Doll Statue On Tour To Counter Unrealistic Body Image Expectations
She is the one who every girl hopes will be at her birthday party. Her clothes are stylish, she always looks so together, everyone wants to be like her. Her name is Barbie, but the image she promotes is not all that pretty, and it is one that the professionals and volunteers of the South Shore Eating Disorder Collaborative (SSEDC) hope to shatter with their “Get Real Barbie” tour.
The SSEDC is a group of clinicians providing care for those coping with eating disorders. It was founded by Kathleen Burns Kingsbury of Easton.
Kingsbury is a mental health counselor and co-authored the book, “Weight Wisdom: Affirmations to Free You From Food and Body Concerns,” with fellow Easton resident and SSEDC member Mary Ellen Williams.
To promote National Eating Disorder Awareness Week, (Feb. 27- March 5) the members of SSEDC have built and designed a paper mache statue of Barbie who will travel from Easton to Boston Children’s Hospital, and then on to schools and hospitals throughout the South Shore area.
Get Real Barbie
The statue, dubbed “Get Real Barbie” encourages the public to “get real” information, “get real” expectations and “get real” help for eating disorders.
The first thing anyone looking at “Get Real Barbie” will notice is that she does not look like a “real” Barbie. The truth is, this life-size figure is actually as “real” as Barbie gets.
Inspired by a proportion lesson in her geometry class, Easton resident Kristine Alach, 14, decided to calculate Barbie’s life-sized proportions.
Kristine’s mother, Elizabeth, is an advanced practice nurse therapist and member of SSEDC.
Kristine found that Barbie’s proportions were not only shocking, but truly “unreal.”
Using Kristine’s calculations, the group decided to build their model. “Get Real Barbie” is 5 feet 9 inches tall. She weighs 110 pounds. Her bust is 39 inches, her waist only 18 inches and her hips are 33 inches. Since the size-three feet on “Get Real Barbie” would be unable to support a woman with these proportions, Barbie would have to walk on all fours.
As “Get Real Barbie” travels throughout the Boston area, more than 600 professionals and volunteers have joined together to promote awareness and help for eating disorders.
The Types of Eating Disorders
It is estimated that anorexia, bulimia and binge eating effect more than 36 million people in the United States. Anorexia and bulimia are severe, life-threatening disorders, and binge eating can cause a host of medical problems, but the members of the SSEDC want people to know there is help.
“Get help if you are struggling with this,” said Susan Frates, a dietician from Norwell and SSEDC member. “People recover from this. They go on to live normal, healthy lives.”
The SSEDC includes a team of doctors, nurses, counselors, and dieticians who have worked with eating disorder patients for almost two decades.
“People can get better, but it is intensive team treatment,” said Elizabeth Alach.
Alach said the average person works with the team about two years to recover from any of the three types of eating disorders.
Anorexia nervosa, or anorexia as it is commonly referred to, is characterized by starvation and excessive weight loss. A myth of anorexia is that those who suffer from it do not eat. They do eat, but not enough to sustain their body system. Malnourishment can delay brain function and make the patient believe they do not need help.
“When people are severely malnourished, they can have cognitive impairment,” Alach said.
Bulimia nervosa or bulimia, is a secretive cycle of binge-purge eating. Those who suffer from the disease eat abnormally large amounts of food and then force themselves to vomit, abuse laxatives or exercise excessively to rid themselves of the unwanted food. The constant fluctuations in body chemistry can cause cardiac issues in many patients.
Binge eating or compulsive overeating has sufferers consuming enormous quantities of food on a regular basis. Often they will fast or diet for a short time, and then return to the binge eating. Those suffering from this disease often feel shame, loneliness and depression. Body weight can range from normal to obese.
While there is no one “cause” of eating disorders, several factors are similar. Often the person suffers from low self-esteem, depression or anxiety. Trouble with personal relationships, including being the victim of teasing or abuse, can also contribute. Media messages of thinness, valuing physical appearances over the inner person are messages that SSEDC hopes to fight with “Get Real Barbie.”
The Media and Eating Disorders
“The media pushes that if you buy a certain product or dress a certain way you will get that body,” said Easton resident and social worker Mary Ellen Williams, co-author of “Weight Wisdom” and member of the SSEDC.
“Many times people discount the role of genetics in how your body is,” she said.
Williams said people trying to obtain an unreal body type is like wishing for blue eyes instead of green.
Though the media messages promoting unreal body images are primarily targeted at girls, approximately one million boys suffer from eating disorders. Wrestlers are at high risk for eating disorders. Often young boys will not eat and intentionally dehydrate themselves, hoping to achieve a certain weight class before a meet.
Signs of Eating DisordersAll eating disorders are characterized by shame and guilt. It is a secretive disease, and many sufferers will not show symptoms until their body has begun to break down. Some early signs that parents and friends of someone with an eating disorder can look for are:
- Avoiding eating with other people including family
- Often throwing lunch away at school
- Leaving the table and going to the bathroom directly after meals
- Scratch marks on the back of hands
- Exorbitant grocery bills
- Watery eyes after using bathroom
- Food wrappers under bed
- Marked shift in weight (up or down)
- Gradual elimination of foods that might be desirable
- Though most patients are between the ages of 14-22, Alach said the numbers are getting lower.
“I am starting to see girls that are 9 and 10 years old,” she said.
For Alach’s daughter Jessica, 12, her mother’s work helped her identify and get help for a friend with an eating disorder.
Frates tells her patients, “You’re more than just a number. Food is just one part of your life. We want people to nourish and nurture their bodies.”
“It’s important for people to know that if they’re not skinny they are still beautiful,” said Williams’ 11-year-old daughter, Emily.
For more information about eating disorders, or to get help, contact the National Eating Disorder Information and Referral Helpline at 800-931-2237 or log on to: www.NationalEatingDisorders.org. The South Shore Eating Disorders Collaborative can be reached at 508-230-1732.
Reprinted with permission from the Eaton Journal. |