Too old to be Skinny

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/health/features/article2222740.ece

Reading Report 23
Name: Patricia Romano.-
Date: August, 2007.-
Title: Too old to be skinny
Source: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/health/features/article2222740.ece
Date: August 9, 2007

Vocabulary:
Piling: to accumulate or store
Skewing: To look obliquely or sideways
Onset: a beginning or start
Stigma: a mark of disgrace or infamy; a stain or reproach, as on one's reputation
Outlawed: To place under a ban; prohibit
Outright: complete or total
Emaciation: abnormal thinness caused by lack of nutrition or by disease
Ratcheting down: move by degrees in one direction only
Striving: to exert oneself vigorously; try hard
Mindset: A fixed mental attitude or disposition that predetermines a person's responses to and interpretations of situations
Emote: to show or pretend emotion
Backlash: a strong or violent reaction, as to some social or political change
Entrenched: To provide with a trench, especially for the purpose of fortifying or defending
Faze: to cause to be disturbed or disconcerted; daunt

Summary:
Anorexia has a broader target nowadays. Due to the image show in famous TV series, and worldwide known actresses, the age of women suffering from this disease has increased up to numbers never imagined before. Some women are reluctant to accept they have a problem, because the majority of the ones interviewed take such eating disorder as a way to control every aspect which is not ok in their lives. They tend to feel that by controlling their eating needs, they are good at least in something. However, it’s been scientifically proved that it’s not only a matter of low self-esteem, but also there’s a gene in some women which increases the probabilities of having an eating disorder.


Personal Reaction:
It’s incredible how influential television can be. Sometimes I surprise myself by thinking about things I wouldn’t consider if I hadn’t seen them displayed on the silly box. However, I’ve always thought, and science has proved my belief, that there’s something else than public images that contributes to eating disorders such as anorexia.
You need to have this inner tendency, this inner need to stop eating. I’ve always been really obsessed with my own perfection, but I could never stop eating per se. Of course some would laugh at this, saying that it’s quite evident, but I sustain still today, that my overweight begun by eating a lot when I was pregnant and continues nowadays due to my extremely sedentary life.
Leaving aside my physical appearance, it’s unbelievable how grown-ups can be easily influenced by popular culture. I used to think that when you are 40, your ideas are more down to earth, and your self-esteem is strengthened in a way. It’s really sad to learn about these things.
Eating disorders have always been related to teenagers and young women, especially top models. The average woman in her forties was not part of this aberration.
It seems that not only prices are rising alarmingly, but also mental diseases among older people. It’s out of this planet to learn that a 68-year-old woman suffers from anorexia. Isn’t it?