Post by Mel on Jan 6, 2006 13:50:47 GMT -5
Model's bulimia battle makes fashionable case to face eating disorders
Magali Amadei says she's lucky to have bad teeth.
Seven years of bingeing and purging took a toll on the 26-year- old model. Stomach acids eroded her teeth, resulting in 11 caps, seven root canals and two bridges.
But all that was a small price to pay, the recovered bulimic says. Things could have been worse. She could have damaged her intestines or reproductive organs. She could have died.
"It's amazing to think of all the time and energy I wasted on this. It controlled every second of my life."
Now Amadei is using her prominent position to encourage others to recognize and treat their eating disorders early. She is participating in this week's National Eating Disorders Screening Program, which will set up shop at 1,000 sites across the USA, including 400 colleges and 250 high schools. The screenings are part of National Eating Disorders Awareness Week.
Models typically don't speak publicly about eating disorders or the almost deadly demands of the fashion business.
In October, Amadei began telling her story to fashion magazines and TV newsmagazines. In November, she went on a national tour of high schools to speak on the topic.
"I've learned that by talking about this in public, other people who are suffering feel it's safe to open up," says Amadei, a native of Nice, France. "I'm no longer ashamed of having had an eating disorder, and when I talk to these teens, I can relate to their desperation and pain. That's a first step for them."
Sara Forman, director of the Outpatient Eating Disorders Program at Children's Hospital in Boston, says the screening program will help identify people of all ages who may be suffering in silence.
"I hope this program can raise awareness about the issue," Forman says. "We can find them and connect them with services that might be able to help them."
Amadei says her bulimia began at age 14, before she was a fashion model. But being in the business made the bulimia a full-time obsession. At her worst, she was bingeing and purging seven times a day and swallowing 40 laxative pills.
"I would wake every morning and think about when I would eat and throw up. I was constantly thinking about food and about how fat I was."
Amadei, who is 5-foot-9, is reluctant to talk about how much she weighed when she finally decided to seek help, because "then others will start to compare themselves to those numbers."
Even now, she refuses to own a scale.
"I just can't risk weighing myself anymore. It's too hard."
But despite her experiences, Amadei doesn't blame the fashion industry for her disorder.
"I don't think the fashion industry is evil, but if you're going to be a part of it, you need to have a very healthy self-esteem and body image," she says. "You will be judged on your appearance, and that's not something everybody can handle."
Copyright USA Today Information Network Feb 15, 2000
Magali Amadei says she's lucky to have bad teeth.
Seven years of bingeing and purging took a toll on the 26-year- old model. Stomach acids eroded her teeth, resulting in 11 caps, seven root canals and two bridges.
But all that was a small price to pay, the recovered bulimic says. Things could have been worse. She could have damaged her intestines or reproductive organs. She could have died.
"It's amazing to think of all the time and energy I wasted on this. It controlled every second of my life."
Now Amadei is using her prominent position to encourage others to recognize and treat their eating disorders early. She is participating in this week's National Eating Disorders Screening Program, which will set up shop at 1,000 sites across the USA, including 400 colleges and 250 high schools. The screenings are part of National Eating Disorders Awareness Week.
Models typically don't speak publicly about eating disorders or the almost deadly demands of the fashion business.
In October, Amadei began telling her story to fashion magazines and TV newsmagazines. In November, she went on a national tour of high schools to speak on the topic.
"I've learned that by talking about this in public, other people who are suffering feel it's safe to open up," says Amadei, a native of Nice, France. "I'm no longer ashamed of having had an eating disorder, and when I talk to these teens, I can relate to their desperation and pain. That's a first step for them."
Sara Forman, director of the Outpatient Eating Disorders Program at Children's Hospital in Boston, says the screening program will help identify people of all ages who may be suffering in silence.
"I hope this program can raise awareness about the issue," Forman says. "We can find them and connect them with services that might be able to help them."
Amadei says her bulimia began at age 14, before she was a fashion model. But being in the business made the bulimia a full-time obsession. At her worst, she was bingeing and purging seven times a day and swallowing 40 laxative pills.
"I would wake every morning and think about when I would eat and throw up. I was constantly thinking about food and about how fat I was."
Amadei, who is 5-foot-9, is reluctant to talk about how much she weighed when she finally decided to seek help, because "then others will start to compare themselves to those numbers."
Even now, she refuses to own a scale.
"I just can't risk weighing myself anymore. It's too hard."
But despite her experiences, Amadei doesn't blame the fashion industry for her disorder.
"I don't think the fashion industry is evil, but if you're going to be a part of it, you need to have a very healthy self-esteem and body image," she says. "You will be judged on your appearance, and that's not something everybody can handle."
Copyright USA Today Information Network Feb 15, 2000