A reader's response:
Why do we not hear about thin people that ruin their health by not eating properly? They teach their children bad eating habits--anorexia, fear of food, etc. Why do reporter's feel they have to generalize all this information? When I read this stuff, I see more ignorance about the real world.
Christina Asavareungchai of NEXT answers:
It's definitely true that thin people can have as many health problems as the severely obese. I'm a former competitive cross country runner, and have witnessed the ugly, terrible reality of anorexia. I've also seen less severe, but nonetheless frightening, forms of disordered eating patterns.
By blogging about obesity, I didn't intend to "generalize" or imply that obesity is the only weight-related illness suffered by Americans. There are a host of other illnesses affecting children, teens and adults; but obesity ranks the highest, killing 400,000 individuals in 2000.
Obesity is a serious and escalating problem, which is currently on the nation's radar. But this is not to say that other food-related illnesses are not equally as impacting on the individuals suffering from them.
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