Anorexia Eating Disorder Causes Death to Brazilian Model

It seems to be coincidental. On the same day of the movie debut of Thin about eating disorders, Brazilian model Ana Carolina Reston passed away from complications resulting from anorexia. She was only 21 years old and had represented for top modelling agencies such as Ford. However, at the time of her death, she was severely under nourished. Apparently, she had lived on apples and tomatoes prior to her hospitalization in October. Despite being 1.72m tall, she weighed less than 40 kilos.

Her death drew much attention about the negative consequences from having an anorexia eating disorder. Even Wikipedia, the premier online encyclopedia, has a listing about her. She was not the first person to have died this year from an eating disorder and who caught the attention of the media. Luisel Ramos, 22 had a heart attack in August after surviving on lettuce leaves and Diet Coke for three months.

Ana Carolina had refused help for a long time as she believed that she was not ill. Nevertheless, it was obvious to all around her that she had an eating disorder and was starving herself. She ate very little at meal times but would purge immediately after her meal by throwing up. This behaviour as described is very typical of someone with an anorexia eating disorder. In most cases, an anorexic would refuse treatment until the condition is fairly serious. Some even do not seek treatment at all.

The mother of Ana Carolina wasted no time in spreading the message that no money earned through a lucrative modelling career can be worth the life of a child. She was extremely devastated by the loss of her beautiful daugther.

Ana Carolina had died at a time amidst growing concerns about how designers are promoting the wrong ideas of a body image. Designers had started the use of size zero models who were clearly anorexic.

More fashion spots, including London, are taking notice now due the string of events relating to eating disorders. In September, Madrid refused to allow all models with a body-mass-index (BMI) of less than 18, to be in shows. The World Health Organization considers anyone with a BMI below of 18.5 to be underweight.

The media, including all fashion houses and venues, should have a responsibility in the ideas that they promote. Using anorexic models sends the wrong signals to millions of young girls and women around the world. Anorexia is an eating disorder that needs to be treated as there are strong pyscological concerns. Defining beauty to look as if one is malnourished and anorexic is in poor taste. Women should look healthy and glowing.