Dying to be Thin Seeing an empty box of over-the-counter diet pills in the school bathroom a couple of weeks ago really got me thinking: what is the ideal image body that we give to teenagers today? We see more and more people associating success and popularity with beauty and, above all, being thin. The media, a major influence on young people, is filled with images of the "perfect body" and American life seems to revolve around health clubs, diet pills and fat-free foods. As the factors that contribute to eating disorders continue to increase in everyday life, so do the statistics. Fifteen percent of teens diagnosed with anorexia nervosa will die this year, and as many as 1 in 5 college students engage in some form of bulimic behavior. Anorexia is found primarily in adolescents, especially young women, and anorexic females outnumber males by a ratio of 15 to 1. With numbers that high, someone you know could, quite literally, be dying to be thin. In medicine, anorexia nervosa is a condition characterized by an intense fear of gaining weight or becoming obese, as well as a distorted body image. An anorexic will claim to "feel fat" even when emaciated and will refuse to maintain a normal, minimal body weight. Visible signs of anorexia include:* fear of food and situations in which food may be present;* strict exercise regimes;* dressing in layers to hide weight loss;* use of laxatives, enemas, or diuretics to eliminate food. Treatment techniques for anorexia include family therapy, group therapy, support or self-help groups, and individual psychotherapy. Given proper treatment, approximately 50% of diagnosed anorexics will recover completely within 2 to 5 years. Bulimia, characterized by compulsive binging and purging, is closely related to anorexia nervosa. Victims of these two disorders may share many of the same behaviors and concerns, particularly the intense fear of gaining weight. For bulimics, food becomes an obsession and an addiction. Some visible signs include:* strict dieting followed by binge eating;* disappearing after a meal;* excessive worry about weight;* expressing guilt or shame about food.