The Skinny on Thin

By MARY ANN ALBRIGHT

In the film adaptation of “The Devil Wears Prada,” a scene that might have gone unnoticed by most viewers hit uncomfortably close to home for Clark College student Amy Ryll.

Andy Sachs, played by actress Anne Hathaway, spends most of the film ignoring the weight-related taunts of her co-workers at Runway, a Vogue-style fashion magazine. She shrugs off their admonitions that the corn chowder she favors in the cafeteria is cellulite in a bowl, and doesn’t flinch when she’s considered the “fat” girl at a size six – which, she’s informed, is the new 14.

But by the end of the movie, Runway’s obsession with thinness seems to have infected even the sensible Andy. While in Paris for fashion shows, she toasts being a size four.

It’s just one line among nearly two hours of dialogue, but for Ryll, 21, it marred a film that up until that point had carried a refreshingly positive message.

“It was awkward and sad,” said Ryll of Vancouver, who recently recovered from a battle with anorexia nervosa that began about five years ago.

Ryll used to look at images of models in Vogue magazine to strengthen her resolve to lose weight no matter the cost. That practice put her among the approximately 10 percent of late adolescent and adult women who have suffered symptoms of eating disorders, a conservative estimate from the Academy for Eating Disorders.

Local and national health experts say images of thin celebrities found in magazines, movies and television shows contribute to the problem by promoting unrealistic standards of beauty. With network channels, Internet sites and rows of tabloids in grocery store aisles dedicated to the lives and looks of models and actresses, these influences are hard to ignore.

Headlines such as “Scary skinny,” criticizing stars who become too thin, are stocked adjacent to others praising those who are “half their size” or have “won the weight war.” Whether the articles are complimentary or cautionary, the message is clear: losing weight attracts attention.

Ryll was never overweight, but she started exercising in excess and limiting her food intake to drop pounds. At her lowest point, Ryll, who is nearly 6 feet tall, weighed 120 pounds. She subsisted on water and pretzels. She fainted on numerous occasions because she was so undernourished, and had to make several trips to the emergency room.

But whenever she would start to think that maybe she’d gone too far in her quest for the perfect body, she’d reach for a Vogue magazine for reassurance.

“I felt by looking at them that I was doing the right thing for my body by not eating, and it would inspire me to want to look like these women,” she said. “(The models) were so thin and frail and light and pasty, and it was what I was turning into. There was this connection, and I thought this was what is accepted and this is what I wanted. I thought, ‘I can do this.’ “

She got help

But ultimately friends and a church youth group leader convinced Ryll that her behavior was dangerous and unhealthy, and convinced her to get help.

In spring of 2006, Ryll underwent a 10-week eating disorder treatment program at Providence St. Vincent Medical Center in Portland. During that time, even though she craved fashion magazines, she realized the negative influence these images had on her self-esteem and recovery efforts. She threw out all her copies of Vogue and no longer buys it.

Now 155 pounds, Ryll has redefined her idea of beauty. When she thinks of Vogue models, she now thinks of women “who are probably hurting just as much as I was.

“What’s thrown at us on a daily basis is so opposite of what a doctor or health journal would say is healthy, or what real people look like.”

Ryll was 15 or 16 when her struggles with food began, and that’s an age when young women are particularly vulnerable to body image distortions and eating disorders, and to media influence, said Kristine Graff, a registered dietitian with Southwest Washington Medical Center who treated Ryll. Graff also is a member of the Columbia River Eating Disorder Network, a group of health experts in Oregon and Southwest Washington specializing in eating disorder treatment and prevention.

Puberty is a time when adolescents’ bodies are changing rapidly, and fat is redistributing. It’s also a period when hormones are raging, and when many psychological disorders such as depression and obsessive compulsive disorder, which can overlap with eating disorders, tend to first present, said Elizabeth Cook of Vancouver, a licensed psychologist and Columbia River Eating Disorder Network member.

Young girls in particular are prone to trying to transform their bodies to match those of the ultra-thin celebrities they idolize.

“They’re wanting to be thinner and thinner and it never stops. It’s brutal,” Graff said.

As one who fell prey to and later escaped this cycle, Ryll recommends people be careful about what media they take in.

“Even if it starts out as harmless, it really does have an effect on how you talk to and treat yourself. Words and images are very powerful,” Ryll said.

Seeking role models

As she tries to lose weight, Rakia Archer, 15, of Vancouver is looking to more full-figured celebrities as role models, actresses such as Queen Latifah and Raven Symone. But she’s also a fan of E! Entertainment Network, a channel devoted to celebrities that often features programs such as the “101 Sexiest Celebrity Bodies” countdown.

Rakia said she watches these shows to be entertained, not for “thinspiration,” what some people with eating disorders call surrounding themselves with visuals of emaciated women. Images of thin stars on television shows and in magazines only affect her self- esteem if she’s already feeling upset, Rakia said. And if she does start to feel envious of size-zero starlets, her mother Debra Wells offers a reality check.

“She tells me to remember that the pictures (in magazines) are probably airbrushed,” Rakia said.

Rakia, a sophomore at Skyview High School, also gets support from Jendy Newman, a registered dietitian at Southwest Washington Medical Center guiding her through Shapedown, a family-based weight management program stressing healthy eating and exercise habits.

While changing her lifestyle, and, in the process, losing weight, Rakia also is learning to accept her body type. Still, when she hears friends say they want to look like Jennifer Lopez or Cameron Diaz, she can relate.

“I definitely see people and I think, ‘I want to be that skinny,’ because it would make my life so much easier,” she said.

Wells doesn’t worry too much about Rakia trying to emulate the thin celebrities she sees on E! because she says Rakia has a strong support network in her family and Newman.

“We are a visual society. She is inundated by television, videos and magazines. But as a parent, I’ve always strived to teach her that what’s important is to be beautiful on the inside,” Wells said. “That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t take care of yourself or feel good about yourself, but looks aren’t everything.”

Picture yourself, not glossy magazine covers

People are strongly influenced by visual stimuli, and there is scientific research indicating a correlation between unhealthy weight-control behaviors and exposure to magazines filled with pictures of thin celebrities and diet and weight-loss tips. Project EAT (Eating Among Teens), a five-year study led by researchers in the Division of Epidemiology and Community Health at the University of Minnesota, surveyed 2,516 middle and high school students to investigate that relationship.

The researchers found that female adolescents who, in 1999, frequently read magazine articles about dieting and weight loss were twice as likely as those who did not look at these magazines to engage in dangerous weight-control methods such as smoking, fasting and skipping meals five years later. High-frequency readers were three times more likely than nonreaders to exhibit extreme weight- control behaviors including vomiting and use of laxatives. Looking at these types of magazine articles had no significant effect on male adolescents.

A study appearing in a 1999 issue of Pediatrics examined the impact of fashion magazines on body image and weight-related behaviors.

The study looked at 548 fifth- through eighth-grade girls and found that 69 percent of participants said magazine pictures influenced their idea of the ideal body type.

Forty-seven percent reported wanting to lose weight because of these visuals.

Images of thin actresses and models are hard to avoid, filling magazine pages and television and movie screens.

Kristine Graff, a registered dietitian with Southwest Washington Medical Center and member of the Columbia River Eating Disorder Network, suggests ways to promote a healthy body image and lifestyle. She also lists some warning signs indicating that a person could have or be at risk for developing an eating disorder or distorted body image.

Warning signs

You dislike your body to the point where it interferes with your life.

You constantly check your body, looking in mirrors, feeling your stomach or measuring your wrists, thighs or waist.

You often feel hungry or weak.

You exercise in excess and are rigid about your routines.

You fixate on clothing sizes, not accepting that various brands and styles fit differently.

Tips for heading off body-image problems

Introduce the concept of loving your body, no matter what, and you’re more likely to take care of yourself and maintain a healthy weight.

Eat when you’re hungry, stop eating when you’re full and exercise regularly.

Find social, emotional and spiritual fulfillment.

Recognize that healthy bodies come in a variety of shapes and sizes.

Avoid visual triggers, such as magazines, television shows or movies, that you know make you feel dissatisfied with yourself.

Resources

For those struggling with an eating disorder or body image concerns, there are a variety of local and national resources aimed at prevention and treatment.

The Columbia River Eating Disorder Network provides referrals for area health care providers specializing in eating disorders. It can be accessed at the Web site healingeatingdisorders.com

The National Eating Disorders Association offers a free information and referrals help line at 800-931-2237. For more information, go to nationaleatingdisorders.org .

The National Alliance on Mental Illness also operates a toll- free help line at 800-950-6264. For more information contact nami.org .

Mary Ann Albright can be reached at maryann.albright@columbian.com or 360-759-8019.

Originally published by MARY ANN ALBRIGHT Columbian staff writer.

(c) 2007 Columbian. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.