Let’s stop judging Tara Reid on her thinness: eating disorders can’t be diagnosed with the naked eye

It is not the first time that actress Tara Reid has to give explanations about her appearance. The argument is frequent in her life and she has even declared that it is painful to be constantly being judged by her body. Recently, the actress shared some black and white images saying they were hot artistic photos taken by a friend.

The comments – and the controversy – has not been long in coming. Hurtful words like “it’s not hot at all, you’re sick. Please get help” or “your emaciated body doesn’t look good” flowed into the comment area, to which the 45-year-old actress responded with an emotional phrase: ” Stop hating, start loving. No one needs to be ashamed of the body. It’s not right, it’s not right and it hurts … “

It’s amazing how, instead of collectively growing in empathy, the audience seems to be increasingly cruel. The actress has said countless times that she is fine, that she eats right, and that she is just skinny, but what if she really suffers from an eating disorder, is she forced to talk about it? Is it necessary for hundreds of people who don’t even know you to conclude that you have a disease? Are you obliged to maintain a figure that network opinioners find perfect? The answer in all cases is no.

Although Tara Reid is thin, the only way to know if she has a health problem is with a specialist evaluation. We are very sorry for those who believed that with a single glance they could diagnose and judge.

Being in front of a thin or very thin person makes us immediately think that they have a problem, but this is not always the case. Rossana De Jongh, nutritionist, specialist in psycho-behavioral dieticians, explains that eating disorders (eating disorders) cannot be diagnosed with the naked eye.

Let’s start at the beginning

Thinness is not necessarily synonymous with disorders such as anorexia nervosa or bulimia, and these diagnoses do not apply exclusively to skinny people. “Many times we see a very thin person and we say ‘this person may be anorexic’, but anorexia in general is a term that means lack of appetite. As an eating disorder it is not limited to weight, but characterized by eating behavior: When, for example, that person loses weight voluntarily, they reject that weight loss and also refuse to gain weight to be healthy. “

“Even in the early stages of anorexia, if the person starts from being overweight, they may have a normal body mass index, a criterion obtained by dividing the weight by the square of the height, and is used to determine a low weight or overweight. A person with a body mass index below 18.5 is considered underweight, but before throwing a diagnosis in the air, their history must be reviewed and their eating behavior evaluated. “.

De Jongh clarifies that there are other reasons why a person can look very thin: constitutional thinness is one of them. They are usually people with familiar patterns of thinness, they eat well, but they just don’t get fat. In other cases, low weight may be linked to malnutrition due to deficiencies; and in other cases it can respond to anorexia.

(Getty Creative)

Evidence to diagnose

There are obvious characteristics, which are observed with closeness and in everyday life, not in a social media post. “If the person rejects food, or eats very small portions, if he has a distortion of his own body, that despite having a low weight feels fat, or avoids eating as a family, or looks for excuses not to eat, it is very they may suffer from anorexia. They also show purgative behaviors, with which we observe the person, for example, doing extreme exercises after eating, “explains De Jongh.

On the other hand, in the case of bulimia it is different, because the seizures occur behind closed doors, with which among the signs indicated by the specialist we find that the person is absent after meals to purge and packages can be found of laxatives or diuretics at home or in your bathroom.

“Regardless of weight, and we see it more when the person is very thin, there are signs that speak of malnutrition: we see noticeable loss of muscle mass, especially in the legs; there could also be hair loss, fatigue in physical effort ; and in some cases palpitations. All these characteristics tell us that something is not right. “

(Getty Creative)

(Getty Creative)

In addition, the portal from the Mayo Clinic lists some additional characteristics that are worth taking into account, and confirm that it may be difficult to notice the signs and symptoms because the notion of low body weight is different for everyone, in addition to the fact that people with anorexia often hide their thinness and their eating habits.

Physical symptoms include bluish pigmentation on the fingers, fine or brittle hair, soft fluff-like hair that covers the body, dry or yellowish skin, intolerance to cold, and tooth erosion, among others.

Dr. De Jongh emphasizes that, more than the doctor, it is the people around him who notice that the person may have a problem. Hence the importance of communication, which plays a fundamental role. “This is an issue that must be discussed in a kind, compassionate and understanding way. We cannot do it as a hurtful statement or a brutal remark as we see it on social networks, where the public sees a skinny or fat person and immediately judges them. or it attacks it. We must understand that an eating disorder is not limited to weight. “

Thus, the specialist suggests looking for strategies so that the person does not feel alone or judged, but dares to communicate and rely on his family or partner to find a solution, which in this case, must necessarily be a specialist.

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Let’s stop judging Tara Reid on her thinness: eating disorders can’t be diagnosed with the naked eye