For women in the U.S., thinness equals beauty, feminity and status. For those who become pre-occupied with thinness, the final part of the equation can be death. And they are caught up in exercising and in restricting. And what happens is that they will get electrolyte imbalance and they'll pass out. They're very compliant.
Anorexics grow up, are extremely compliant.
They're ideal kids. And then all of a sudden they stop eating and nobody knows what to do. More than five million females suffer from these illnesses and thousands die every year. Maurath says the mortality rate is particularly high for anorexics. And then this is sort of what happens, is that individuals stop eating.