True Beauty

Unless you live on a mountain more isolated than my hometown of Ladysmith, you're bound to notice the prominence of eating disorders in our society. I once read that Jamie Lynn Sigler was so anorexic she burned the calories she absorbed chewing gum through exercise. Well Ms. Sigler that's quite impressive, but I have you beat. Try running on nothing more than two pieces of gum for three days in a row while attending school, building a house, lifting weights, and jogging five miles a day. Who's the anorexic now?

Anna Carolina Reston, that's who. I can think of nothing more depressing than being known as the model that died on a diet of apples and tomatoes. Of course, this is coming from a person who, at one point in time, lived off on 300 calories worth of broccoli, spinach, apples, seaweed, and Boca burgers in a day.

If you ask me, the media's obsession with thin celebrities glorifies eating disorders. Maybe if we'd concentrate less on their guts and more on their talent they wouldn't do this to themselves. MAYBE we should start concentrating less on celebrities in general. Why use withering corpses as models for health and beauty? Believe me, being 90 pounds at 5'6" is neither healthy nor attractive. I've been there, and spent two months in a hospital desperately trying to regain weight as a result.

I am not alone in this. One in ten Americans have been diagnosed with an eating disorder. To combat this startling number, the Women’s Resource Center of the University of Wisconsin Stevens Point is working with True Beauty, an outreach program dedicated to raising awareness on this fatal disease. Together they will be hosting monthly support group meetings, where people can safely discuss issues with eating, body-image, as well as develop healthy coping mechanisms and ways to recover. These meetings are not excluded to people with anorexia, bulimia, or overeating, and are open to the public. True Beauty also hopes to instate a qualified eating disorder therapist at Delzell Hall for University students. In the future it would like to become more involved with the community, and raise the wellbeing of all.

Eating disorders are fatal illnesses, and cannot be taken lightly. If you or someone you know needs help, please consider attending a meeting. For more information contact bsoro437@uwsp.edu.