Dear Kym,

You raise yet another troubling aspect these shows. Today I saw another casting call looking to get candidates for the show.

The call asks for women who are or look as if they are between 16 and 25.

I understand the legal problems that might develop from using children under 16 on these shows. But I wonder what the justification is for leaving out women 26 and up?

I work with adult women in their mid 20's, 30's, 40's, 50's, 60's and 70's who work toward recovery from an eating disorder.
This entire population is left out, perhaps because women of these ages don't pull in the high audience numbers as young women.

I wonder how teens with bulimia would respond if they saw that life long toll eating disorders take on a person.

But more to the point, I'm concerned for the girls and women on the shows and the girls and women who auditioned and didn't make it. I don't see how their recovery can be enhanced by this experience, and I can see how this experience can trigger their symptoms or even deepen their reliance on their eating disorder.