Obesity fear can cause eating disorders

Regarding the Sept. 1 story, "Misses actively take on obesity," about the emphasis of some Miss America contestants on fighting obesity through healthy eating and activity:

Of course, reducing obesity in the United States is a worthy goal; however, the in-your-face emphasis on it during the last decade often affects people who are not obese at all. I am mostly concerned about children and teens who sometimes take the "healthy eating" campaign to the extreme. According to a CNN report, "Fat is the new ugly word on the playground."

There is so much emphasis on obesity that we are going to produce a lot of anxieties in kids about weight. One study I found online showed that eating disorders in children under 12 increased 119 percent between 1999 and 2006. I would expect that the percentage is even greater now with the recent emphasis on restricting fast foods and sugary drinks and sending letters home from school if a child's body mass index, or BMI, is too high. Another study found that 81 percent of 10 year-olds are afraid of being fat.

In addition to anorexia and bulimia, a recently named disorder called orthorexia sneaks up on parents. It starts with a child's desire to eat more heathfully but can be taken so far that it can lead to malnutrition as foods are eliminated from the diet because they are not "pure" enough.

Here's another interesting fact I found while I was researching the negative aspects of the "healthy eating" emphasis: The average BMI of Miss America winners in the 1920s was 22. The average in the 2000s was 16.9. According to the World Health Organization, a normal BMI falls between 18.5 and 24.9. Would a Miss America with a BMI of 22 be considered overweight today?