KIMBERLY NICOLETTI
summit daily news March 19, 2005
http://www.summitdaily.com/article/20050319/NEWS/103190038
SUMMIT COUNTY - Chelsea Seeger, a
model and a sophomore at Summit High School, has seen the devastating effects of
an obsession to be thin.
Her friend, who has since moved from Summit County to the East Coast, battled
athletic bulimia. In junior high, the girl ran 20 to 30 miles every day and was
embarrassed to eat even though she weighed only 90 pounds. After one to two
years of avoiding food and over-exercising, her parents sent her to treatment,
and she eventually learned to maintain a healthy weight, Seeger said.
Watching her friend's struggle helps Seeger deal with pressure to lose weight as
a model. Denver agencies routinely tell her and other models who have a normal
body weight to lose 2 to 3 inches from their waists. At 5'9" and 120
pounds, Seeger feels good about her body and refuses to follow the unhealthy
request.
Megan Barrett, another sophomore, feels similar pressure when she goes to dance
conventions in Denver. Although Barrett stays fit through sports, she looks at
other dancers who are extremely skinny and wear tiny shorts. She too has been
able to resist falling into an unhealthy obsession with her weight, preferring
instead to focus on strength and muscle tone.
But some people don't escape societal pressure.
Local students weigh in
Seven out of 222 local seventh-graders were underweight, said nurse Bobbi Gillis
after a Sept. 29 screening at Summit Middle School. Although not state mandated,
the school district hopes to start a pilot program to assess body mass indexes
and follow students throughout their education to see if health education helps
reduce weight problems.
"Not all students that are underweight are at risk for health
problems," Gillis said. "Some kids just have a very low lean body mass
and are just slim genetically."
Defining
body image and eating disorders
Body
image involves how a person perceives and feels about her
appearance and body, as well as how she thinks others view her.
It’s formed from every life experience, including positive and
negative input from parents, role models, peers and cultural
standards.
A negative body image involves a distorted perception of shape
which causes feelings of shame, awkwardness and anxiety. It can
lead to emotional distress, decreased self esteem, anxiety and
depression. When people take it to the extreme, it can cause
unnecessary dieting, an eating disorder or both.
Symptoms of an eating disorder include:
1) Preoccupation with food, weight, calories and body image
2) Persistent thinking about getting fat
3) Compulsive exercising
4) Bingeing, purging, skipping meals, constantly eating alone or
making unusual food choices
5) Frequent weighing
6) Rapid weight changes
7) Laxative abuse, diuretic abuse or both
8) Withdrawal from family or friends
9) Denial or defensiveness about weight changes and appearance
10) Malnutrition, dehydration, electrolyte imbalance or change
in menstrual cycles.
— Source: Dr. Carolyn Sloan Burton, Frisco psychiatrist
Other students are at risk, though, and
the school district would offer psychological and nutritional counseling to
them.
In fact, students who are not underweight may still be at risk for developing
body image problems.
Underweight or otherwise, the main problem Summit High School mental health
counselor Kate Glerup sees is girls with distorted body images.
"I've seldom met a teenage girl who has an accurate body image,"
Glerup said.
Many students say they definitely feel pressure to be thin. Kay Gordon, a
freshman, often hears girls say they're fat. They're usually joking, she says,
but it's because they want friends to deny they need to lose weight.
Others, such as sophomore Rochelle Wilson, admit that high school students don't
often say they want to lose weight, because that may be seen as a sign of having
a body image problem, but instead say they want to firm up or gain more muscle,
which sounds healthier in this age of awareness about anorexia and psychological
disorders. Although the semantics have changed, the intent remains the same: to
stay thin.
Sources of pressure
Peers, television, magazines, parents - the sources of pressure seem to be
everywhere.
Many of Hollywood's leading actresses are "drastically underweight,"
according to VH1.com. Calista Flockhart, Mary-Kate Olsen and Lara Flynn Boyle
made headlines with their skeletal shape, which set a standard for other
celebrities to attain. Now top actresses from Kate Bosworth to Reneé
Zellweger strive to be thinner, and they've become too thin.
"Although the media may not be the cause, it certainly is an important
contributing factor," said Dr. Carolyn Sloan Burton, a Frisco psychiatrist.
For example, before 1995, Fiji
residents didn't experience eating disorders, preferring plump bodies. After
1995, when television flooded households, the rate of eating disorders
skyrocketed. The statistics indicate media push cultural images, and people
accept them, hoping if they attain ideals such as thinness, they'll be happy,
Burton said.
Once people integrate media
messages, peer pressure fuels them.
"The pressure comes from wanting to impress guys," sophomore Annalise
Hafliger said. "It's probably the strongest reason to lose weight. If one
makes a comment about fat girls, I think, 'Great. I have to become anorexic.' It
creates self-pressure."
And some guys do make fun of being overweight, according to high school boys
interviewed.
Even clothing companies push the need to be thin. Manufacturers make clothes
smaller, so a consumer who used to fit into a small now requires a medium. Plus,
fashions tend to be tight and revealing these days.
"When I don't fit into a medium, I think, 'Oh, I've got to lose
weight,'" sophomore Nikki Kubat said.
Are
you eating enough?
The 2005
dietary guidelines for Americans recommend eating the following
daily quantities:
Fruits and vegetables: at least 2 cups of fruit; at least 2 1/2
cups of vegetables (equivalent to one banana, one cup or salad
greens, one large orange)
Milk products: at least 3 cups daily (equivalent to 1 1/2 ounces
of cheese, 1 cup of yogurt, etc.)
Whole grains: at least three 1-ounce servings (equivalent to one
slice of whole grain bread, 1 cup of whole grain cereal, 1/2 cup
of cooked rice or pasta)
Lean protein: at least 8 ounces of fish weekly; 6 ounces or less
of other sources, such as meat, poultry, eggs or dry beans
(equivalent to 1/3 cup nuts, 2 tablespoons seeds, half cup
cooked beans)
— Source: American Dietetic Association
The role of sports
Sports play a predominant role in Summit County, which often helps kids remain
fit. But research shows athletes who require leanness to remain competitive
increase their risk of developing an eating disorder, said Burton, who worked at
a children's hospital eating disorder unit during her psychiatric fellowship
training after watching her college roommate and other teammates in track and
field develop eating disorders.
Nationwide, one in 10 women suffers from eating disorders at some point in life,
one in five teenage girls experiences eating disorders and 10 percent of men
experience eating disorders, Burton said.
"It is unclear what the incidence is of eating
disorders in Summit County," she said. "Most likely it reflects the
national statistics, but the numbers may be even higher ... But again other
factors are also important in deterring when dieting goes awry and leads to an
eating disorder. These factors are biological, social and psychological in
origin."
According to most students interviewed, staying competitive - which means
staying strong and healthy - overrides any obsession with becoming dangerously
thin.
"We try to be strong and stay fit, not get sick," said sophomore
Hannah Rea. "If you're too thin, it destroys your lifestyle."
Height
and Weight Chart
• Weight in pounds,
based on ages 25-59 with the lowest mortality rate
• With indoor clothing weighing 5 pounds and shoes with
1" heels
Underweight kids function on very few calories and sometimes rely on caffeine,
sugar or both for quick energy. Caffeine raises the metabolic rate, and sugar
contributes calories without any nutritional value, such as vitamins and
minerals. Both are very addictive and create cravings, said Justin Pollack, a
natropath who teaches nutrition at Colorado Mountain College.
When an Eastern Pennsylvania school district removed soda and added healthier
vending machine options in the schools as well as sent educational letters to
parents, the number of underweight students dropped by 50 percent, according to
an Associated Press report. Pollack said consuming too much phosphorous, an
additive in sodas, can cause weight loss.
Dangers of caloric underconsumption include malnutrition, mood swings, a
weakened immune system, digestive and absorption problems, osteoporosis and
difficulties with premenstrual syndrome and menopause.
"It's just a whole downward spiral that people have to start new habits to
get out of," Pollack said.
Parents play a crucial role in preventing and treating poor body image and
eating disorders.
Encouraging healthy eating, understanding how media shapes perceptions and
learning the warning signs decrease children's risk in falling into the fad of
becoming too thin.
