Questions for You can be too thin
SCIENCE
Before reading
1. How can eating too much or too little be dangerous to your health?
2. The images that accompany advertisements on TV, in magazines and in other media often promote a very narrow definition of beauty. How can you respond to such a message, especially if it makes you feel bad about yourself or your body?
During reading
1. What is anorexia nervosa?
2. Are the signs of anorexia obvious to everyone? Does that include its victims?
3. What are some of the serious risks associated with eating disorders?
4. Under what sort of illness are eating disorders classified?
5. How common are eating disorders?
6. What is bulimia nervosa?
7. Explain what it means to purge. What effect does purging have?
8. What danger do “thinspiration” websites pose?
9. Why are teens especially vulnerable to eating disorders?
After reading
1. Explain why eating disorders are so serious.
2. Why can friends play such an important role in recognizing eating disorders and encouraging treatment?
SOCIAL STUDIES
1. The images of models that appear in fashion and other magazines often have been digitally altered. For example, they can be made to look thinner. That manipulation can foster unrealistic expectations of what a person’s body should look like. Working with a partner, brainstorm some ways to raise awareness of this practice and its risks to the public health.