Her death also points a finger at Paynesville. As much as people would like to ignore problems like these and think they only happen elsewhere, her disease started here, triggered by her wanting to look just right for her boyfriend at the prom. Paynesville's no better or worse. Heather's parents don't blame the words that sent their daughter on her first diet. They blame the culture that made such words common.
Kids are so vulnerable to that, and it's happening so early now.
According to the most recent Minnesota Student Survey in 1998, Paynesville's female sixth, ninth, and 12th graders were more likely to consider themselves overweight than the state averages. Nearly half the senior girls in 1998 considered themselves overweight, nearly a third of the ninth grade girls considered themselves overweight, and nearly a quarter of sixth grade girls did. What's more, of the high school girls, some who didn't consider themselves overweight still skipped meals. This implies that some girls who considered themselves to be at the right weight still dieted. To look at current attitudes among students, the Press recently interviewed a group of seven high school girls, organized by school counselor Jackie Campbell, to talk about body image, why dieting is cool, and what it's like to compete with popular images like teen idol Brittany Spears.