Why is Dieting Dangerous?
The desire to achieve an “ideal body” may lead to excessive and dangerous dieting. The person may get caught in an “on again — off again” diet trap, where weight and self esteem go up and down like a yo-yo. For some people, this relentless pursuit of thinness becomes more extreme and leads to anorexia nervosa or bulimia. Anorexia nervosa is an emotional disorder described by an intense fear of weight gain which ultimately leads to self-induced starvation. Victims experience drastic weight loss from excessive dieting and sometimes excessive exercising. Bulimia is also described by a fear of weight gain and victims are caught in a cycle of uncontrollable binge eating followed by an attempt to get rid of unwanted food or calories. To do this, bulimics may induce vomiting, abuse laxatives, fast or exercise excessively. Bulimics are not necessarily overweight or obese, but their weight tends to vary. These eating behaviours are abnormal, unhealthy and, in some extreme cases, life threateni
