I write a lot about obesity and its costs, and my own efforts (and occasional lapses) in trying to maintain a healthy diet.
I noticed this morning that this week is "National Eating Disorders Awareness Week." Actually, what caught my eye was a statistic quoted by the The Alliance of Eating Disorders Awareness:
According to a recent study, over 1/2 the females between the ages of 18-25 would prefer to be run over by a truck then be fat, and 2/3 surveyed would rather be mean or stupid.
I can only hope that a large percentage of the women in that survey were not taking it seriously.
I know someone...a talented, smart young woman...who ended up hospitalized with a tube down her nose. I'll be honest, it baffles me how anyone could starve herself (or himself...men and boys make up a significantly smaller percent of the sufferers, but they do exist). Bulimia nervosa is even harder for me to comprehend.
It is outside my experience and has been pretty much off my radar, so I know very little about eating disorders, but this might be a good week for some eduction:
maybe those 2/3 that responded they'd rather be mean or stupid WERE already mean or stupid.
Posted by: liz at February 25, 2004 09:21 AM