Dear Aunt Jen,

I have a friend, “Matilda,” who is very concerned about her weight. She is very thin, but she’s always saying she’s fat. She never eats lunch and she wears big, baggy clothing so we can’t really see what she looks like. I think she is anorexic, but when I said that to her, she reacted angrily and told me to mind my own business. What do you think I should do?




– Anxious in Antalya

 
Dear Anxious in Antalya,
I understand this situation. I was once accused of being anorexic myself. I was also very angry and annoyed, but mostly because I was not anorexic. I was just really skinny. Your friend, Matilda, sounds like she has really low self-esteem. There are many girls in the world that have this problem. What might help your friend is if you made her realize that she was thin by going to Wal-Mart and showing her how fat people really look. You could also tell her that she is beautiful the way she is, and it is not healthy for her to live this way. By doing this to her body she is destroying the temple of God. I would suggest therapy to her and tell her some of your issues so she feels like there is someone she can relate to and know that you are there for her.