Getting Mad at the Sunday paper

This post is in response to Dr. Zorba Paster’s recent column in the WSJ It is possible to be too thin.  This is the email I just sent:

I have serious concerns about the impact of Sunday’s  column to those who  may be suffering from an eating disorder and anyone struggling with body-image issues.

I am a mom of a daughter who is in recovery from severe anorexia, and am the coordinator of the annual Madison NEDA Walk   to raise funds and awareness in our community in the fight against eating disorders.

Eating disorders afflict thousands in our community:  The problem is serious and it is pervasive.  We have lost at least three young people from our community to eating disorders this year – including one young woman in late August: Chelsea Stahlke; Unfortunately,  Sunday’s column perpetuates a culture  that results in even more suffering--which I am sure was NOT the intent.

Based on the title of the column, I was excited to see the issue being addressed.  However, after reading it, I was disappointed and appalled on two fronts:  1) the examples of how to interpret BMI were male-oriented without any reference to impacts on women’s health and body image and:  2) the perpetuation of the harmful concept that BMI is a reliable measure of health.

The acceptable exceptions given for having a ‘high’ BMI were entirely male-oriented: citing muscular ‘guys’, soccer players, body builders and football players–along with a reference to Wisconsin ‘boys’; without acknowledging that women with ‘high’ scores can also be muscular and active, versus obese and unhealthy.  Statistically, women are more likely than men to suffer from body image issues and fat-shaming.

I cannot overstate the damage caused by our national obsession with BMI scores.  BMI alone is absolutely not a good indicator of health; yet, ironically, it is frequently used to turn individuals away from life-saving treatment for a serious eating disorder, if their BMI is not below the threshold set by their insurance carrier.  There are many heart-breaking cases where individuals who were very sick had to get even sicker before they could receive treatment.  Talk about a Catch-22?

Our national obsession with thinness is only exacerbated by focusing on this single metric, to the point that young girls and boys that do not meet the one-size-fits-all threshold are shamed and labeled.  Below is an excerpt from the National Eating Disorder Association blog on the topic:

“The BMI and other such indicators are notoriously inadequate measures of an individual’s overall health and fitness. As such, the controversy over the practice of schools sending home so-called ‘fat letters’ to parents is well-founded in a concern that these reports are misleading (at best) and dangerous (at worst). Yet schools in at least 19 states are required to screen kids for obesity and report BMI scores to parents.

The danger here lies in that fact that these reports send confusing messages to parents and children about weight, which may inadvertently serve to promote unhealthy attitudes and behaviors about size and open the doors for eating disorders in an age-group that is already at risk.”

I would appreciate the opportunity to speak with Dr. Paster, on the issue.  I am confident that he has the best of intentions to improve the health of everyone: including those who are being harmed by the pervasive use of BMI measures.

I also encourage Dr. Paster to consider supporting the  2016 Madison NEDA Walk.  Our purpose is to raise funds and awareness in the fight against eating disorders.

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