Name:___________________________________ Date:__________________

Identifying Eating Disorders

JESSICA

Jessica is one of the smartest kids in the sixth grade. When she's not studying, she's kicking butt on the basketball court or coming up with cool ideas at student council meetings. She totally loses it if she gets less than an A on a test, and all of her friends are convinced that she'll be the first woman President.

One day at a family reunion, one of Jessica's aunts grabs her cheeks and says something about "baby fat." Jessica knows that her aunt is just teasing, but that comment sticks with her. She decides to go on a diet. At first she cuts back on sweets and starts using her dad's treadmill after school. The pounds start coming off and people notice. They ask her if she's on a diet and sometimes they even tell her that she looks great! Pretty soon, Jessica is weighing herself every morning and every night. She eats less and less, records every calorie and fat gram in her diet journal, and even hangs pictures of models on her wall for inspiration.

But Jessica is also starting to feel annoyed and grouchy all the time. She turns down party invitations because she doesn't want to be tempted by fatty snack food. She snaps at her pals when they ask her what's wrong. She feels dizzy and cold and she can't concentrate on anything but her diet and exercise. Even though the numbers say she's lost weight, Jessica doesn't see it when she looks in the mirror. All she can see is that baby fat.

Which type of eating disorder does she have?________________________________

STEPHEN

Mike totally looks up to his older brother Stephen. Stephen is in high school and the star varsity wrestler. Mike goes to every match to cheer his brother on from the bleachers. Sometimes, Stephen even invites him to go out to eat with the rest of the team after a big match. Mike notices that Stephen eats A LOT of these meals. One time he even saw him scarf a whole pizza all by himself! When Mike asks him about it, Stephen explains that because there are weight requirements for his team, he has to starve himself for a few days before each match and exercise like crazy to sweat out the calories. By the time the match is over, he's ready for a serious pig-out. He says that lots of his teammates do it too, and it's no big deal. They're all very serious athletes and they push themselves to do whatever they need to for the team.

Mike respects his brother's dedication, but he also worries that this behavior is not as normal as Stephen is making it sound. He remembers reading about three college wrestlers who died from kidney failure and heart problems because they were trying to lose too much weight too quickly.

Which type of eating disorder does he have?_________________________________

MAGALI

When she was in junior high, Magali's older brother was in a very bad motorcycle accident. Her parents were at the hospital all the time and Magali was scared. That's when she first turned to food. She would binge, eating huge amounts of food instead of talking to someone about what was going on. She tried to stuff her feelings down with bread, cookies, ice cream -- anything she could get her hands on. Afterwards, she would purge, getting rid of the food by forcing herself to throw up or take laxatives.

A few years later, Magali became a model. She was jet-setting around the world for big modeling jobs, but she was still the same scared girl with an eating disorder. Depressed, lonely, and overwhelmed by the pressures of the fashion industry, she used food as a way to deal. Even though Magali's life looked glamorous from the outside, inside she was a physical and emotional mess. The vomiting and laxative abuse made Magali very sick. Her throat was constantly sore, she always had dark circles under her eyes, and one day her eating disorder finally caught up with her.

She was on a photo shoot when she started feeling dizzy. Her heart was pounding a mile a minute. She passed out on the floor of the bathroom, convinced that she was going to die. Fortunately, Magali survived, and she was able to reach out for the help she needed. After years of trying to handle her problems by herself, she realized that she just couldn't fix this one on her own.

Today, Magali is healthy and spends her time visiting schools to speak out about her experience.

Which type of eating disorder does she have?________________________________