High Cost for Hollywood Beauty

Brazilian's top model, Ana Carolina Reston died November 16 at age 21 from kidney failure caused by anorexia nervosa. Anorexia is an eating disorder caused by massive starvation of the body. Statisitcs reveal that 15% of girls who suffer from anorexia will die from it. That is 2 in 10 and up to 20% of anorexia cases die by the age of 20. This Brazilian model weighed 88 pounds and was 5 foot 8 inches tall. According to the World Health Organization, any individual with a Body Mass Index (BMI) below 18.5 is underweight; any individual with a BMI of 17.5 most likely has anorexia; any individual with a BMI of 15 has starved themselves. Ana Carolina Reston had a BMI of 13.5. Reston's mother conveyed to the media the many times she begged her daughter to eat and go to the doctor. She shared her hope that young models would portray something different to young women. No woman would deny the pressure to look a certain way portrayed by the media and magazines. However, every woman must make the decision whether or not to be defined by culture's ideology which continually changes or by an ideology that conveys the fact that we were each uniquely designed by a Creator who has a divine plan for our lives. The color of our eyes, our body shape, our personality...no mistake! May we define beauty based on the inside and take care of our bodies on the outside. Other Hollywood models are taking a stand against the way Hollywood defines beauty, however they are victims of an eating disorder called compulsive overeating. There must be a balance in finding who we are on the inside and taking care of our physical bodies.