It all started on that faithful day, precisely 07/ 10/ 2003. I was in my finals in the prestigious QUEENS COLLEGE, I was a plump teenager with curves and fat in the right places, with a full breast and round buttocks, I was the belle in my class. Well that was until the DSTV craze started and everybody wanted to be like the models they saw on Fashion TV. Everybody wanted to be ‘lepa shandi’, soon I was the fat and ugly one, but it really sank in when we went to our annual school programs where we met the boys from Kings College. My lifelong crush Damien called me a ‘fat b***’ and walked away with Laraba, the skinniest girl in my class, they were laughing, it hit me like a bullet and I felt so ugly and miserable, all I wanted right then was to be the skinniest girl in the world.
It was hard at first, not eating! But when I thought about Damien and how much I wanted him to see me as beautiful, I stayed away from food! It started as eating twice a day to once a day to none a day, and soon I was going two days without eating. I was so obsessed with losing weight and becoming “the most sought after” again that I let it take over me!
I lost the weight so fast, I spun! I was so happy, because I started getting more attention for my looks; there were comments like “wow! You look so fly, you’ve lost so much weight” and I felt good about that and I was even more determined to lose more weight
So I stayed back and let it eat me up even more, when I went home for the holidays, mom kept shouting about how lean I am, and how she was going to give me so much food before I go back to school, I picked at the food when we were at the dining table, so mummy took me to the hospital where our family doctor tested me and gave me multivitamins, it made me hungry, really hungry and I couldn’t help it, so I ate, so much, mum was happy but not me, I was ashamed and depressed. I wish I could control those urges for food the drugs were giving me, I needed a solution! I couldn’t let myself grow fat again, I couldn’t miss out on my newly found popularity, no way I am letting that happen, so as soon as I finished eating, I go into the toilet and I make the food all go away, I induce vomit and won’t stop until my bowels are empty. It took over me, it controlled me, it made me sick, made me happy, made me ashamed, made me depressed because when I saw myself in the mirror, I looked like those aids patients I saw on TV, so skinny, but I can’t stop it, I’d rather be like this than be that fat, ugly girl Damien didn’t want, I am enjoying playing with Damien’s feelings, because he showers me with attention now, those are one of my happiest moments! The turning point came in the most painful way you could ever imagine, I was back in school, sitting in class jejely o, listening to my Government teacher, when I felt this terrible pain in my chest, I felt like my heart was going to explode in my chest and everything went blank. I woke up in the hospital next to my weeping mother, “Doctor, Doctor” my mother screamed. I was told I had an heart attack and that I am lucky I am still alive, but she is just 16, my mother said, the doctor said, I think your daughter might be suffering from anorexia or bulimia nervosa! Yee! Mo gbe! What is that? Does it have a cure? Will my daughter die? My mother replied in a rush of questions.
THAT’S it! The enemy! I finally knew what her name is; Bulimia or Anorexia or whatever, “ope o, I survived, I thought; but wait a minute, what the hell is bulimia or anorexia nervosa?”
Today health experts have discovered that young African females in are starving themselves intentionally [anorexia nervosa], other women are bingeing and purging {bulimia nervosa} on the campus of historical African universities, while many in corporate Nigeria are crash dieting and abusing laxatives in a dangerous, sometimes deadly attempt to control their weight. But why are African women killing themselves to be thin? What’s behind the deadly cycle of eating disorders that is quietly engulfing some in the African society?
For starters black women are no longer generally celebrated for their curves, some experts argue that for every beautiful and curvaceous Queen Latifah heralded as a standard of beauty on TV, there is at least 100 thin Jennifer Anistons, there is a growing trend of eating disorders in African girls and this is going to continue as the African culture becomes more immersed in the white European cultural values, today, it’s extremely difficult for an African girl to be insulated within the African community, so that she is not affected by the dominant society, everywhere she turns to uplifts the western culture, their so called standard of beauty, it gradually gets into her subconscious and she wants to look like the stars she sees on television.
Recent studies have shown that some sisters, commonly considered to be overachievers, are more likely to develop an eating disorder than others because of their constant quest for perfection, other sisters are plunged into eating disorders by constant dieting, according to eating disorder specialist Shikana Temille Porter, PH.D, Director of Psychology Training at St John’s Child and Family Development Center in California “every eating disorder can be traced back to a diet” Dr Porter argues “the whole diet mentality, looking to alter your body because you are trying to fit into the thin cultural ideal within the society will cause you to restrict your eating, take diet pills and laxatives and throw up, this causes havoc in your whole body system and even death”
Eating disorder can also be caused by life’s stressors and emotional trauma or tragic events, on the black living online website, Kimberly 29, says she quickly descended into a bout of anorexia after being date raped, Kimberly writes that she believed having a curvaceous body attracted the rapist, so she was determined to change her physique. “if I didn’t get rid of those curves, some boy or man was going to rape me again” she writes “I started taking over the counter diet pills, eating less and exercising more, my curves finally disappeared but my drive to keep the weight off stayed, I was obsessed with losing weight and not getting raped again, but my body was tired of the abuse, by this time, anorexia had taken over me. Kimberly also slipped into bulimia, she consumed large amount of food and then purge herself by ingesting ipecac syrup {commonly used as an emergency treatment for certain kinds of poisoning or drug overdose} to induce vomiting, as if bingeing and purging are not hazardous enough, adding ipecac syrup is especially deadly “ ipecac is hard on the heart and it weakened my heart muscles when I abused it” says Damilola Bada, an Oxford university student “I had a minor heart attack when I was 19” as with most people who starve and purge themselves regularly, Bada’s health problems are numerous “my teeth enamel is worn away {as a result of the } vomiting, and I have several teeth that are completely decayed” I also have intestinal problems; I must take medication in order to have a bowel movement.” Other health problems associated with eating disorders include malnutrition, dehydration, stomach ruptures, esophagus tears, serious heart issues and death.
Psychological effects include, low self esteem, feelings of guilt and shame and depression. Not everybody was lucky like Damilola and Kimberly, some people lost the battle and died from heart attack.
THE ROAD TO RECOVERY
Recovering from an eating disorder entails at least three important steps:
1) Seeking professional counseling to address the underlying emotional or psychological issues that may lead to the use of food as a coping mechanism;
2) Seeking medical treatment to address the physical damage and to receive instructions on a healthy lifestyle and eating plan; and
3) Finding adequate support system to achieve and maintain a healthy and realistic body image.
Mothers, educate yourself on the signs of eating disorders, because it is more common in teenagers who are trying to look like their icons on TV, and there is a belief that African women are not prone to this disease, which in fact is a lie, there are a lot of African women out there suffering because they feel like they are not supposed to have this disorder; because it is a white girl aliment. Get involved quickly if you suspect a loved one may be afflicted by an eating disorder, sisters must refrain from judging their self-worth based on their dress size, strive for a healthy body acceptance and body esteem
Adopt healthy lifestyle practices, such as exercising and making healthy nutritional choices, that are life affirming and life sustaining.
WARNING SIGNS OF EATING DISORDERS
ANOREXIA NERVOSA:
• Deliberate self starvation with the intent of weight loss
• Intense persistent fear of gaining weight
• Refusal to eat or highly restrictive eating
• Continuous dieting
• Excessive facial and body hair because of inadequate protein in diet
• Compulsive exercising
• Abnormal weight loss
• Sensitive to cold temperatures
• Absent or irregular menstruation
• Hair loss
BULIMIA NERVOSA:
• Preoccupation with food
• Binge eating, usually in secret
• Vomiting after bingeing
• Abuse of laxatives, diuretics, diet pills
• Denial of hunger or use of drugs to induce vomiting
• Compulsive exercising
• Swollen salivary glands
• Broken blood vessels in the eyes
• Mood swings
• Perfectionism
Take care of your bodies
xoxo
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