Disorder of the Day

I recently came across an article, which was rather upsetting, and as a result I’ve been thinking about the human mindset towards weight loss. The article was from the Sydney Morning Herald dated February 5^th 2007, and discussed the many issues that 16 and 17 year old girls have with eating.

A 2003 report by the Commonwealth Office of the Status of Australian Women found that between 40 and 82 percent of women aged between 18 and 23 were dissatisfied with their weight and/or shape. According to US estimates from The National Institute of Mental Health, between 5 and 10 percent of girls and women (I.e. 5-10 million people), and 1 million boys and men suffer from eating disorders, including anorexia, bulimia, binge eating disorder, or other associated dietary conditions. Of this an estimated 10 percent of female college students suffer from a clinical or sub-clinical (borderline) eating disorder. In the UK, nearly 2 in every 100 secondary school girls suffer from anorexia, bulimia or binge eating disorder.

I must admit I initially found these statistics rather shocking, however upon further contemplation I realised that given today’s culture, perhaps they are not really that surprising. Through the media we are constantly faced with images and messages about the desirability of being thin. Many women believe that the perfect body will help them achieve a perfect life. However, we only need to look to the lives of celebrity’s to realise that the so called “perfect life” leaves many grossly unhappy.

In November 2006, Brazilian model Ana Carolina Reston died at the age of 21 after reportedly eating nothing but apples and tomatoes. At her death Ana had a BMI of 13.4 (normal 18.5-24.9). In August 2006, Uruguayan model Luisel Ramos died at the age of 22 having reached the elusive size zero. She was reportedly on a diet of only green vegetables and Diet Coke in the 3 months prior to her death. What an awfully sad life many of these girls must have.

Thankfully, some within the industry have finally taken not, and in the wake of Luisel Ramos’ death, the Madrid Fashion Week set a minimum BMI of 18 for all models. In December that year, Italian fashion designers banned size zero models from walking down their catwalks. However other countries now need to follow suit.

Who is to blame for this sickening trend of unhealthy weights within the modeling industry? I’m not sure, however I feel a certain amount of responsibility must lie with the models themselves. Their agencies, on the other hand, have a great deal to answer for in my view! It really is shocking that our society promotes the use of such unhealthy models.

The worrying reality is that many young people have a distorted idea of what the body should look like. I really commend campaigns such as Dove’s Campaign for Real Beauty; it’s extremely refreshing to see industries using “real” women to promote their beauty products.

What steps can you take to help avoid developing obsessive behaviours?

1) Focus on obtaining a healthier lifestyle rather than the weight loss that you want to achieve. By doing this you are no longer focusing on your weight, but the actions you need to take to achieve weight loss (e.g. taking more exercise, eating balanced meals).

2) Don’t deprive yourself of food, as this may eventually cause you to become obsessed with food. You will also be more likely to overeat at your next meal and experience guilt and food preoccupations as a result.

3) Weigh yourself less often – your weight will fluctuate from day to day due to water retention, or after eating certain meals. Therefore, DO NOT weigh more than once a week.

What can we learn from the awful events within the modeling industry? Well, I think we ought to learn from the mistakes that the models and their agents are making. Our goal ought to be achieving better health and well-being and as a result, enjoying life! Surely these things are ultimately more important?

I ask you to consider what your long-term and short-term goals are for achieving a healthy lifestyle? Are they realistic? Why have you set them? If it’s to achieve a “perfect beach body,” then you need to reconsider, this is an unsuitable goal, it does not instill perseverance with your new regime.