Eating Disorders
Vocabulary Anorexia
Definition: An eating disorder characterized by intense fear of
gaining weight, which leads people to eat as little as possible, to the point where their health is jeopardized.
Context: People with anorexia are at
risk for some serious diseases, including
osteoporosis, kidney problems, and cardiac arrest.
Body image
Definition: The way an individual perceives his or her physical
appearance
Context: Bridget had such a negative body image that she thought she was fat when she was emaciated and could find nothing attractive about her body.
Obesity
Definition: An excessive amount of body fat due to serious overeating;
people with obesity weigh more than 30
percent above their ideal body weight
or a Body Mass Index of more than 30
million Americans, putting them at increased risk for diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, and stroke.
Self-esteem
Definition: A feeling of confidence and respect for oneself
Context: Even after Brad lost 127
pounds and had a mid-body lift, he was still struggling with self-esteem issues.
Top 10 Celebrities with Eating Disorders
10. Princess Diana
Diana’s first public confession of dealing with
bulimia was in 1994. She had first struggled with it in 1981, just before her marriage. It plagued her all the way through 1992, where she started to get a foothold on beating it. Since then, she fought to help others deal with bulimia, and her death in
1997 marked a major decrease in bulimic incidents.
9. Jessica Alba
In 2005, Jessica admitted that she used to have an eating disorder. She talked about how it was because she grew up in a family that was
overweight, so she had always wanted to be
skinnier. Her anorexia had probably started around 2000-2001 during her role in Dark Angel.
In mid-2004, Daniel Johns interviewed on ABC Television and talked about his struggles with anorexia. After finally winning the battle with anorexia, he had also had to fight arthritis only 2 years later.
7. Posh Spice
Having denied having an eating disorder in the past, September of 2001 found Posh Spice openly admitting to struggling with anorexia. She shared of her obsession with her physical appearance and her severe dieting habits.
6. Elton John
Through the late 1980’s, Elton John struggled with bulimia and drug abuse. This pop superstar from the 1970’s went through other struggles involving sexual identity and alcoholism. In 1991 he founded the Elton John AIDS Foundation.
5. Kate Moss
The original ‘waif’, this model not only struggled with anorexia but drug abuse. Being the feature model for a number of high-end products, her downfall came in 2001, when she went into a drug induced coma and had to be sent to the hospital.
4. Lindsay Lohan
Early 2005 showed us a overly-thin Lindsay
sporting skimpy outfits on the beach. Like many other celebrities experiencing the main symptoms of anorexia, Lindsay denied the existence of an eating disorder.
3. Keira Knightley
Whether or
not Keira actually struggles with clinically
diagnosed anorexia is debatable, but what isn’t debatable is her almost-too-skinny figure. The very thin actress states that anorexia runs in her family and she would be the first to know if she had anorexia. Methinks she doth protest too much!
In 2004, right after her 18th birthday, Mary-Kate Olsen (from the Olsen twins) showed dramatic
weight loss. That same year she hired a weight- coach to help her gain back her weight and
received treatment for anorexia, slowly making a comeback. It is suspected that she is once again dealing with anorexia, 3 years later.
1. Nicole Richie
Since at least early 2006, Nicole Richie has
seemed to be struggling with anorexia. To this day she denies that she is dealing with an eating
disorder, but with a little bit of research it’s not hard to see that a photo is worth a thousand
