Singer tells of battle with anorexia nervosa

Press, 7 May 1983, Page 14

Singer tells of battle with anorexia nervosa

Worldwide attention is now being focussed on anorexia nervosa — sometimes called the simmers’ disease.

A Hollywood singer who is a victim of the disease has been in New Zealand this week. She is promoting her book about her 10 years as a sufferer, and the way she found to recovery. Cherry Boone O’Nefll is the daughter of singer Pat Boone, and is a singer of some repute herself. She was the eldest of four daughters, beautiful and talented, making a successful entry into show business at the age of 14. Like other sufferers, she tried to be perfect. Her book — “Starving for Attention” — documents her 10 years as an anorexic, what it felt like, and what it meant to her as a person. The statistics of anorexia nervosa are frightening. Five to 15 per cent of known victims starve themselves to death in spite of treatment. In the United States it is estimated more than 1 million young women suffer from it — about 0.4 per cent of the total population. Living with an anorexic is like living with an alcoholic. In the past it was thought the illness was limited mainly to adolescent girls from middle to upper-class families. But there are now records of victims Of younger than 10 years and older than 40 years.

The incidence in males has increased, but there are at least 10 women sufferers for every man. Of the about 80 per cent who survive one-third continue to remain chronically anorexic, one-third remain border-line anorexic, and one-third recover. The news media have speculated whether the Princess of Wales was suffering from anorexia nervosa.

Singer Karen Carpenter, of The Carpenters, died from it. Cherry Boone O’Neill was a friend of Karen Carpenter’s, and nearly died herself. For 10 years she tried to be perfect —, slim and gorgeous. She exercised vigorously and dieted strictly, when she put on weight she induced vomiting and took harsh laxatives.

Eventually she was hospitalised, weighing only 37kg (sst 101 b). Her marriage nearly collapsed, and she was so starved her reproductive system stopped functioning, as happened with women in the concentration camps in the Second World War. Her book tells of her condition and her recovery. With the support of her husband, Dan O’Neill, and her parents she gained acceptance of herself as a worthwhile person. She also found comfort and help in strong religious beliefs. She was eventually cured,

entered the Roman Catholic church, and had a daughter in 1981. The book also contains letters and comments from her parents, her psychiatrist, and her husband. Cherry Boone O’Neill is visiting New Zealand to promote her book and talk to those suffering from or involved with anorexia. She has temporarily given up her singing career to work with anorexia. “Starving for Attention” tells of her compulsion, felt first as a child, to be “perfect” in every way. She began strict dieting at the age of 13 years, which soon escalated into

fasts and vigorous exercis- . ing. She tells of the diet pills that not only curbed her . appetite but helped her stay • awake, to keep up with her ‘ school work while on con- . cert tours. ? She tells of the compulsive gorging, forced vomitting and abuse of laxatives ; that became almost her _< daily routine. •; By the age of 21 years her weight was only 37 kilo- " grams and, rushed to hospital and near death, tells . how she still “felt fat.” ; * "Starving for Attention," ;• by Cherry Boone O’Neill, is published by Dove Communications. $12.95.