jews & food - a love/hate relationship - part II

Now comes the hate part.

It's interesting that while food is so much a part of our culture, that thinness is too. In other cultures that condone fatty food (think KFC - I hope this example doesn't come off as racist), bootylicious bodies are celebrated.

But for some reason, Jewish girls and eating disorders seem to go hand in hand today.

Some people blame the Shidduch system (where a girl's dress size is a normal field on a 'resume').

But I never went to schools that frum. And yet I remember how in junior high and high school, the end of lunch and recess was when all the stalls in the little girls' room were taken. And not because anyone had to relieve the typical bodily functions. (hmm... maybe that was too much info -hope that doesn't make YOU barf). Almost everyone I knew had some type of eating disorder. Myself included.

But maybe even in our MO non-shidduch world, we were still part of the whole Jewish 'binge and purge' culture. We learned to binge on Shabbos, purge the rest of the week.

I can't totally blame our faith for our unhealthy activities. Maybe if we adhered more strongly to the Rambam's teachings then we would be in a better place.

Eating disorders are a part of the 'outside' world too. Maybe that's where it comes from. Maybe we haven't done a good enough job of insulating ourselves from those negative sources. (are the women in Kiryas Yoel less thin because they don't watch America's Next Top Model?)