Starved to conform

As dietitians and counselors working with women with eating disorders, we are concerned about Miss Universe, Alicia Machado, who is in danger of losing her crown due to a “weight problem” (BDN, Aug. 21).

At 113 pounds with a height of 5 feet, 9 inches, Miss Machado indeed has a “weight problem” and she could lose her life rather than her crown!

Severe underweight, bordering on anorexia, characterizes Miss Universe’s weight problem. At 113 pounds she was a mere 2.5 pounds above the weight cutoff for a diagnosis of anorexia. At her present weight of 130 pounds she is in the minimally acceptable range for normal weight. Yet the implication is that the organizers or judges of this beauty pageant are asking that she reduce her weight to anorexia levels in order to qualify to keep her title.

There is terrible pressure on our young women to conform to these insane standards of thinness, much like the binding of feet in China to maintain a dainty foot. We must protest loudly and definitively that we will not allow our young women to be starved into conformity with these ridiculous weight standards. It is the social standard which has a weight problem, not Miss Machado. Liane Giambalvo, RD/LD, LCPC Heather Leclere, RD/LD Laura Richards, RD/LD Diabetes and Nutrition Center Eastern Maine Medical Center, Bangor