Re: anorexic mother who weighs less than daughter, 7

First of all, Eating Disorders match particularly well the criteria for fake / unfalsifiable / devoid of aetiology "mental diseases" posited by, oh, such unimportant people as Foucault and Szasz. But let's not focus on that. Everyone here already knows I am pro-ana and pro-mia and that I would certainly date an Ana or Mia Princess.

It is of particular concern to me that most of the comments are variations on "take the kid away from Mom". I don't have to be Goethe to spot a problem - and a large one - with such reaction, and especially so automated as it looks in the comment section. I don't think children should be irreversibly with their parents no matter what. But what I think is that the children themselves should be the ultimate arbiter to whether they want to stay with them or not - NOT the commenters on a newspaper article, and not even a bureaucratic agency (actually, I might prefer the commenters on a newspaper article to a bureaucratic agency, but that's a topic for another day). And if the kid doesn't say they want out, they should not be forcibly separated, period. The only exceptions I can think of are children with some mental handicap that leaves them little or unable to express; or too young to meaningfully express to general society. Neither of which applied here, of course. The parent isn't perfect (and I'll go to there next) but no parent is. What matters is not an ideal and utopia of perfection, like commenters and bureaucrats alike seek, but if the kid feels ok in spite of the imperfections. They should, frankly, go jump off a bridge already, because I bet their life isn't perfect either.

That said, I still disapprove of what Mom is doing. Convincing yourself you're a sinner is one thing, and ultimately a personal decision. But she is overcompensating. Comfort eating is as worthy of being called an Eating Disorder as Ana and Mia are - and yes, like Ana and Mia it can kill you too! And what she is doing is essentially that: encouraging Daughter to eat immoderately just because she is over-moderate. The picture is obvious; the girl is overweight, not grossly so, yet, but if the article is truthful, it's just a matter of time before that happens. It's no less living vicariously than pushy parents are in sports or performing arts.