearance
  9. Personality change from outgoing to withdrawn
  10. Limit food intake to a narrow selection of low calorie foods
  11. Hoarding, concealing, crumbling or throwing away food
  12. Menstrual difficulties
There are many physical complications of anorexia and it is a disease with many consequences. About 5 to 20% of anorexics die of major organ failure, due to their constant starvation. Some of the consequences are:
  1. Cardiac problems, such as a slow or rapid heartbeat
  2. Anema
  3. Bruising
  4. Decreased testicular function in men
  5. Tooth decay
  6. Yellowing skin or loss of skin color
  7. Dizziness and fainting
  8. High cholesterol
  9. Lanugo (excessive growth of hair on the body)
  10. Liver damage
  11. Baldness
  12. Pancreatitis
According to Prevention Magazine, a healthy weight for a woman who is 5'9" is 129-169 pounds. An average 5'9" model's weight is somewhere around 110-115 lbs. According to a Prevention/NBC Survey,
  1. 60% of women have dieted or are on a diet,
  2. 44% of women refuse to be photographed in a swimsuit, and
  3. 37% of women won't play beach games while wearing swimsuits.
A survey by Natural Health magazine found:
  1. 44% of women who are average or underweight think that they are overweight.
  2. The average woman's dress size is 12 and the average mannequin dress size is 6.
  3. The average height and weight for women age 18 to 74 years old is 5'4" and 138 lbs.
A survey conducted by Better Health Channel found:
  1. 45% of women and 23% of men in the healthy weight range think they are overweight.
  2. 20% of women who are underweight think that they are overweight and are dieting to lose weight.
Many of those who suffer from the disorders are adolescent and young women, but boys, men and women also have eating disorders. Research suggests that up to 5% of Americans have some type of eating disorder, and many experts believe the figure is much higher. Eating disorders have the highest mortality rate of any mental illness. The mortality rate among people with anorexia has been estimated at 0.56% per year, or about 5.6% per decade, which is about 12 times higher than the annual death rate due to all causes of death among females ages 15 to 24 in the general population.

References
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About the Author

Dr. Randi Fredricks, Ph.D. is a psychotherapist and author specializing in the treatment of mental health using integrative medicine and natural therapies. She works with individuals, couples, and families at her office in San Jose, California. Dr. Fredricks' publications include the landmark book Healing & Wholeness: Complementary and Alternative Therapies for Mental Health. No part of this article may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems. Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of Dr. Randi Fredricks as articles often present the published results of the research of other professionals. Copyright © 2012. To cite this article, please use the following citation: Fredricks, R. (2008). Healing & Wholeness: Complementary and Alternative Therapies for Mental Health. Bloomington, IN: Author House.


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