The responsibility for eating disorders

As a member of ESTEEM, the group responsible for the “Do You Contribute to Another’s Eating Disorder?” fliers, I am constantly frustrated by responses that are completely misinterpreting our message. I know that informed, as well as professional, people oversee our group’s goals and approaches. It is obvious that the author to Tuesday’s column responding to these fliers had no such education on the matter. Perhaps he would like to change that.

Does ESTEEM blame McDonald’s for obesity? Are we undermining the serious health problem of obesity in America? No. Your article shows your ignorance in our beliefs. If someone who is actually overweight wishes to lose weight, we support that goal. We are simply trying to discourage obsessive, compulsive behavior to control eating.

We don’t claim that people that do the things on our flier are “insensitive.” That’s the whole point—almost everyone inadvertently does these things. Even the most sensitive, well-meaning people. Because they are so embedded in our culture, we don’t realize the impact they may have.

In addition, our media does not always portray “healthy” individuals as attractive.  Many are underweight, and being too thin can be just as unhealthy as being overweight.  Also, not all eating disorders make people thin. Disorders like Binge Eating Disorder contribute to health problems like obesity.  

Thinness is not the issue. The issue is mental—a distorted sense of self-worth. Is a healthy mind any less important than a healthy body?  Do we consider our mental health today as much as we should, as much as we consider our physical health?

And while you say “we aren’t liable for the fact that some individuals resort to” eating disorders, we aren’t liable for a lot of things. Does that mean we should ignore what we can do to help the situation, or what we might be doing to make it worse? I hope not, because that sounds like you’re the one who is abandoning some responsibility there.

Janice Wilson

Trinity ’07