Should Skinny Celebs Come With Warning Labels?

Posted on Apr 6th 2010 4:00PM by Martha Edwards

Filed Under: Diet & Weight Loss, Celebs & Entertainment

"Smoking can kill" is a standard warning that adorns cigarette packages across the world. Now one concerned mother claims that candid snaps of too-skinny celebs should come with a similar health message to alert people of the dangers of extreme dieting. And she has every reason to be campaigning for the cause -- her daughter died of anorexia.

The knobby knees and jutting rib bones that dominate the glossy pages of tabloid magazines these days are the target of Rosalind Ponomarenko-Jones' crusade. After watching her daughter literally waste away, she's convinced that the emaciated celebrity role models her daughter looked up to played a big role in her demise. "Every time I pick up a magazine, only to be assailed by the emaciated form of another 'twiglet' celebrity, I feel not only profoundly sad, but also overwhelmingly disturbed.The fact is, these super- skinny celebrities have inordinate influence over our teenage children," she told the UK's Daily Mail.

Ponomarenko-Jones watched as her 19-year-old daughter Sophie's heart gave out after a massive battle with anorexia. She was just 49 pounds when she passed away and couldn't even be convinced to drink water. She was delusional and too weak to even lift her head. Sophie only agreed to be admitted to hospital after she started to lose her sight from being so malnourished.

Ponomarenko-Jones acknowledges that the unhealthy body image touted by so many celebrities isn't the only reason her daughter starved herself to death, but she has no doubts that it certainly contributed to it. "[Sophie] was an avid reader of the kind of glossy magazines that obsess about body image," she said. "She soaked up their 'advice' about diet and weight loss. She bought into the fiction that slimness equals success."

And she especially takes issue with how celebrities make slimness seem glamorous. She wants magazines and photos to list the dangers of extreme skinniness: "Being this thin could lead to death,' [the warning] might say. Then it could list the symptoms - shriveled ovaries, brittle bones, wasted muscles and foul breath. Not remotely alluring or sexy, are they?" Nope, not one bit.

Environmental influences are listed as one of the main causes of anorexia, but they're certainly not the only one -- personality traits and mental health issues like obsessive-compulsive disorder are strongly linked to the condition and definitely can't be blamed on Nicole Richie or the Olsen twins.

So do you think it's fair to point the finger at celebrities for the body issues of those who idolize them? Would warnings even make a difference?

Anorexia is common among celebs -- check out how one "Jersey Shore" star battled her personal demons to overcome it.

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Tags: anorexia, celebrities, eating disorders, EatingDisorders, Rosalind Ponomarenko-Jones, RosalindPonomarenko-jones

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)

angiects 4-07-2010 @ 2:50AM

I think it's absurd that this woman is blaming celebrities for her daughter dying. I think it's heart breaking that her daughter died at the age of 19. I also have a 19 year old daughter. But her daughter only weighed 49 pounds when she died. She didn't get that way overnight. Why wasn't something done before she got that far? I'm not going to sit here and say I know what she went through as a mother watching her daughter go through that because I don't. But I do know I would have moved heaven and earth before I let my daughter waste away like that.

lzllon 4-09-2010 @ 8:40PM

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christine 4-09-2010 @ 8:57PM

As a parent of 3 young girls, they do see that thin beautiful & all the young stars are thin, they do not show many, if any, that are big or even average. I can see how this women may have not noticed for a little while, when someone has an illness to cover they will wear bigger clothes, eat normal if front of family,then afterwords vomit. this CAN go on for a while before it it noticed. I do agree however more can be done to inform young girls about this disorder & to help prevent it from happening to any other child. My heart goes out to this women & her family & I applauded her for all her efforts to bring this to light for all parents who have children.

MomHadIt 4-09-2010 @ 10:18PM

You are absolutely right. She wouldn't agree to go to the hospital. She was so weak.....They should have had her committed to a hospital when she was under 75 lbs. What parent doesn't take their kid to a doctor soon enough, or let her get below 100 lbs. I am 4'10". When I weighed 93 lbs, I couldn't get in the military. I had to weigh 98. I was struggling with gaining weight. Now, I am older and cannot get below 130. This mom should have been more alert to what was going on. She was an enabler, much like the spouse of an alcoholic or drug addict. If you don't make them get help, you are allowing them to succumb to their illness.

arianerocks 4-09-2010 @ 10:58PM

You guys can't judge this woman this way. First off she didn't completely blame celebrities for the way her daughter died but she has a valid point when saying that it could have contributed. I have a friend who turned anorexic and would carry a picture of Lindsay Lohan when she was scary skinny around with her and when ever she got the urge to eat she looked at the picture and it stopped her. We finally got her help. And I am not saying that Lindsay Lohan was at fault for my friends eating disorder but her size sure didn't help my friend get better. Also you say this woman was an enabler that is incredibly ignorant of you, you don't know what she tried to do the girl died at 19 which very well means that the anorexia wasn't noticed until she was 18 or even 19. It can be hard to figure out at first. But if the mom was 18 when she found out the daughter was of age and could have very well resisted therapy, or hospital visits. So don't say the mom was a bad parent that is just wrong you don't know what happened!

Sarah 4-09-2010 @ 11:16PM

I am an struggle with eating disorders and have for many years. I am 5'3" and very broad shouldered (I have to wear tall tops to cover my shoulders) and when I got under 100lbs I had a nurse tell me that I could be checked in against my will at that time. I don't think that it should be blamed on the parents directly. It is a choice I make everyday whether or not I am going to eat/or throw up. No one makes me do it. It is actually a control issue. Sometimes when a person feels they have no control over their life they can atleast control this. I am older though and can see that. At 19 ladies are still very impressionable and it doesn't help to see the skinny stars. I used to look at some of them and say "well I am not that skinny so I can still lose more weight."

brenda 4-09-2010 @ 11:44PM

you have no idea what you are talking about. These girls look up to these celebs and that is a resposibility you take on when you become a celeb and want to be known. It is a shame that as a mother you have such a shallow look at what this mom is trying to say. I hope and pray that your daughter doesn't ever get a low self esteem and make a poor choice. don't ever blame a parent whose has lost a loved to such a horrible death. sometimes once the damage is done you as a parent can't help them. be kind it is not the parents fault i chose when i went through it and yes one does look at these people as people that are deemed as perfect. luckily i was caught in time and my parents could help me, have some compassion to what she is feeling.

melafyaiyai 4-09-2010 @ 11:58PM

How in the world do you know anything about this situation other than what you just read? Did it talk about any possible out-patient treatments she might have undergone? Did you read about whether the mother had even seen the daughter within the last several months? It is very common for teens to move away after they graduate high school - how do you know she was near her mom? Have you ever even had an experience with a child who has anorexia? Making such judgements regarding someone about whom all you know is what you read in an article like this is truly ignorant and mean.

Victoria 4-10-2010 @ 2:41AM

It is easy to judge this Mother without knowing all of the facts. One thing is certain, the grieving Mother has lost a daughter because of how society views women. Pick up any fashion magazine and on every cover there is a feature on weight loss. The idea of putting a warning label on photos of "too thin" actresses and models is a brilliant idea. It could change the whole message of being thin and possibly teach all women that such vanity could lead to death.

CINDI 4-10-2010 @ 5:07PM

As the saying goes, you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make them drink!

Simzee 4-10-2010 @ 5:43AM

Actually, this Mother should sue American society because this society dictates that all women be anorexic thin. You all know it's true because there is no one here that would be seen with anyone heavier than one hundred pounds. Anyone over one hundred pounds in America is considered FAT.

watdafuk 4-10-2010 @ 6:00AM

Was wondering how long it was going to take before some asshat would start with the sue somebody crap,It`s always somebody else`s fault.

jake jacob 4-07-2010 @ 4:11AM

yes - I think it's ridiculous how this society is addicted to thinness.
I grew up in Ghana and the fatter the bigger.
I was a vegetarian and a marathon runner and SICK allllllllllll the time. Now I have a small pouch - mostly from eating too late at night - but I walk my dog, do yoga and swim a few days a week and NEVER get sick any more.

courtgrab 4-07-2010 @ 8:32PM

As a recovering bulimic, I can testify that the media plays an ENORMOUS role in the programming of young, impressionable female minds. While America's obsession with thinness and celebrity is not the ONLY factor in assessing an eating disorder, it definitely plays a huge role. It did with me, and many, many other eating disorder patients I know. I love the idea of a "warning" put on celebrity photos. But what I love even more - is extensive education on eating disorders, and the dangers of becoming too thin, symptoms of eating disorders, what to DO to get help for you or someone you know (because MANY MANY people dont' know how to help or what to do)etc., beginning at elementary school ages. Eating disorders affect MILLIONS AND MILLIONS of Americans every year. And our media and celebrity most definitely plays a role.

Crimsonrayne 4-10-2010 @ 2:05AM

My father LOVES my mother. She is the most beautiful creature he had ever seen, and he made sure that his daughters knew that. Because if this, I grew up thinking "Marilyn Monroe" types are beautiful, and thought of myself as too thin!!! Between dads not showing their wives love and respect, and moms not having good self image and self esteem, I think that children are not being shown true beauty at home, so they look somewhere else for what is beautiful.

Louise 4-09-2010 @ 8:14PM

How can people actually think these too thin females, and males, look good! The bones protruding from their collar bones and thru clothes look really tawdry.
No, I am not overweight and have a problem; it is that too many young people look up to these celebrities. And don't even get me talking about children born out of wedlock who think it is the coolest! It isn't

PPitka 4-09-2010 @ 9:02PM

I agree with this article completely. I struggled with anorexia for 12 years (starting when I was 11) and I still sometimes see the skinny people in magazines and get envious. Then I remember how horrible all that dieting really is. I think it's a shame we subject our youth to this type of brainwashing and I wish there were more ad's like dove showing REAL people.

Judy 4-09-2010 @ 9:13PM

I don't think this mother is so much trying to blame celebrities for her daughter's death as someone said before. I definitely believe her cause is a noble one, and certainly one that should be took on. So kudos to her for doing it. I remember when I was a teenager and how people would stew over the fact that models were too thin and giving teens a bad self image. That was 10 years ago, and things have gotten far, far worse since then. I picked up an issue of Teen Vogue that my teenage niece had and was appalled by the girls I seen in it. These models have went far beyond "too thin"... they are sickly, emaciated, zombie-looking things. It disgusts me. Luckily, my niece, who is very athletic, is disgusted by these images too, but not all girls are the same, and so many look at these images of bone thin models and pick themselves apart compared to them, which can be very dangerous. This sort of image should not be marketed to our daughters, and no matter what this mother's motives are and whether or not celebrities really influenced her daughter's death, her cause is a noble and just one and I think we all should stand up against this.

Alex 4-09-2010 @ 9:18PM

Now 18, I was overweight since childhood. Finally, after seeing all the super-buff and in-shape guys in the media, I decided that I just had to be like them. So you know what I did? I started eating more fruits and vegetables, watching my portions, and exercising. I've been at my current level of fitness for just over 2 years now, and I couldn't be happier. My resting heart-rate is 58BPM, I just finished my first marathon in 3:35 (not too shabby if I do say so myself), and I'm sitting at 5% body fat. I have a six-pack and biceps just like my childhood idols. And all it took was the media finally convincing me to stop being a fat slob and get my act together. I'm the healthiest I've ever been and look forward to staying this way for the rest of my natural life. Thank you skinny celebrities!

plafrinea 4-10-2010 @ 12:14AM

Good for you! Losing the weight and becoming stronger and healthier, as you obviously have, is super! And yes, there are celebrities who are "buff" - those are the good role models. The ones who are too skinny are the ones of concern. Healthy celebrities (particularly women) who are not harassed because they aren't bony are pretty rare. The papparazi reports of a size 6 (for example) woman being fat are heard by young women, and only serve to make them more insecure if they are already feeling that way - and how many teen girls don't have to fight for their self-image to be positive?! As a teacher in a small school dominated by male students, I've probably taught about 10 girls in the past 3 years. Of those 10, 3 have fought anorexia or other self-injuring mental illness, and all 3 have focused on the media's portrayal of what a beautiful woman is. A size 0 is too big in their eyes. Pretty sad.

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