To think Cheryl Fernandez-Versini is way to thin.

[SummerWine]

www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-3202619/Cheryl-Fernandez-Versini-displays-slim-physique-black-jumpsuit-perfume-launch.html

Her arms just look way too thin, the article is not the greatest photos but a quick google makes her look even thinner.

www.mirror.co.uk/3am/celebrity-news/cheryl-fernandez-versini-defies-weight-critics-6027419

Lots of misinformation about anorexia here. An anorexia diagnosis is not as simple as just being extremely emaciated, there are other factors and symptoms that would be taken into account. However, the NHS website says that anorexic adults typically have a BMI under 17.5.

I know what a BMI of 17.5 looks like (my daughter has an ED), and it is significantly larger than CF.

This is not to say that she's anorexic (none of us knows either way) but her BMI is certainly low enough to be consistent with anorexia.

opheleia I'm going to disagree.

When the media portrays women with EDs as glamorous and those women lie openly about how tey stay thin, it is a huge issue for all of us.

But the reverse is not by all means true. If you have a BMI of under 17.5 it doesn't follow that you have anorexia. It's basic logic.

I wonder, but can't find, how many people with a lower BMI actually have anorexia.

All I can say is that I have a similar height to Cheryl and similar body, so it's fair to assume that we have very similar weights. My BMI, even at my lowest weight, has always been above 17.5, and thus above what would be considered at risk for anorexia.

People can't just throw about their estimates about her BMI without actually knowing her weight or having a realistic point of reference.

I agree with Mistigri. There is a model who has posted a video of herself on youtube, it was on Twitter yesterday. She is considered "too big" by the modelling industry. She is very thin but looks healthy, like the lanky skinny teenager she is. Her BMI is 17.5 I think, or 17, she stated it but I can't remember which.

I'm very slight, weigh 7.5 stone at 5ft 4" and have a BMI of 18 at best. I'm not anorexic and never have been - doesn't stop people asking me if I am though .

But the reverse is not by all means true. If you have a BMI of under 17.5 it doesn't follow that you have anorexia. It's basic logic

true, but below a certain bmi we can say for sure that a person is dangerously emaciated, no?

afaik death occurs when either, all the fat stores or half of the protein stores have been used up.
Protein in this case includes all the muscle tissue in the body and any organs can be cannibalized, the digestive system, the heart etc, so there can be long term damage if BMI drops too low, whether this is due to self starvation or something else

That's completely bonkers re the swedish model!! That's how I look but just not pretty and 3 times her age! Totally healthy and always have been just very slim.

Suzanne in that case I'm 0.5 off being dangerously emaciated? I have 3 children, I run, have horses, do yoga, walk miles and feel great. Certainly not at death's door (I hope!).

Annapurnacircuit
you misunderstand me!
I am not saying that 17.5 bmi is a dangerous level, just that there is a bmi at which we can be pretty sure that a person has used up all the fat stores or half of the protein stores, and is therefore close to death.

I think that BMI is around 14/15 ??

Ah ok .

This fascinates me as a subject having been naturally 'skinny' (hate that word) all my life. People watch me eat, drives me mad and I really do love food just not very much of it in one sitting.

:o you can relax Anna apols for alarming you!

People are notoriously shit at guessing the weight of people with low body fat and lean, rather than bulky muscle. Even hcps. They always underestimate the weight. And therefore the bmi.
Yy on the bmi and what classes as anorexia. And I think it's actually quite dangerous to try and define 'proper' anorexia as a certain bmi. That feeds into pro-ana goals more than celeb weight loss.

Thanks Suzanne!

Re the ballet dancer analogy, a doctor quoted in this article says "The average incidence of eating disorders in the white middle-class population is 1 in 100. In classical ballet, it is one in five."
Dance, especially classical, is absolutely rife with ED's.