Hollywood’S Obsession With Weight Is Staining Minds

“At first it seemed like a minor, if mystifying problem: In the spring of 1996, plastic sandwich bags began disappearing by the hundreds from the kitchen of a sorority house at a large northeastern university. When the sorority’s president investigated, she found a disturbing explanation: The bags, filled with vomit, were hidden in a basement bathroom…. Most of her 45 housemates, she recalls, worried about weight… . At dinner they would say, `All I had to eat today was an apple’ or `I haven’t had anything.’ ”

I read this passage in a People magazine story about college campuses and eating disorders. Graphic as it is, it puts in perspective the seriousness of eating disorders.

For most, eating is one of the simple pleasures of life that also fuels our bodies and helps us grow. For others, specifically the estimated one-half to 4 percent of teenager girls and women who suffer from a complex psychological disorder such as anorexia or bulimia, it is a burden. Anorexia nervosa, a disease of self-induced starvation, is a growing problem among adolescent girls, encouraged, I believe, by the ideal body portrayed in Hollywood.

Jennifer Aniston, who recently dieted to reach 110 pounds was quoted as saying how other women in the room made her look fat. Co-star, actress Courteney Cox Arquette has dropped weight, along with lead swizzle-stick Calista Flockhart, who actually was accused of suffering from anorexia before she fiercely denied it. The stunt double for Sarah Michelle Gellar of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” was quoted as saying that if she weighed 98 pounds like Gellar, she wouldn’t have the energy to do what she does.

The example these entertainers are displaying for teenagers is staining their minds with unhealthy standards and opinions during a time in which girls should be growing and adjusting to their new adult bodies.

Health officials are now trying to identify young women with personalities that make them vulnerable to anorexia or bulimia. Often, they are hard-working overachievers, fastidious and goal-oriented. Warning signs for anorexia include excessive dieting, fear of weight gain, low self-esteem, preoccupation with calories or nutrition, depression, growth of hair on arms and shoulders, loss of hair from head, exhaustion and compulsive exercise.

Warning signs for bulimia may include low self-esteem, spending long times in the bathroom after meals, erosion of the enamel on teeth, bite marks on hands, swollen glands in the neck and face, heartburn, sore throat and bloodshot eyes.

Anorexia can cause osteoporosis and shrunken organs while bulimia can cause dehydration or damage the liver and kidneys. Early treatment is critical, so if you or anyone you know may suffer from an eating disorder, it’s important to get help immediately.

It’s time we stop ignoring these diseases.

What do you think? Does the media and pop culture affect the way teenagers today view themselves? Take our online poll at http://ourgen.spokane.net

This sidebar appeared with the story: Health officials offer ways to help

Health officials at the Seattle-based Eating Disorders Awareness and Prevention Inc., have put out a list of tips for talking to a friend who may be struggling with an eating disorder.

In a calm and caring manner share your memories of times when you felt concerned, afraid or uneasy about her eating rituals. Talk about the feelings you experienced as a result of these events.

Use “I” statements.

Avoid accusing “You” statements.

Avoid giving simple solutions.

If your friend won’t listen to you, you may need to tell someone else such as a parent, teacher, doctor, counselor, nutritionist or any trusted adult.

And, make sure she at least knows where to get help if she needs it and that there is a friend who cares.

For more information on eating disorders, contact EDAP at 603 Stewart St., Suite 803, Seattle, WA 98101, call (800) 931-2237 or visit www.edap.org on the Internet.

Awareness Week Eating Disorders Awareness Week 2000 runs through Saturday. To raise awareness of the diseases that affects between 4 and 10 million women and girls across the country, free public events are being held this week.

Compulsive Eating: The Misunderstood Eating Disorder will be the topic of discussion Tuesday at 7 p.m. at St. Lukes Rehabilitation Institute, 711 S. Cowley, in Lower Level 1. To register, call 473-6960.

Strive to be a Role Model, not a super model: How you look is not who you are - An eating disorders screening program will be held Tuesday at Deaconess Health and Education Building, 910 W. Fifth, room 266 from noon to 1:30 p.m., 3 to 4:30 p.m. and 6 to 7:30 p.m.

Media and Image - A closed panel discussion among a special group of teenagers will be held Wednesday. An excerpt from the discussion will be printed in Our Generation Feb. 28.