Could Amanda Bynes star of the Show “What A Girl Wants" and "Hairspray," and the TV series "What I Like About You" be heading down the road to becoming the next victim of anorexia nervosa? According to ABC News published yesterday, Amanda Bynes is between 5’7 and 5’8 and she wants to weigh just 100 pounds.
According to the height and weight scale produced by HealthCheck Systems, a woman who is 5’7” should weigh 123-163 pounds; which is dependent on a small, medium, or large frame. This chart does not even consider a weight of 100 pounds. It starts with a height of 4’10’indicating the body weight should be between 102-131 pounds.
Amelia McDonell-Parry writing for ABC News used the Body Mass Index (BMI) to calculate Amanda’s weight. She found, “Bynes' BMI of 18.8 is just barely in the normal weight range. At her goal weight of 100 lbs., her BMI would be 15.7, which is considered severely underweight. That Bynes is striving to be this thin suggests to me that she may suffer from some sort of body dysmorphia, which may have or could still lead to dangerous eating, exercise and restriction habits.”
Scolastic.com adds Courtney Cox, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Calista Flockhart, and Lea Thompson to the list of actresses who are or have been close to being dangerously underweight. The site goes on to say,” In 1988, Christy Henrich (gymnast) was told by a U.S. judge that she had to lose weight in order to make the Olympic team. She died of multiple organ failure, as a result of anorexia, at the age of 22. Furthermore, Heidi Guenther (ballet dancer) was told “by a theatre company that she was too chunky. She was 5'5" in height and 96 lbs. in weight. She developed an eating disorder. She collapsed and died at the age of 22 due to complications from her eating disorder.”
The famous singer of the 1970s Karen Carpenter brought the attention of the media to the dangers of anorexia and bulimia. She was at the time a role model for American youth. “The emergency call came at 8:51 am on February 4, 1983. Karen Carpenter's mother found her naked and unconscious on the floor of a walk-in wardrobe closet in their home in Downey, California. She was rushed to the hospital where attempts were made to save her life, but within an hour, Karen Carpenter was dead. She died of a cardiac arrest caused by the strain that the anorexia had put on her heart. At the age of 32, she was 5'4", but weighed only 108 lbs.”
Amanda Bynes may be playing with her health as well. Perhaps she already has one of these mental disorders. One thing is for certain; she needs help.
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