A social hit

A few nights ago, our running group met for a pasta dinner. Having carbs or what is known as "carbo" loading before a race is a pretty typical thing for many runners. I find this a bit ironic for me, because, well, by standard definition, I probably carbo load a lot as I tend to eat noodles very frequently.

In general, the dinner went fine. We chatted, ate, then headed over for a brief dessert at the running shop. I've noticed I've become a little more at ease during these events with this group of people, reminding myself that people are not really observing every morsel I eat.

This event was another good observation of group dynamics. This running group is fairly new, so a lot of us are still getting to know one another. I'm still trying to figure out everyone's name and get an idea of their "story."

I may be weird, but I do like to see how my perceptions match up (or not) to who these people are. I have a tendency to try to snag and observe snippets here and there from things they say, to things they say to other people, to their facebook pages, to their actions, etc.

This was brought up to me when some of us headed to a happy hour at a nearby sportsbar. If you all remember, last time I was invited to this, I passed up on the offer. This time, I decided to go ahead and go even if I was only going to order an iced tea.

There were 8 of us there. Yes, I was the lone iced tea, but that was okay. I do admit I feel strangely odd when people drink even a beer or two and then drive home. I know or at least I hope people know their limits but still, I kind of get worried. :-/ not to be judgmental or anything.

Anyway, an interesting conversation came up about why some of them joined the running group. My perception of several of these people are that they are gregarious, social people, but in fact, some of them are not. One girl I typically run with said she is not social at all. She said she is the type that works and goes home, and she's been content with that. She made the comment that the group was a lot more than she expected and that she was enjoying the social aspect of it.

Another girl said she was totally fine with just wearing her ipod and running solo but decided to join the group anyway. Another guy who is hilarious joined after a few friends recommended that he did. He ran his first half marathon last year apparently in combat boots or so I heard.

What I found interesting about this whole thing was that I joined specifically for the social aspect of it and to meet new people which seemed vastly different from others. I mean why join a group then ya know? Perhaps, my view is skewed after years of solo training and isolation.

In the grand scheme of things, I guess this really should not be surprising. People join things for all different kinds of reasons. This is just another case of how perceptions affect our thoughts.

Filling in blanks

The game is the same for everyone.

You're trying to analyze what you can see to get a sense of what you can't.

This was a line from a recent This American Life radio show titled "Contents Unknown." I listened to this on last weekend on my run. Although this specific line was in the segment discussing unpaid rent of storage units, I found it a very thought provoking, insightful comment related to people in general.

Whether it is a stranger, a friend, a family member, a relative, an aquaintance, a person whom you are dating, etc., we've all done this at one point or another. Sometimes, it's as basic as just wanting to know someone's story or what a person may be thinking. Other times, it's about wanting to know someone's struggles, their dreams, their hopes/aspirations, their likes, their dislikes. It's like wanting to be able to fill in the blanks.

When I think about this quote, two things come to mind--a specific woman and myself. There was a particular woman I used to see out running a year or so ago. She had a lopsided gait which looked like she might have had a stroke. Later, my mom did tell me that she was a "hemiplegic" likely from a trauma or stroke. (My mom used to work with spinal cord injuries a long time ago) For whatever reason, I was drawn to this woman. Maybe it was the perseverance factor she had to continue to run or maybe it just wanting to know her story.

I haven't seen the woman in awhile, so I don't know whether I will ever find out her story. I like to think she is well and taking a running break for now. Perhaps, one day I will find out.

Now with myself, this quote reminds me of how much pain I felt during my early ED years. What most people perceived on the outside was this put together, overachieving, likely to become a doctor person. Many thought of me as perfect. This is what I too wanted people to see. In that way, I was successful.

However, at the same time, I had wanted them to see more than that. Very few truly knew the anguish I felt about myself, my body, my self doubts, my life in general. I used to wonder what people would have thought of me if they knew how imperfect I was. Likely, they would have seen me as normal, but my teenage self didn't see me that way.

Perceptions are funny this way. They are hard to gauge, and can take awhile to determine the accuracy. As German philosopher Hans Margolius said:

Only in quiet waters things mirror themselves undistorted. Only in a quiet mind is adequate perception of the world.

Another example of the skewed view of my body

Just when I was about to write a post about how I was struggling with body image and that perhaps I was at my set point, something bizarre happened yesterday. Here's a little back story. Within the past month or so, I've been having terrible neck pain. It's like my neck would rather be disconnected to my head right now as the weight of it feels so heavy. This is causing some headaches which I know is stemming from my neck pain. Along with this, I've also had several incidents of my left hand having numbness, especially after weed eating or dremeling my dogs' nails. Several times, I've woken up to a numb hand. I have no clue what has precipitated either of these things, and it has me a tad worried.

My doctor thinks it is just a pulled muscle in my neck and that my muscle in my arm is basically suffocating my medial nerve. She's hoping with physical therapy that will help release the muscle over the nerve in my hand which will help my neck as well. Though I know PT is expensive (and it is on an individual plan), I really don't have a choice since this really could get worse if I don't have treatment. (Hmm, I'm just thinking of the irony as I write this--how something physical with my body can prompt me to get help so quickly but when it is my head or ED, it takes me forever to seek treatment)

Anyway, that's the back story of why I was there. This Dr. doesn't know about the ED (yes, I know that probably isn't the best thing but I just never felt warranted to say anything since I only see her for orthopedic, muscle problems in relation to running). Being weighed is the first thing they do. At times, I've politely asked not to be, but other times, I hop on there out of curiosity.

Well, the last few weeks have been absolutely horrible body image. I was sure I'd gained more weight than I'm comfortable with since my exercising habits have been virtually non-existent (I realize this can be a good thing at times) and my eating has felt on the verge of bingeing.

The scale read much differently than I'd expected, and I was shocked. My only comment that would have even referenced this was my therapist's when she said how "I looked smaller," which I only brushed off to having my hair in a ponytail. So this number doesn't make sense to me. I've been eating A LOT, not exercising, my clothes don't feel any differently, and I have felt absolutely huge.

I don't know how to feel about it. Do I feel better that I'm not at the weight I thought I was? Do I feel worse that I still have such skewed body image and that my brain and body are still so disconnected?

Dreams, perceptions, and reality

Before my power went out, I had wanted to write this post. A few weeks ago, I had this dream. I was at my old high school and mingling around. Maybe, this was a reunion but I'm not sure really. I came across this young woman who was a teacher. I did not recognize her but she somehow knew me. Her first words were, "You look too thin." I denied the answer and promptly left. I don't remember what happened after that.

Dreams are an interesting thing. There is such a variety in them. Sometimes, they depict subconscious thoughts underneath the surface. Other times, they are relevant to the present moment, becoming a way to suss out or mill over matters. Some are happy, some are sad and nightmarish, some are just in between, and some don't really have an emotion to evoke. My favorites are the dreams that make absolutely no sense, yet, you still try to figure them out anyway. Example: animals talking.

Then, in a category all its own, are the ED dreams. These are the dreams about food or treatment or your treatment team or the scale or your weight or your body image or the perception of yourself on others or illness or even death. I don't know about you, but these have always been some of the most vivid, memorable dreams for me. They tap into my fears and disillusioned perceptions and always ask "WHY" questions or leave strings unattached.

Fast forward a few weeks at my last therapy session. (I have another post on that in the works) Towards the end of the session, C. asked me how eating and exercising were going. I was honest, told her it was so-so. My exercising had decreased since I had Tovah and the visit with my parents--both good things for the most part. I told her I knew I had lost a little weight back in mid-late December. I only knew since I weighed myself at the fitness center. Of course, when I said the number which was not significant at all, C. claimed it was a lot. I told her I had probably regained most of that weight back anyway since I was exercising less and eating more.

Then, C. said, "You're thinner now than when I remembered you in college. Even today, you look thinner."

Seriously, I was quite shocked. I know my perception is skewed but I also know how my jeans fit around my waist, and they are not as loose as they were then. This should have been a victory for me--not falling down the rabbithole. (or is it pigeonhole?) But instead, it just made me question my perception of reality and wonder if I'll ever be able to see too thin, thin, normal, and fat, at least on myself that is. Has the eating disorder forever scarred my perception?

What's your take? For those recovered/in recovery, are you able to see the dimensions or your own body or the perceptions others see?

Related perception posts:
Perceptions and body image
Perceptions and our pets

Perceptual illusions of body swapping

Awhile back, I posted on some research about the rubber hand illusion. Now, researchers are looking at not only just a limb of the body, but the entire body as a perceptive illusion.

PLoS One

Researchers at the Karolinska Institute induced these "out of body" experiences in a group of healthy volunteers through various visual and tactile stimulation experiments. The first several experiments involved a mannequin which was used as the perceptual "other body." Two small cameras were placed on the mannequin's head which were hooked up to small screens positioned in front of the participants' eyes. This gave the illusion that participants' were looking through the eyes of the mannequin. Therefore, if the subjects tilted their heads down, they only saw the mannequin's.body and not their own.

Then, the researchers stroked both the subjects' and mannequin's bodies at the same time. The participants were able to see the stroking via the cameras on the mannequin, however, not their own. Questionnaires taken after this test showed that participants felt the mannequin's body was their own and sensed the touching of the abdomen on the mannequin.

To test the physiological response of owning another's body, researchers measured the skin conductance response, an indicator of stress that the polygraph lie detector test reads, of participants after threatening the mannequin body by "cutting" its abdomen. They observed there was a higher SCR (skin conductance response) when the mannequin was threatened with a knife.

Then, as a way to test whether participants could "body swap," they had experimenters wear the cameras which had been on the mannequin. Subjects were asked to take hold of the experimenter's hand and continuously squeeze. This set-up allowed the subjects to be able to see both parts of their own body as well as the other experimenter. The results indicated the participants felt the experimenter's arm was their own, like they were shaking hands with themselves.

Similar repetitive tests of threatening the experimenter's body (in this case, their hands) with a knife were done and the SCR tested. They found that the SCR results were again significant when the knife was threatening the experimenter's hand.

These series of experiments indicate how people can perceive both another human body as well as an artificial humanoid body as their own whether they are at a standstill or making voluntary movements. The "ownership" idea is especially evident when there deems a physical threat to the other body as shown through the greater SCR responses.

In the words of the author, "This shows how easy it is to change the brain's perception of the physical self. By manipulating sensory impressions, it's possible to fool the self not only out of its body but into other bodies too."

The implications and uses for this research is far ranging. Everything from body image to phantom limb pain/amputee pain to self-identity to robotics. It is a reminder how malleable our minds are and all the multisensory signals our body uses. For those with distorted body image, the hope is that this research can become a possible therapeutic tool as a way to perceive their bodies with more accuracy.

The full study is published on the online journal Public Library of Sciences and can be read here.

Weight perceptions among children and parents take 2

A new study out of the University of Melbourne came out about parents' and children's views of their weight. This type of study isn't new ( read another here) except for the fact that this study looks at both notions of underweight and overweight children as well as measuring waist circumference versus body mass index as a sole indicator. It turns out, with BMI, children were classified overweight more often than waist circumference.

Although this study does emphasize weight and numbers, the results show how skewed the perceptions are of parents and their children's weight. You can read more information on the results here.

The ones I find most interesting are:

Parents were more likely to report that their sons were underweight and that their girls were overweight.
Twice as many parents expressed concern about their child being overweight compared to underweight.
Only 4/10 underweight girls and half of underweight boys correctly assessed their weight.

The overall results of the study show the bias towards thinness as well as the lack of research and definition for children's weights. Dr. Schmidt, the author of this study concluded with, "In particular we need to make sure that the focus on reducing the number of overweight children does not have the adverse impact of increasing the number of underweight children." I think this is something to strongly think about with our society's emphasis on weight and being "healthier."

Putting things in perspective

I received this e-mail awhile back and meant to post this. I've been talking about perceptions recently, so here's a cool way to look at the universe.

I don't know if this will make sense. Maybe it sounds a bit hokey, but perhaps those issues we view, think, or feel as the "sun," or like the bright stars of Pollux, Arcturus, Betelgeuse, and Antares are really only a "mars," "mercury," or "pluto" in the grand scheme of things.

So what's in a name?

What's in a name really? It's kind of funny this topic can about since I recently read an article about how people decide on naming their dogs. According to Prapawadee Jaroenrattanatarakoon, a female Thai weightlifter, this was part of the difference in her winning the gold medal in the 53kg weight division. By the way, I have absolutely no clue how you say that name. I don't even want to attempt it. If she changed her name to this, I don't even want to think about what it was before that.

I first heard from my father (I don't watch weightlifting) that she had gone to a fortune teller who told her to change her name. She did, and then she won. This article from the New York Times doesn't say much other than she gave some credit for her victory to the fortune teller.

This got me thinking about the importance of names. In our society, we name many things--our kids, our pets, different brands of products, some of us even name inanimate objects like cars, houses, etc. Often times when we name things, there is meaning behind it. Maybe for a child, the name has personal significance or for a pet, that name just fits their personality.

Besides just distinguishing ourselves from this or that person, names also give us a sense of identity. I know for me, I view my name as both a curse and blessing. It's a common Asian name, and according to facebook, there are over 500 people also with this name. However, I think some of them are more a play on words than the actual name itself.

According to baby name specialist, Maryanna Korwitts, " Of all the name components, the FIRST NAME is used independently with greatest regularity. Consequently, the first name has the most significant influence on a person's life and personality. Almost from the moment of birth, the first name vibration begins impacting perceptions, traits and talents. With time, the underlying frequency or vibration of the first name plays a major role in establishing an individual's relationship patterns and communication style."

It makes me wonder about different people who I know with the same name and whether there are similarities in their personalities. I don't know if this holds true, and I'm too lazy to really think about it. Still, it's an interesting concept. This concept also makes me wonder how my personality might have been affected if I had an entirely different name.

Then I wonder about the names not only that we are given at birth but the nicknames and names we and others call us. Are they positive or negative? Do they affect us? Is it simply just a name? I think they can be any of these things depending on how we look at them. I think descriptors can also be looked at as informal names as well. I'm sure there have been times when we've (or some might say their eating disorder) called ourselves fat, maybe weak, pathetic, lazy, "a pig," etc. In the end, I think calling ourselves this just perpetuates the cycle of abuse. And the goal or at least I hope is that each of us can recover and give ourselves compassion. It's not always an easy thing to do, but maybe it starts out with a simple name we give ourselves. Perhaps, this is what helped with the Thai weight lifter win the gold medal. Maybe whatever her name was before was something meaningless and the new name somehow made her feel better, more confident, stronger.

Now, I don't think we should all go changing our first names, but I do think the names and descriptors we give ourselves can play an important role in how we view ourselves. It may sound incredibly cheesy, but maybe it's worth a try?

Perceptions and our pets

I'm on a roll with thinking about body perceptions and how we perceive them. This next post is about how we view body image in our four-legged friends. Yes, I know this may sound odd, but again, I'm wondering if those of us with body image issues have a different ideal for our pets than the rest of the population. Are we able to distinguish between thin, normal, overweight, obese in our pets? Are we more vigilant about our pets' health even though we compromise our own? I'm seriously not trying to dumb anyone down, so I hope these questions aren't offensive. They really do have a point.

Recently, my boss loaned me her back issues of BARk magazine, a magazine of modern dog culture. It's actually a fairly interesting magazine with a wide variety of topics. In this 2006 issue, it discussed canine obesity and how it was mostly a human perception problem. According to this article, 34 percent of dogs are overweight but only 30 to 40 percent of their human caretakers realize it. This 2005 study about the prevalence and risk factors for obesity in dogs and cats (may have been the same one the article used) also said how vet practitioners commonly underreported animals who were overweight or obese.

So how are pets assessed for obesity? Well, since there isn't a BMI calculation, it becomes more individualistic. At times, it is obvious to see the body condition of an animal and tell whether it is too thin or overweight. However, if there is a lot of fur, this can easily deceive the pet owner. The standard measurement is to check their bodies around the ribs. An ideal pet has a small layer of fat over the rib bones, however, the rib bones are sufficiently felt. Usually , a "waist" is also easily visible. Pets who on the thin side can have rib, spine, or hip bones easily felt since there is no fat. Pets who are overweight or obese, none of these can be felt without some pressure.

Like humans, there are various reasons why pets gain weight. Genetics of certain breeds, reproductive status (spayed and neutered), hormones, and their human/canine lifestyle (think lack of exercise for many companion animals) are all reasons for weight gain. In reality, it's quite amazing how much our four-legged friends resemble many of the same characteristics as humans, including similar diseases like diabetes type 1 and 2, cancer, hypothyroidism, Cushings's, disease, etc. In animals who are overweight or obese, problems such as osteoarthritis, respiratory, cardiovascular, and dermatological can occur. Some studies have also shown a correlation with high body fat mass and longevity in dogs. (AVMA collections of obesity)

As the reports of obesity in pets has risen over the years, new weight loss products have come onto the market. Slentrol which debuted in 2007 was the first to be approved by the FDA. The key mechanisms are reduced appetite and fat absorption. Though this is the only actual medication for dogs and obesity, there are other products labeled as "natural" to help your pet. lose weight. I'm sure, just like humans, there will be other drugs researched as well. Although I have not heard of gastric by-pass surgery for pets, there are people who have actually asked about it! It's kind of a scary thought.

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Now, that I've given some background information, let's look at human perception versus dog perception. Something funny that Dr. Marty Becker, a well known veterinarian, said in an article for The Whole Pet was,

"No pet is going to catch sight of himself in the mirror and see that hairy derriere and say 'That's it! No more Scooby snacks for me!' There is no canine bikini season, and they don't try to get into last year's jeans and find they don't fit."

Animals for the most part do not have an image problem like humans do.One question I've seen asked is if animals can be anorexic? Yes, anorexic in the medical sense of losing appetite. The nervosa part, however, is not obtainable.

In most cases in terms of eating, it's about survival. There's the line, "dogs eat to live not live to eat." For the most part, it's true, although sometimes I question it as some dog sand cats do appear to live to eat. For some if they could have as much food as they wanted sitting right in front of them, they would eat it in a heartbeat and not think about it or have "guilt-associated" feelings with it. For many, the time elapsed between eating too much and an actual ill event is too long to make an associative cause since they do not have a "conscience." Whenever I think about this, I am reminded of one of my own dogs who ate five pounds of chicken in a sitting or two pounds of organ meat in less than five minutes or the dog I knew who ate over a pound of candy, then suffered an allergic reaction, only to still eat its dinner twenty minutes later. All of them looked like they had a "guilty" feeling, but in reality, it was only because they didn't feel well, or they reacted to their human. In the case of my own dogs, I was pretty upset with them.

So where am I going with this? As I posed the question earlier about whether those of us with body image issues are more vigilant about our pets' health, do we perceive the same thing as the average, normal dog/cat owners? Are we different? Are we more sympathetic to an animal who may be underweight or overweight? I guess I'm asking these questions, because I think of myself and how I perceive my own dogs and the animals I have cared for over the years.

In the almost eight years now that I've worked in a kennel environment, there have been a variety of sizes, breeds, and ages that I've seen. Many have been normal weight, well taken care of, some underweight, and others overweight. In the cases where dogs were underweight and overweight, I do ask their owners whether they realize this (it's of course in a polite way) and how much food they are giving their dogs. Some owners do realize this, say they've tried getting them to lose weight/gain weight to no avail, others have tried different foods, and still others are truly oblivious to the problem or dare I say it, they will tell me their vet said the dog looked fine. I've seen it where you can practically count the number of vertebrae on the spine, or where there is no "waist" in a dog, and that is okay? I've often asked myself how a professional could not see that? But then again, I question my perception at times since my view tends to be skewed.

I remember another case of a dog who hadn't been boarded in three or so months. When she came, I was absolutely shocked at her appearance. This was a dog who normally was about five or so pounds overweight and supposed to be a show dog even though she was already six years old. The dog had probably lost a good twenty to twenty five pounds. She was so thin it aged her in that amount of time. Her face was sunken, her ribs and spine could be counted, and she was so cold, needing a sweater in the fall, typically the season most dogs enjoy. I did inquire about what happened, and the owners only said that she was being trained some place in FL, and that they were being more strict with her food, not giving table scraps and such. I told them my concern and thought she needed labs run. I honestly don't know whether they had the labs run or not. I do think that they maybe realized there really was a problem. Now, she is at the appropriate weight where she should be at which is a good thing.

Another case on the opposite spectrum is my dad's wife's dog. C. is a shih tzu-poo. He weighs in at something like 35 or so pounds. He is by standards way overweight. After realizing that the early influence of his weight was their own fault--many many treats were given, they cut back and gave healthier options. They also realized his weight was a problem when he could no longer enjoy long walks with them and his stamina was much lowered. They tried reducing his meals, they took him to an endocrinologist to have labs run as well as their vet. His thyroid was borderline, the Cushing's Test turned out negative, he had some liver problems, and he had arthritis in his knees. One specialist said he just had a "fat economic" gene, so he couldn't lose weight. They also tried swimming, but everything was to no avail and now they've just given up. Sure, he's a happy dog, but it is obvious he can't keep up with his two housemates.

Another case is with one my mom's dog who is a king charles cavalier spaniel. L. turn three this December I believe. Last year she had some knee issues. It turned out to be a luxating patella (kneecap moves in and out of place) which was more than likely genetic. The vet wanted to do surgery, but L. weighed in at somewhere between 22-25 pounds. She wasn't grossly overweight, but enough that the vet did not want to do surgery until she got her weight lower. He decided to put her on slentrol. The first few months, she didn't lose weight but probably gained instead. My mother said it was more due to the fact that she received so many treats. The treats were a way for her to stop barking at her dad when he wanted to play a computer game instead (similar to the kid who wants something, and in the end the parent gives in and gets them the item). L. also likes food a lot and will shove her way past the other 3 cavaliers to try to eat their share as well as intimidate one while she eats her food. An additional few months later, L. did lose some weight. My mom, however, said she was really wasn't sure whether it was the medication or just the fact that they had reduced her treat intake. She did notice that L. felt better, and they are now adding some exercise.

None of these people have eating disorders, though a few do have body image concerns, and one I'd say has BED. Still though, many didn't perceive their pets to have a problem whereas I noticed these things right away. Is it the fact I work with dogs everyday or that I'm more attuned to what a dog should look like? Or are my perceptions clouded by my own experiences?

I do remember one client who actually mentioned she had recovered from an eating disorder and had taken in a stray dog. She was concerned about her eating, saying she once knew what it felt like to starve and didn't want the poor dog to feel that. The dog was in no way overweight, but could it have been if her fear of not letting the dog starve got in the way of what was healthy for the dog?

I hope this post doesn't offend. It's just something I've thought about through my observations of dogs and their people. I think for the most part humans love their pets. There are countless things our four-legged companions do for us., but we, as their caretakers, do need to ensure their safety, health, and well being on all levels physically and emotionally.

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On a completely different note, this story recently surfaced with a man being charged on cruelty for allowing his dog to become obese.
Another case last week showed a cat, now dubbed "Prince Chunk" who was found homeless in NJ. (owner's house was being foreclosed) The cat is obese weighing just short of 2 pound on the Guiness Book of World records. The cat has been vet checked and is okay and will be adopted out. The sad thing is that so many people want to adopt the cat since seeing it on television, forgetting about all the other homeless pets out there that need a home.

Perceptions and body image

I've been thinking about body image and perceptions lately. We all know that many of us who have/had eating disorders more or less have a skewed perception of ourselves. Much of the time we can't see how others perceive us. Someone may say we are thin when we think/feel the complete opposite. Or maybe not even think fat but that we need to lose weight, etc.

I've often wondered how/if our perceptions of what is thin/fat has changed compared to other people who have not had eating disorders. Is our definition different? Do we tend to think that someone is too thin whom others would consider "normal?" Or someone whose definition of fat we consider "normal?" Are we just more sensitive to the rest of the general population biased by our own experiences?

In a recent BBC article, it said that adults (Britons) misjudge weight problems. According to the article, just over half (53%) were overweight or obese with only 75% identifying themselves as overweight. This was opposed to 1999 when 43% were classified as overweight or obese and 81% identified themselves that way.

One of the researchers in this article made a few interesting points in that the idea of "normal" for what is considered overweight may have changed. Another factor was that the media often showed those who had very high BMI, thus making people think only if they reached this size were they overweight. Hmm, does this all sound familiar but switch overweight to "thin" and high BMI to "very low BMI?"

I guess I'm just wondering what other people's thoughts are about their perceptions of themselves and other people in terms of body image. For me, I do think having dealt with eating disorders has changed my definitions of the various spectrum of sizes of people. I know I'm more sensitive to any type of body image talk whether it be someone who is too skinny to someone who is obese.

However, yet, at the same time, I can also see the viewpoint of healthcare professionals, though they have unfortunately exaggerated the "epidemic." My opinion is that this would not have been considered had the BMI guidelines remained the same. This article in the Washington Post discussed the possible repercussions when the changes were first made to lower the overweight threshold from 27.8 to 25. I guess I wonder what would have happened if things had been left alone. Would we really be talking about this "obesity epidemic?" And again, how would that have changed how we perceived what is thin/normal/overweight?

Perception of anorexia differs

This article out of UNC Chapel Hill just published today explains how the perception of anorexia nervosa can differ when people are given information about the biological and possible genetic causation of the disorder. Researchers, led by Cynthia Bulik et. al, (if you keep up with research, she was one of the first people to give the now common "gun" analogy in reference to eating disorders, i.e. "the genes load the gun, the environment pulls the trigger") found that undergraduate nursing students who were given information on the genetic and biological causes of the development of anorexia versus those only given the sociocultural reasons did indeed give less blame to the eating disorder individual.

I think this definitely points out the need for continued education and awareness. This, of course, doesn't mean that one should blame everything on genetics or biology, but just that there is a predisposition. After that, there is some personal responsibility into how to live and cope with your life. In general, however, society still stigmatizes those with eating disorders in thinking it is completely their fault, they chose this, that they only want to be thin, etc. There's just so much more to it, and underneath all that stereotypical thinking are the real reasons.

Something else I think would be interesting is to see whether there would be any differences in brain and/or genetics between those anorexics who are deemed "chronic"and those who do not have a long duration of the illness and recover.