Tale of 3 women; anorexic, obese, and fit, why did they turn out so different?

The only thing they have in common, that makes them ordinary, is that they are all female, like 50% of the population. Their life experience differentiates them. Low self-esteem? Abuse? Men nagging them about their weight? Genetics?

This is an easy one….the fit one does all the shopping, cooking and chores. Jabba the Hut sits at the table all day eating all the food while elbowing the skinny thing away from the table.

I agree with @BarnacleBill. Life experience has a ton to do with how one “turns out”, as does genetics. Genetic makeup does contribute to one’s body type – there are some people who have very high metabolisms and seem to be able to eat and eat and never gain an ounce, and there are some who eat healthy and exercise, but always seem to carry a little extra weight.

However, even if your hypothetical girls are triplets, it’s very possible that they’d end up with different body types. They could make different choices regarding nutrition and exercise, they could have varying levels of education on the subject, and they could be differently affected by peer/media/societal pressures, among about a million other things.

The skinny one would have died in infancy 100–200 years ago, the mid-one would have been normal weight, and the fat would would have been a little bit bigger than normal.

What is your obsession with women’s bodies and body issues? Seriously. I want to understand.

Its all about how they see themselves and how they look to solve social problems.
The skinny one thinks her problems will disappear with her weight.
The overweight one takes the ostrich approach and buries her face (problems) in food. (or it can just be puberty isn’t kind to her since she 16)
The fit one figures out that staying active and eating well is the best approach to staying healthy. She is probably more concerned with her over all health than what her body looks like. She is more likely to solve problems the old fashion way. Through hard work.
Most are probably taught how to solve or not solve their problems by their parents.
Doesn’t help that society glorifies anorexic models on tv, 24–7. Making the anorexic girl feel fine about persuing bone status and making the heavy girl feel like she will never be able to obtain such a status, making their conditions worse.

Why is your question specific to women? What about three men: a skinny one, an average one and an obese one? What differentiates them?

@Cruiser I’m the Jabba, I have to teenage boys, they eat all the food!!

@JustJessica I hear you there….my grocery bill is growing like my 2 boys are!! I have to make dinner for 4 people just to feed them!!

@TheOnlyNeffie What is your obsession with women’s bodies and body issues? Is it really my obsession? Whenever I catch an episode of Oprah, Dr Phil, someone else, check out oat the supermarket, get a newsletter from WebMD, catch an article in Redbook, or some other women’s magazine the weight of female public figures and or celebs always seem to be there in one shape or form. They rarely speak of men in answer to @marinelife comment. Maybe it is a self-feeding circle, the media hones in on the weight problem of celebs and starlets, causing girls to feel they need to starve themselves creating another story for the media and thus making more girls feel they are too fat and on and on. I have never had a subscription to a men’s orientated magazine where I can ever remember dieting tips in it etc. I have had subscriptions to women leaning magazine and those tips came quite often. If you ever catch Intervention on A&E you might see quite a bit of anorexia but it is 98.9% females, pound for pound it seems most males don’t stress over weight that much. Until you know the cause you can’t create a cure. You never wondered why gals who seem to be quite equal in intelligence etc come to different and illogical conclusions over food and eating. Or maybe I should take the path of least resistance and say the anorexic is delusional and the chubby girl is just lazy and have no self-control? Or maybe I could do something different like actively investigate and ask questions as to why seemingly equal young women can come up with totally unequal results.

Yeah, so others are obsessed about it, as well – don’t add to it.

And ignoring it makes it go away? Maybe if we ignore gobal warming, domestic violence, homelessness, and the treatment of the mentally ill they will cure themselves too