Meet Katy and Maria, 33 year old identical twins from England who have competed for 20 years on who could be the skinniest. Their eating disorders have ruined their lives... They are both determined to beat this disease. Maria said, "I've lost everything due to this illness. I've lost my life, my house, my hair, my job, everything... and I'm absolutely sick of it." Katy said, "I can't walk any more. My back hurts, my heartbeat is irregular, I've got osteoporosis, chronic gastric pain and pancreatitis. I'm on diuretics because my kidneys don't work."
All this to say that eating disorders are chronic in western societies. Yes, we have an obese problem, but we also have the opposite as well. With a 14 year old who is buying Seventeen Magazine and starting to obsess about food 24/7, it is a real concern. Add to this that my older daughter had a bout with this at 15 years old, and it becomes more than that. Yesterday DD told me that a high school girl that we both know well is bulimic and is hiding it from her family. Her mother took her to the doctor and she swore that she is not throwing up when in fact she is. The doctor told her she could have a retarded baby, so she's telling friends that she wants to continue to throw up, and when married will just adopt... Sounds like the sickness is pretty serious... I'm not as familiar with other high schools, but our town's high school has plenty of eating disorders. DD was fine until she switched to public school, and her group of friends are refusing to eat, and the boys are calling skinny girls fat.
What is it with kids these days??
0 comments:
Post a Comment