Obesity Spreading to Anorexics
Saturday, July 16, 2011 at 12:57AM 
The detrimental affects of obesity on anorexia.ATLANTA, GA - According to a new study released today by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), the obesity epidemic is affecting anorexics in a big way, making it increasingly difficult for those suffering from the eating disorder to stay abnormally thin.
Obesity rates in the United States have skyrocketed since the 1980’s, and have caused a subsequent increase in health care costs, not to mention a huge loss in productivity due to illness and downtime. For many years, anorexics were able to buck this trend. Now, that no longer seems to be the case.
The study, which included both adolescent girls and boys who suffer from the disorder, revealed that despite their overwhelming desire to be super skinny, the pull towards being fat appeared to be a more powerful force.
Researchers conducting the study were surprised by the findings. William Prader, Ph.D., lead author of the 2 year long study said that the results weren’t conclusive in proving that anorexics are becoming obese, but it does bring up some rather intriguing questions. For example, why are anorexics so fucking fat?
“We’re not sure why exactly. We weren’t able to definitively prove a direct causal relationship between the two, but the increase in obesity and simultaneous decrease in thinness does merit further study”, he was quoted as saying. “We’re not saying obesity is a cure for anorexia, but it might very well lessen its efficacy”, he continued.
Anorexia nervosa is classified as an eating disorder affecting approximately 0.2% of the population in developed countries, and is characterized by an intense and obsessive fear of gaining weight. It largely strikes adolescent girls between the ages of 15 – 19, but has also seen a recent spike in adolescent boys, especially among those boys wanting to be those girls.
The prevalence of obesity, on the other hand, is estimated to be around 30% of the overall population and rising rapidly. The causes for this sudden growth include diet, genetics, and a more sedentary lifestyle. Some point to the increase of food additives like high fructose corn syrup as the main culprit. Others blame it on a disease of affluence. Regardless, it is quickly becoming the number one health problem in the United States.
That’s bad news for anorexics. And many of them, now classified as “fat anorexic” by doctors, are openly talking about their frustrations with trying to stay rail thin.
Caitlin S. from Ventura, CA confided that it is more difficult for her and her peers to be anorexic than her mother’s generation. “It’s gotten a lot harder to be super skinny these days. Throwing up doesn’t even work like it used to. They definitely had it easier before all this obesity stuff came along”, she lamented.
Tabitha D. from Miami, FL totally agrees. “Obesity sucks. You have no idea how hard I have to work just to get under my ideal bodyweight. I do everything I’m supposed to do. I starve myself constantly, take diet pills, laxatives, I smoke and exercise all the time, and I still measured a size 2 the other day. I’m like totally freaking out”, she added.
Both physicians and psychiatrists agree that the new diagnosis of ‘fat anorexic’ is taking a huge toll on traditional anorexics’ self-esteem. In fact, the label alone may play a significant role in preventing sufferers from successfully starving themselves into a size zero or less.
Dr. Arlene Adiposen with the advocacy group Save Anorexics from Extinction (SAFE), helped with the study’s conclusions.
"The obesity epidemic has definitely had its biggest impact on the anorexic's self image. Being a fat anorexic makes it increasingly difficult to meet the ideal beauty standards as established by the fashion and entertainment industries. That's the main issue we’ll have to deal with until we discover the underlying cause of all the weight gain. Our hope is that this study will prompt further research into addressing these problems and, some day, find a cure", she said in statement.
Reader Comments (1)
It is really strange!How can person eat more when he is under stress & tension.It is really an unusual health problem.It then causes weight gain & obesity.
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