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There was a girl walking away from the BA. As she walked, I saw the bones in her legs move under skin that appeared to have been stretched out thinly. This is what anorexia looks like.
According to the Anorexia Nervosa and Related Eating Disorders, Inc. Web site, about one in 100 girls between the ages of 10 and 20 suffer and die from the disease. This is an outrageous number.
On the other hand, the fact that childhood obesity is an epidemic is just as outrageous. These extreme health issues in this country are caused by feeding extreme wants instead of nutritional needs.
What could cause girls to want to starve themselves and ultimately kill themselves?
The media is a large part of this. On popular television shows you rarely see a woman who doesn't wear size zero jeans and a small shirt. They bombard children with images of beauty and glamour, and then wonder why they strive to be super thin.
The Miss America Beauty Pageant is one extreme example of this phenomenon.
America has never had a chubby, or slightly big beauty queen, it's always been someone who was tall and thin.
Shows such as VH1's Celebrity Fit Club and America's Next Top Model are shows that tell contestants they are fat and need to slim down. They even offer prizes for losing weight.
In a country where childhood obesity is a growing epidemic, maybe the problem isn't so much how the media portrays beauty, but how the common person looks at food.
Food is something that bonds people, keeps them happy and helps them socialize.
Dinner time is full of fatty foods for most college students and not enough vegetables. Parents rarely cook on a daily basis for their kids. Instead, they buy them something greasy and filling that has no nutritional value.
Then they wonder why their children are overweight and have childhood diabetes by the age of 12. They wonder why their 14-year-old daughter who has always been a little chubby suddenly hates herself and wants to look like Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie.
It's because bad eating habits and bad body-type role models are going to equal horrible self-images and false images of what beauty is.
A size zero is not healthy; it is deadly unless you are 12, and it is dangerous not only to your heart and hair, but also your bones.
A size 20 is not healthy, it will lead to the same problems that being a size zero will.
The key to stopping this epidemic before it reaches too far is revamping the media and reintroducing the food pyramid. Give every five year old a triangle and put smiley faces next the vegetables and fruits, give them a sticker every time they eat one.
It will probably help them feel better about themselves in the short term, and save them from health problems in the long run.
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