Is a woman whose body is deteriorating and wasting away sexy?

    Due to the intense pressure of an unrealistic body image from the mass media, women are taking extreme measures to become "movie star" thin.

    With influences like Kate Bosworth, who is called "the amazing shrinking girl" by the media; Nicole Kidman; Kate Moss and Lara Flynn Boyle, women feel that they must be super-slim to be desired or accepted.

    Excelling to a celebrity caliber body type may increase your social status on the Hollywood body image ladder; however, there is a heavy price to pay for depriving the body of proper nourishment.

    Anorexia Nervosa is an eating disorder characterized by physical and emotional symptoms.

    An anorexic person is typically underweight and still proceeds to restrict the body's total food intake due to a distorted view of their own body size.

    Anorexia is a life-long illness, but it is possible to recover fully.

    "A number of things contribute to the development [of anorexia]," Claudia Rodriguez from UTSA counseling services said. "A dissatisfaction with self, low self esteem, overall unhappiness, some anorexics feel like no one will love them, fear of not meeting expectations of parents, pressure to be skinny and popular or self pressure to be the best," Rodriguez said.

    According to Gina Shaw, writer for Webmd.com who was previously a writer for the Association of American Medical Colleges in Washington D.C., white women in their teens and 20's account for most cases of anorexia, but women in their 40's and 50's; men; black and Hispanic women; and girls as young as 8 or 9 are now showing up on the anorexic radar.

    Influences on body image depicted by the mass media reach out to more than just women. Men are increasingly becoming effected by the extreme body image expectations set by society.

    A 2001 survey revealed that women diagnosed with anorexia outnumbered men only four to one. Since there is virtually no male celebrity publicly known to have an eating disorder, people underestimate how common anorexia truly is with males.

    Senior Brandon Smith claims that the society and media do indeed contribute to how he feels he needs to appear. "If the media said that being fat was what looked good, then I would probably be fat," Smith said.

    Smith works out on a regular basis in order to, "stay in shape, get my frustrations out, get endorphin and hormones flowing and to give my wife something good to look at," Smith said.

    When asked if he thought he could have attracted his wife's attention if he did not have the body he does now Smith said, "No, I don't think I would have."

    "Anorexia is pretty common; we see it a lot," Rodriguez said, "There is no specific group that develops it, they all come from different socio-economic statuses and cultural backgrounds," she said.

    There are several different factors that can contribute to catapulting into an eating disorder. According to Rodriguez, there could be a deep manifested traumatic experience at the root of the disorder. Some anorexics seek control of their lives and feel that restricting their bodies of food allows for them to be in complete control of themselves.

    "There is pressure to a degree to look a certain way, but at some point you have got to realize that is just not who you are," junior Tessa McGehee said.

    Of all mental illnesses, anorexia carries the highest death rate. Five to 20 percent of victims eventually die from this disorder, but this could occur much later in life as a result of permanent health complications, including loss of bone mass and heart damage.

    Both of these complications deteriorate the immune system's ability to fight infections and diseases.

    The loss of menstrual cycles in anorexics may have long term effects on the ability to bear children. With patients at infertility clinics, the majority have an occult eating disorder.

    Many complications may be reversible if a healthy body weight is regained.

    The effects of eating disorders begin to occur even before there is noticeable weight loss. Rodriguez encourages students to educate themselves about eating disorders.

    On Feb. 28, the UTSA counseling services is sponsoring the National Eating Disorders Day. This is a source of preventative measures for all types of eating disorders. On this day there will be screenings offered that will help determine if a student is suffering from an eating disorder. The counseling services will refer students who need help to the appropriate type of treatment.

    "The problem is that it takes a while to gain weight but people want to lose it quickly. They want a quick fix so they turn to crazy diets, pills and supplements, which are not going to be as effective," Kathleen Ceresoli, the UTSA health education coordinator said.

    The process of losing weight takes time, but it is actually a simple procedure.

    "You just need to eat better, eat less and move more," Ceresoli said.

    Ceresoli teaches a weight loss and control program at UTSA. This class is included in your tuition, so all you need to do is show up.

    The class is a three speared program including instructions on healthy eating and nutrition; movement and fitness; self empowerment, stress management and body image.

    The program is spread over a five week period. The program teaches students how to lose weight in an appropriate, healthy way.

    During these weeks students are educated on nutrition and how to eat better, even with fast food and snacks on the go. Students are required to keep a log of everything they eat, and learn portion control and about food labels.

    Everyday, a 30 minute "movement" is required. This means that students must participate in some type of physical action, like exercise, swimming, biking or parking further away to total 30 minutes of movement a day.

    Students in this program also go to the recreation center and exercise under the instruction of Mandy Taylor. Students are evaluated and encouraged each week and are taught skills to eating healthy and exercise that can carry on after completing the program.

    "We don't put students on a diet, we encourage them to reduce their caloric intake by 250, eat better and exercise," Ceresoli said.

    Anybody can join this course, not just people who may be overweight.

    Students can join to simply learn better eating habits or if a students needs to gain weight.

    "Sometimes I have people that need to gain weight come in. They come because their families may be worried," Ceresoli said, "these students follow the food plan to the maximum portion amount, whereas a student looking to lose weight will follow to the minimum amount," she said.

    "The bottom line is that losing weight is complicated, there are a lot of emotions involved. People think you need will power, but they really need skill power," Ceresoli said.

    There are spaces available now for students to join this program, but a new round will begin after spring break. Classes are Tues. 12:00-1:00 p.m. and Thurs. 6:00-7:00 p.m.. There is also a class at the downtown campus Thurs. 1:30-3:30 p.m.. For more information visit www.utsa.edu/health.

    Fortunately, a new wave of role models are emerging in the public eye. Celebrities like Beyonce Knowles, Kate Winslet, Jennifer Lopez and Reese Witherspoon are embracing their curves.

    "Curves look better. There are a whole lot of girls that are hurting themselves and with these new role models they won't have to do that anymore," McGehee said.