Eating Disorders Blog

According to a March 29 article by Kathy Chu of USA Today, Asian women are coming under intense pressure to remain thin, which has led to an increasing prevalence of extreme dieting in many Asian nations:

In most developed parts of the world, women feel pressure to be thin. But such pressure is especially intense in Asia  in places like Hong Kong, Seoul and Tokyo  where scores of skinny women seem always to be looking for ways to get even skinnier.

Experts say dieting in Asia tends to be more extreme than in the West because of cultural perceptions of beauty.

"The magic number is to be below 100 pounds, no matter your height or your weight," says Philippa Yu, a clinical psychologist at the Hong Kong Eating Disorders Association.

In Asia, women want to stay skinny without exercising because muscles aren't considered a feminine feature, says Sing Lee, director of the Hong Kong Eating Disorders Center at Chinese University.

Extreme diets and other types of rapid or drastic weight loss measures are far from healthy behaviors, and have been associated with a wide range of physical and emotional problems.

Labels: extreme diets, pressures, body image

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Actress Gwen Paltrow admits that she goes on extreme diets, including the "Master Cleanse." This regime involves drinking maple syrup, lemon juice, water, and red pepper in order to lose 20 or more pounds very quickly.

"It's not what you'd characterize as pretty," she said. "Or easy. But it did work."

Paltrow began a macrobiotic diet in 1999, which consists of vegetables, grains, soup, and fish. Her six-day-a-week exercise routine involves 40 minutes of cardio-dancing followed by leg crunches and arm exercises.

The intensity of her meat-free, dairy-free diet and other routines may be taking its toll on the 37-year-old's health.

• After breaking her leg last year, Paltrow underwent a bone density scan and found out she had osteopenia, a precursor to osteoporosis.
• Usually only elderly women develop these conditions after menopause.
• Paltrow's doctors told her she had the lowest levels of Vitamin D they had ever seen, and advised her to spend more time in the sun.
• She also has to take prescription strength Vitamin D. This vitamin is found in sunlight and necessary for bone health.

ABC news medical consultant Dr. Stephen Honig said Paltrow's condition is a warning to young women at risk for eating disorders.

Dr. Honig, director of the Osteoporosis Center at New York University Hospital, said teenagers should consume milk and other dairy products, exercise moderately, and maintain a healthy body weight.

"Don't get too crazy," he advised.
 

Labels: extreme diets, osteoporosis, diet

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