Mend Your Diet

I think my friend is crash dieting & I don't know what to do!?

My friend is 15 yrs old, 5'4", and 135 lbs. She is not overweight at all, but her mother keeps telling her she has a "poochy stomach." Now, she's barely eating, she skips breakfast and throws away most of her lunch. Instead of eating, oftentimes she just drinks water. This past week she's been extremely tired, irritable, moody, low-energy. Occasionally she'll make a comment about how I'm thin. I've confronted her and told her she's not fat. I even calculated her BMI to prove it. I've told her the risks of crash dieting, and told her she needs to be careful she's eating enough to be healthy. She denies being on a diet at all though, and says she's simply "not hungry." She gets mad at me whenever I try to talk to her about the dangers of crash dieting. I'm really worried, but how am I supposed to help a friend who doesn't want help???

Public Comments

1. you sound like a really good friend! she should really appreciate you! i would tell an adult or look up local anorexic or bulimic talk groups! i really hope this will help your friend!
2. Some kid in my school does the EXACT same thing, except their mom doesn't tell them they're fat. I don't really know what to do for the kid in my school, but maybe you should all to her mom and tell her that she is not helping her daughter what so ever. Even tough her mother only talks about "how fat her stomach is" you could try to use reverse physiology and tell her that dieting isn't the answer and all she has to do it sit ups, she can still eat what she wants, just do sit ups.
3. you sound like a great friend! this is a serious problem, talk to your parents about it or her parents or both. she may be mad at you for betraying her at first, but she will see how much you have helped her in the long run. She will thank u!