Kareena Kapoor’s ultra-thin avatar in her much-talked-about dud, Tashan did not delight most of her fans. Her chubbiness made her look charming and not her recent rib-show. Even the perfectly-slim Priyanka Chopra and Jiah Khan are toiling hard to shed more kilos. SHILPI SHUKLA does a health check on the overwhelming pressure to be all skin and bones.
Their full bosoms and curvaceous hips made young lasses look gorgeous and glamorous till recently. However, the current trend seems to be that of turning underweight and looking like walking zombies. Is this supposed to be attractive and charming? A more pertinent question would be — is anorexia nervosa in vogue now?
A short time ago, the Madrid Fashion Week (Spain) had turned down a number of models who were severely underweight claiming that they want beauties who look ‘fit and fine’ rather than waif-like or heroine chicks suffering from an acute eating disorder, named — anorexia nervosa.
“Models like Snejana Onopka, Natasha Poly and Hana Soukupova appear so gaunt and thin that their knees and elbows look larger than their concave thighs and pipe cleaner arms. Their bobbling heads look as if a slight breeze could detach them from their frail bodies,” says a famous Bollywood actress, who is known for her well-endowed curvaceous figure. She adds, “It is about looking healthily hot and beautiful. Reed-thin is simply unhealthy.”
Modelling beauty. Is it?
According to the National Centre for Eating Disorders, the average American woman is five feet four inches tall, 140 pounds. The average supermodel is five feet 11 inches tall, 117 pounds.
On this, famous model and actress Bipasha Basu, who is known for her voluptuous figure, expresses dismay, “There are a lot of Indian and foreign models who are very thin and frail,” she said. “I don’t know if they are healthy or not, but I don’t think the frail, fragile look is very feminine. I don’t think it is attractive.”
Complaints about the idolisation of models who suggest unhealthy lifestyles are culturally endemic. Celebrities like Nicole Richie, Lindsay Lohan, Paris Hilton and Mischa Barton have all been subjects of tabloid headlines asking, “Are they too thin?” In all likelihood, the answer is yes, but that does not stop magazines from displaying their pictures or designers from casting thin models in their shows.
Former Miss India Juhi Chawla also encounters many models who look sickly. “They tend to be extremely pale, have thin hair and don’t have a glowing, healthy skin. This unnatural thinness is a terrible message to send out. Those watching the fashion shows are young, impressionable girls,” adds Juhi.
An impression, hard to die
In one of the group therapy sessions of Eating Disorders Program of the Westchester
division of New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Centre in White Plains for women
battling eating-disorder, an emaciated teenager brought in a magazine photograph
of Kate Moss, the exceedingly thin fashion model, and thrust it at the nurse
leading the discussion. "You say I have a problem?" asked the patient, who was
hospitalised with anorexia. “Look at her. She’s making a lot of money looking
like this. She looks great.” Achal Bhagat, psychologist states; “It is a
generation totally focusing on the way their legs are, the way their noses are, the way their eyes are, and not how their health is.”
Psychologists, nutritionists and dieticians are worried about the increasing fad of decreasing flab among young girls. Health experts claim that the fashion industry has gone too far in pushing a dangerously thin image that women, and even very young girls, may try to emulate.
“We know seeing super-thin models can play a role in causing anorexia,” says nutritionist Snigdha Chopra. “Because many models and actresses are so thin, it makes anorexics think THAT their emaciated bodies are normal, she says. “But these people look scary. They don’t look normal.”
“Indian women ought to understand that no matter how flattering and pleasing thin bodies of actresses and models may seem to be, their general body frame is not genetically designed to suit such a structure,” says Parul Choudhary, a freelance dietician.
Thinspiration
Heard about Pro-Ana? It is quite good if you have not. Even better if you heard but did not get influenced by it. But for your awareness, you must know. Pro-Ana is a largely Internet-based movement which views the eating disorder anorexia nervosa as a lifestyle choice rather than a medical condition. Pro-Anas view anorexia as a guide that helps them curb their eating patterns and provides ‘thinspiration’ for fasting and purging.
Web hosting companies are joining together to ban such websites from their servers. But a quick search on Google reveals that there are many pages still operating and encouraging women to starve themselves to obtain this idealised type of body.
Eating disorder or anorexia nervosa may appear luring for the contemporary curious teenagers but what nourishes their rebellious minds in turn destroys them like an epidemic where they would be left to die or commit suicide.
Exercise less exercise
And it is not just anorexia anymore. Many girls and guys have a regular diet but spend several hours a day sweating off everything they have eaten. Some think this is a healthier alternative to fasting, but it can be just as harmful. According to general physician DK Gupta, “Compulsive exercise can lead to headaches, reoccurring illness, depression, stress, loss of coordination, and a faster morning heart rate.”
Senior gynaecologist Aarti Majumdar agrees, “Women who greatly reduce their food intake and combine it with intense physical activity stop menstruating and ovulating and become increasingly susceptible to stress fractures and osteoporosis.”
Do you still want to look like emaciated models, who are made to look stunning on the front of some fashion magazine, who are airbrushed by touch-up artists to look beauty Divas? So go to great lengths to actually look healthily beautiful. The choice is yours.
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Know about Anorexia Nervosa
Anorexia nervosa typically has numerous complications. The disease has one of the highest deaths rates among all mental illnesses, hovering around five percent or higher than this. Death may occur suddenly — even when someone is not severely underweight. This may result from abnormal heart rhythms (arrhythmias) or electrolyte imbalances. In fact, it was the anorexia-related death of singer Karen Carpenter in 1983 that catapulted the disease into the public arena.
Other serious or life-threatening complications commonly include:
¥ Anaemia
¥ Heart problems, such as mitral valve prolapse, abnormal heart rhythms and heart failure
¥ Bone loss, increasing risk of fractures later in life
¥ Lung problems resembling emphysema
¥ In females, absence of a period
¥ In males, decreased testosterone
¥ Gastrointestinal problems, such as constipation, bloating or nausea
¥ Electrolyte abnormalities, such as low blood potassium, sodium and chloride
¥ Kidney problems
If a woman with anorexia becomes severely malnourished, every organ of her body can sustain damage, including the brain, heart and kidneys. This damage may not be fully reversible, even when the ailment is under control.
In addition to the host of physical complications, women with anorexia nervosa commonly have other mental disorders. They may include:
¥ Depression
¥ Anxiety disorders
¥ Personality disorders
¥ Obsessive-compulsive disorders
¥ Drug abuse
The co-occurrence of these disorders with anorexia can make the disease more difficult to treat.
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BEAUT(Y)FUL SECRETS
Shilpa Shetty — Any guesses for Shilpa’s age? Well, she is getting younger in her looks with every passing year. Her sylph shaped, well-endowed figure has amused one and all. Let’s get to know her beauty and fitness secrets ----
¥ I am basically a seafood person, but have now turned vegetarian (actually eggetarian). I’ve never understood why people yucky poo ghee; I put it into just about everything that I eat.
¥ My breakfast is usually six almonds, a cup of tea, biscuits and papaya. My lunch and dinner mainly consist of rice, veggies and dal.
¥ I never eat in-between meals. I do not deny myself anything. But, if I have eaten heavy or have binged on something, I have this ‘food-o-meter’ in me which automatically turns on and helps me say ‘no’ to food, even to desserts which I rarely ever give a miss.
¥ I don’t drink alcohol. I tank up on hot water through the day to help flush out the toxins.
Katrina Kaif’s beauty mantra --- “Respect your body and don’t take it
for granted! Staying fit is more important than looking beautiful.
And being slim doesn’t necessarily mean being healthy or beautiful.”
Yana pens down her fitness secrets
Model-actor Yana Gupta is the best fitness expert for one and all. Where did she get inspiration to write on healthy living? Yana shares, “It all started with my friends constantly asking me for advice on fitness regimes. I had to repeat my long lectures verbally or through email. So I finally thought of writing.” Does she qualify to write a book on this subject? “I have been studying health and nutrition ever since I turned 16 and started modeling,” adds she.
