Eating disorders are serious mental illnesses that can have significant impacts on both physical and mental health. Anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and binge eating disorder are the most common officially recognized eating disorders. However, many people exhibit disordered eating behaviors without meeting the full diagnostic criteria for one of these disorders. In recent years, there has been increased attention on the prevalence of disordered eating, especially among young women. Social media influencers in particular have faced speculation about engaging in unhealthy dieting and exercise habits. One such influencer is Cleo, a popular YouTuber and Instagram model. In this article, we will examine the evidence surrounding whether or not Cleo struggled with an eating disorder.
What are the symptoms of an eating disorder?
Eating disorders are characterized by abnormal eating habits that negatively impact health and wellbeing. The main symptoms of eating disorders include:
– Restriction of food intake leading to extreme weight loss
– Binge eating episodes involving consumption of large amounts of food
– Purging behaviors like self-induced vomiting or laxative abuse
– Obsessive calorie counting and fear of gaining weight
– Body image distortion and excessive influence of weight/shape on self-evaluation
People with eating disorders are preoccupied with food and their body weight. Their disordered eating patterns disrupt normal functioning and relationships. Eating disorders carry significant health risks like malnutrition, heart problems, infertility, and even death. Psychological issues like depression, anxiety, and substance abuse frequently co-occur with eating disorders.
What evidence is there that Cleo had an eating disorder?
There are several signs indicating that Cleo may have struggled with disordered eating:
– Extreme thinness: Cleo has a very slender frame and low body weight which she maintains through restrictive dieting. At 5’5″ tall, she claimed to weigh just 97-100 lbs at times. This puts her significantly below the healthy weight range.
– Problematic weight loss tactics: Cleo has admitted to engaging in potentially unhealthy behaviors to lose weight like extended water fasting, using diet pills, and excessive exercise.
– Preoccupation with food/weight: Cleo’s content heavily focuses on what she eats, her exact daily calories, her weight fluctuations, and staying thin. This indicates an obsessive relationship with food and body image.
– History of disordered eating: Cleo has opened up about her struggles with restrictive dieting and negative body image since her teenage years. Eating disorders often start in adolescence/young adulthood.
However, without a professional evaluation, we cannot state definitively whether Cleo met the criteria for a clinical eating disorder diagnosis. But many of her publicized behaviors aligned with disordered eating patterns.
What eating disorder may Cleo have had?
Based on the limited information available, if Cleo did have an eating disorder, the signs point most clearly to two possibilities:
Anorexia nervosa
Anorexia is characterized by:
– Extreme calorie restriction leading to significantly low body weight
– Intense fear of gaining weight
– Body image distortion – seeing oneself as overweight
These align with Cleo’s public persona focused on thinness and her low weight despite having a naturally slim frame.
Orthorexia
Orthorexia is an emerging eating disorder involving an unhealthy obsession with only eating “pure” or “healthy” foods. Signs include:
– An extreme focus on consuming very clean, healthy, or “righteous” foods
– Avoiding foods perceived as unhealthy or impure
– Significant distress when consuming perceived unhealthy foods
Much of Cleo’s content highlighted eating in a strict “clean” or orthorexic manner which could indicate struggles with orthorexia.
What impact can eating disorders have?
Eating disorders can severely impact both physical and mental health. Potential effects include:
Physical health risks:
– Malnutrition
– Low heart rate, blood pressure, and body temperature
– Loss of bone mass and density leading to osteoporosis
– Muscle loss and weakness
– Fainting/fatigue
– Impaired immune system
– Digestive issues
– Tooth decay
– Irregular or loss of menstruation
– Infertility
– Heart failure
– Organ damage or failure
– Death
Mental health effects:
– Depression
– Anxiety
– Obsessive-compulsive disorder
– Body dysmorphic disorder
– Substance abuse
– Self-harm
– Suicidal thoughts or behaviors
The mental strain of an eating disorder along with the physical impacts from malnutrition and compensatory behaviors can profoundly damage overall health. Full recovery is possible with professional treatment and support, but relapses are common. Eating disorders have the highest mortality rate of any mental illness.
Could Cleo’s eating disorder have promoted disordered eating in fans?
Eating disorders are complex mental illnesses caused by a combination of genetic, psychological, and social factors. However, some research indicates that exposure to thin-ideal and pro-diet content on social media can contribute to disordered eating in viewers, especially young women.
Potential risks include:
– Normalization of extreme dieting, thinness, and body image preoccupation
– Misinformation about realistic health, nutrition, and fitness
– Development of obsessive social media use focused on food and weight
– Low self-esteem, body dissatisfaction, and disordered eating thoughts/behaviors
– Desire to mimic unhealthy behaviors promoted by influencers
If Cleo did have an untreated eating disorder, her large young female audience could have been negatively impacted by constant exposure to her disordered messaging about achieving and maintaining an underweight body. Impressionable fans may have felt pressure to emulate Cleo’s restrictive dieting, compulsive exercise, and fixation on thinness at the expense of their own health.
Conclusion
While we cannot state definitively that Cleo suffered from an eating disorder without a professional evaluation, many signs point to Cleo experiencing significant struggles with disordered eating and body image distress. These included behaviors and attitudes aligned with diagnoses like anorexia nervosa or orthorexia. If Cleo did have an untreated eating disorder, she faced severe risks to her physical and mental health over the long-term. In addition, her content and public persona promoting diet culture and thinness likely contributed to disordered eating thoughts and behaviors in her large audience of young female fans. This highlights the urgent need for influencers to share nutrition information responsibly and advocate for mental health treatment when needed. Eating disorders are deadly illnesses that require compassionate medical care, not glamorization on social media.