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Eating Disorders and Body Image in the Media: Celebrities and Athletes Who Battled Anorexia and Bulimia

© Heather Mudgett.

Eating disorders (specifically anorexia and bulimia) are now seen as serious problems. The media has reported extensively on the deaths of many well-known performers and athletes who have died from eating disorders.

Athletes Who Died of Eating Disorders

In 1994, world class gymnast Christy Henrich died after her struggle with anorexia and bulimia. In the late '80s, 4'10" Christy weighed 90 lbs. It's been reported that she was told by a U.S. gymnastics judge that she needed to lose weight if she hoped to make the 1988 Olympic team. When she died of multiple organ failure in 1994, 22-year-old Christy weighed less than 60 lbs.

In 1997, 22-year-old ballerina Heidi Guenther collapsed and died from complications arising from her eating disorder. Heidi was a well-known dancer with the Boston Ballet. At 5'3" tall, Heidi weighed less than 93 lbs at the time of her death. Commenting on eating disorders in the dance world, Lea Thompson (actress, Caroline in the City) recalls that during her days as a dancer, she was told by a theatre company that at 5'5" tall and 96 lbs., she was too "stocky.”

Tennis superstar Monica Seles has acknowledged that "Women in society have much tougher pressure to be thin." Seles says "The only time (I get weighed) is when I do my insurance, and then I don't even look at it because it is not a priority for me."

Body Image in Hollywood

Although the public is becoming aware of how serious eating disorders are, the ultra thin, waif look still seems to be a prerequisite in Hollywood. Actress Kate Winslet (Titanic) refuses to play the super-skinny game. The press has called her "Titanic" and "Chubby." Of her curvy figure, she says "This is me, like it or lump it. People think that if a woman isn't rail-thin, then there must be something wrong with her - it's such nonsense."

Singer Karen Carpenter died in 1983 after a long battle with anorexia and bulimia. Her family thought she was on the road to recovery when she was found dead of a heart attack on her parents’ bathroom floor. Her heart attack was caused by years of Ipecac abuse. Ipecac is a liquid that can be swallowed to induce vomiting. It is used, medically, to help poisoning victims, but has been abused by some bulimics.

Other celebrities have come forward in recent years to discuss their personal struggles with eating disorders. Princess Diana, actresses Ally Sheedy, Tracy Gold and Jane Fonda and gymnasts Cathy Rigby and Nadia Comaneci have all gone public with their eating disorder battles.