Do You Really Need to Lose Weight

Certainly, obesity is a profound medical problem facing North American society. People with excess body fat need to slim down for better heart health, a lower risk of certain cancers and diabetes, fewer symptoms of osteoarthritis and a host of other health benefits.

However, the other extreme is just as dangerous. An estimated 1 percent of American females suffer from anorexia nervosa, a potentially life-threatening illness characterized by excessive dieting and weight loss. Anorexics are typically perfectionists, have busy and uninvolved parents, and suffer from severe depression. Too much weight loss can increase the risk of osteoporosis in later years and can damage the heart and other organs.

In the United States, an estimated 2 percent of college students and 1 percent of women in general suffer from bulimia nervosa. People who suffer from bulimia are likely to binge on food, then force themselves to vomit. They may also take laxatives and diuretics to compensate for their bingeing. Bulimics may or may not be overweight, are usually female, are often older teens or young adults, and are likely to bottle up anger because they cannot express emotions in a healthy, constructive way. Bulimia is associated with health problems such as tears in the stomach lining, ruptures, irregular heartbeat, kidney damage from potassium deficiency, damaged tooth enamel and cessation of menstrual periods.

Although 90 to 95 percent of people with eating disorders are women, these conditions occasionally affect men, too. The factors that predispose men to eating disorders are similar to those that affect women:

• History of being overweight or dieting
• Involvement in activities where thinness is important, such as running, track and field, horseback riding, wrestling and body building
• Involvement in careers that value thinness, such as modeling and acting
• Living among people who equate thinness with attractiveness