TAKE A BREAK FROM DIETS

International No Diet Day (INDD) -- WOW! What a great idea! No diet must mean candy, chips, ice cream, pie, bologna, fries and anything else high in calories and fat will be "legal" foods for dieters for just one day, right?.

Sorry, but that's not the purpose of the May 6 event. No Diet Day began in 1992 guided by Mary Evans Young the director of the British anti-diet campaign Diet Breakers. This campaign targeted the negative effects of fad dieting and offered solutions to more healthful living.

INDD remains necessary because the media, the medical community, family, friends and society in general constantly send out the same message -- fat is ugly and thin is in.

These messages have caused a global obsession with dieting. So what does happen on No Diet Day? Hopefully, public awareness of the dangers linked to being obsessed with attaining that "ideal" weight: emotional damage which leads to eating disorders, physical damage by constantly depriving the body of what it needs and the financial havoc that comes from trying the latest "fad" to get thin.

In a national study conducted by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, results showed as many as 32 percent of 8th through 10th grade students skipped meals to lose weight. Another 22 percent fasted, 7 percent used diet pills and a combined 8 percent either purged after eating or used laxatives.

According to school nurse, Sue Marchbanks, even students as young as those in 6th grade worry about their weight and whether they have the "look" to fit in.

Why the obsession with how we look? Sharon Sterrett, a paraprofessional at Central Junior High School shared her views. "Adults sometimes don't understand how a little comment can be taken to heart by these teenagers who often suffer from low self esteem anyway," said Sterrett. "Something as innocent as -- Are you sure that's the size uniform you want? -- isn't always heard the way it is meant. To an insecure teen, this means -- He thinks I'm fat!"

Sterrett said fashion designers, advertisers and magazines aimed at teenagers focus on the extreme when it comes to thin.

"Fashion designers use rail-thin models to show off their latest creations," said Sterrett. Those with low self-esteem feel they must do whatever is necessary to fit the perfect mold. Eating disorders are often the result.

Even catalogs carrying plus-size clothing often do not use plus-size models. People in the spot-light of success rarely fall into the "heavy" category. Discrimination does still exist in employment, health care, education and housing. Overcoming these and numerous other obstacles is a goal of INDD.

"Look in the Mirror and Say I'm O.K Day would be more appropriate," says Sterrett. "That way we don't have to mention that ugly word DIET at all."

Whatever we find when we look in the mirror must be dealt with in a logical, responsible way and that's the message INDD is really trying to convey, she said.