<p>When we know that’s the case, it changes the story. Obviously. I haven’t seen anything to suggest that that’s the case here. Nor do I think most commenters are seriously suggesting that you just take the person at her word in one meeting.</p>
<p>All I am saying (over and over, sorry) is that it’s possible to be underweight and healthy. If you look at a medical history and do a decent interview and screen for health, that should emerge and the person should be spared the directive to gain weight or else.</p>
<p>Eating disorders include anorexia, bulimia, binge eating disorder, and eating disorders not otherwise specified. People with the latter 3 types are often NOT underweight yet have comparable mortality rates. Weight and BMI are not necessarily indicative of an eating disorder. I have a H whose is tall, naturally thin and very athletic with a BMI around 14. He does not have an eating disorder. Other members of my family were exceedingly thin in their youth and tried unsuccessfully to gain weight. In contrast, I have a friend who suffered from bulimia who was somewhat overweight. I am glad to see concern and awareness of eating disorders. However, if her tests results were normal, Yale should leave this poor girl alone. </p>
<p>I think that the main problem is that the BMI policy yields a ton of false positives. It fails to distinguish between people with and without actual problems with eating. I don’t know what the solution is. If people who do have problems consistently deny anything’s wrong, and lab and heart tests often come back completely normal for people with problems until they’re really far along, the clinicians don’t have a lot to work with. They’re going to “catch” people who don’t need to be caught. </p>
<p>And it should be possible to get an exemption from the super strict standards. For me, I’m thankfully no longer flirting with that border line (age, maturity, frequent snacking…), but I definitely wish that when I was I could have done a better job of advocating for myself.</p>
<p>@WINDyyyy, “I am 5’7’’ and I am less than 100 lb. I am a 13-year old girl. All my siblings are tall and skinny” People usually continue to gain weight past age 13. My daughter was just about where you are when she was 12. She put on a little more weight since she stopped growing. I checked her current BMI after seeing this thread and found her around 35% for current age but would be only 11% if she were college-aged. What may be normal for a 13 year old may be rather underweight for a mature woman. The woman described in this article is around 1% BMI.</p>
<p>@blossom “Well, how about if the young woman in the article has suitemates who have repeatedly called health services to tell them that their suitemate spends half an hour gagging in the communal bathroom after every meal?” But she may be good at hiding it. I had a roommate in college whose parents called, sometimes multiple times a day, and often grilled me on her doings. Later, I learned that this roommate was bulemic. I never noticed, and neither did our other roommates, but none of us were too fond of her and she spent most of her time over at her boyfriend’s. Can’t recall how I learned about it. Perhaps she had recovered by then and there was nothing to notice.</p>
<p>I agree a hard and fast bright line rule is going to “catch” some people who are perfectly healthy and at a normal for them body weight. Certainly the school is trying to turn this from a subjective to an objective one to eliminate attempted gaming of the system and/or failures by health officials by certain very smart, very motivated people with eating disorders. </p>
<p>Sure there are always people at both ends of any standardized curve, however TempeMom is correct that the system, as suggested by the link is the combined efforts of medical staff, nutritionists, etc. and should weed out those who for some reason are healthy and below a healthy weight. And yes, I too, lived with a bulimic as a suitemate…no one knew except those of us who shared a bathroom. I don’t think anyone used the term bulimic back then. We all just thought it was gross. I’m guessing she could have gamed any system except the scale. Scales don’t lie. </p>
<p>However: It’s not like there are weight police who walk around and pick out thin students for weigh-ins. There needs to be something that brings the student to the attention of health services. At least, that’s my impression of how things work. </p>
<p>As I said, Brown and Yale (and Harvard) are lenient compared to some schools, where students with an eating disorder have to leave – no weigh-ins, you have to go home. </p>
<p>The commentator “Thomas” on that story says he is a college health doctor, says her BMI is considered reason for aggressive treatment, that a health service which failed to do so would be guilty of malpractice, and that “Lab tests and ECG’s are often NORMAL even right up to the day before a person gets seriously ill or dies from an eating disorder.” I wonder what they die from if it’s so difficult to detect.</p>
<p>You CAN game the scales unless someone really knows what they are dealing with. Ask the girls and staff on the inpatient treatment settings. </p>
<p>I find myself still dwelling on idea that there are no visibly overweight kids at Yale. What would that be like if you were struggling with your weight? </p>
<p>When D visited the college she is attending for the first time, we both noticed the same thing there: no overweight people…not one. After she was there for a few months, I actually asked her again if they had all been hiding during our visit. She couldn’t think of anyone she had met whom she’d consider overweight. I noticed no unattractive people there either–only average or above looks. I wonder how they managed that feat?</p>
<p>Same. I asked my son a fashion-related question that brought forth the answer, “Well, there are no fat people. And, there are no ugly people.” Sigh. </p>
<p>When I graduated HS, I weighed 98 pounds and was 5’6. And at that point, it was the most I had ever weighed. I never dieted, and ate whatever I wanted with no change in weight. I got SOOO freaking tired of people asking me if I was anorexic that I finally went on a diet to gain weight. I added fruit smoothies and high calorie Ensure a couple of times a day. Got up to 112, went back to my regular eating habits and remained a steady 106 until the birth of my second daughter. Retained about 3-4 pounds after she was born so I was 109 for a few years. After third daughter I went up to 115 until I reached my early 40’s. Now in my late 40’s I have to watch what I eat to stay in the 125 range. So I totally get what this girl is potentially going through. I was a healthy, active person with a crazy metabolism but I was not suffering from an eating disorder. </p>
<p>I understand the serious consequences of eating disorders, and feel an assessment is appropriate-- but it has to recognize the student as an individual with a unique history and physiology otherwise it is useless.</p>
<p>My S was 5’6" and about 100 pounds when he graduated HS. His grad blazer and slacks had to greatly altered to sort of fit him. My bro weighed 140pounds at 6’3" when he graduated HS. Both had very healthy appetites and ate a ton of food. Both pedis were fine with their heights and weights. S is now at 26 still very trim – still has a 27 or 28" waist. </p>
<p>When H and I married decades ago, he had a 28-29" waist, so S comes by his stature partly genetically. My mom is in her 80s, has given birth to 7 and still weighs about 116 pounds at 5’5." Her md is fine with her stable weight. </p>
<p>I think schools should be ok with students weights if they get a letter from family md and parents that the weight and height are normal for this person and has been stable for say the past 12 months. </p>
<p>Yale Health cannot release her records without her permission and attempt to refute her claims. It’s entirely possible that she’s withholding information from the article and that she did, in fact, meet criteria for anorexia nervosa. Does Yale Health have a say in having a student continue in school? I don’t think it should. The answer seems to be “yes.” </p>
<p>Let’s imagine, however, that she does not meet criteria. Does Yale Health have a role in taking preventative measures for a student they define as “at risk?”</p>
<p>“I find myself still dwelling on idea that there are no visibly overweight kids at Yale. What would that be like if you were struggling with your weight?”</p>
<p>I wouldn’t say no one overweight, just no one obese. It would be incredibly tough, especially if you came from a community where your weight was considered normal, or even beautiful. That weight uniformity has to play a role in sustaining eating disorders for students trying to recover.</p>
<p>Calling BS on the “nobody overweight at Yale” meme. I’ve visited the Yale campus dozens of times over the last decade, and the students range from thin to normal to heavy, just like anywhere else. I’ve interviewed MBA students and undergrads, and they show up at Career Services with the full range of variation in size, looks, ethnicities, etc.</p>