'When it's extreme it's a psychological problem'
BOISE, Idaho - Diet pills, laxatives, insulin and parasites. People all over the Treasure Valley are putting their lives in jeopardy to be thin.
The tapeworm diet. It started in the 1920's when people wanting to drop some pounds dropped a tapeworm down their throat. The parasite eats whatever you do, but the outcome can turn deadly. Now, it seems, the disturbing trend is coming back.
"That doesn't shock me because I see the desperation in their trying anything that might work," said Krys Miley, an eating disorder counselor.
Miley says diabetics are also abusing insulin to shed some pounds. There are long term complications like not being able to regulate blood sugar.
Miley was bulimic for seven years and she now helps people recover.
"An eating disorder isn't about food or weight - it's about underlying issues," Miley said.
She says the most common issue is wanting to be perfect. Jen Harris, who lives in Caldwell, knows how that feels.
"The moment I got a modeling contract they said I needed to be thinner," Harris said.
She was 15-years-old and barely surviving on just a few hundred calories a day.
"I stayed in bed for three days and my dad dragged me to the doctor and I faked my way through the appointment," Miley said.
Shay Massey, who is now a personal fitness trainer, says she understands the mental game.
"It got to the point where mentally I couldn't function very well because I was so restrictive with my diet," Massey said.
Although Harris and Massey have recovered, they still see it everyday when they go online, look in magazines and watch television.
"You see those girls and you know something is going on," Harris said about the skeletal women appearing.
There are actually websites now that help people with eating disorders continue with their "lifestyle." They're called pro-ana and pro-mia. Taking laxatives, smoking instead of eating and exercising several hours every day to get to that desired weight are just a few tips the websites offer.
"I think they look in the mirror and don't see what other people see," said Harris. "When it's that extreme it's a psychological problem."
In Miley's practice she sees children as young as 7-years-old.
"You know a lot of second graders have already started to diet," Miley said.
Many times, she says, it's a result of being picked on and thinking that if they were thinner they would be happier.
Miley says all eating disorders start with a diet and that's why adults need to be aware of their actions.
"What a coach says, what a dad or mom says, anyone of authority sort of gets the ball rolling," Miley said.
"I know for myself, my sister looks up to me and if I look in the mirror and say 'I'm so fat' then she goes and looks at herself and says 'I'm so fat'," said Massey.
Massey says her mother made her realize the impact.
"When I was 13-years-old she had one meal a day and I asked if I could do that too and she let me," Massey said.
Harris is now a mother of three and says you have to always tell your kids they look great.
"It's also how you react as a mom," said Harris. "Don't complain about your mommy fat because you have to be self aware."
There was an eating disorder help group in the Treasure Valley up until 2007. Some counselors offer them, but there isn't a public group anymore.
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National Eating Disorders Organization
Hear more from Shay Massey and Stewart MacEwan, personal trainer
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