If I said, “People with eating disorders worry about fat,” you’d probably ask me what rock I’d just crawled out from under. Usually, the gateway to an eating disorder is a fear of fat -- and a diet (followed by the next and the next and every other behavior meant to get rid of fat). Given that eating disorders are far more complicated than a desire for thinness, and brain and biological factors also play a role, still the more anti-obesity craziness, the more fertile ground for a latent eating disorder.

So we have to ponder the truth about obesity. Is it really the severe health crisis the public health sector has been decrying?

If you’re stocking up on back-to-school supplies, a crucial item is eating disorders’ awareness. You may be trying to zip up that extra-ten pounds of camp/vacation-noshing flesh. Or you just might want to look great as you reconnect with friends and vow to have a good year.

But if you’re trying to take off weight by unhealthy means such as fasting, purging or using diet products (a.k.a. disordered eating behaviors), you may be on the school bus to trouble.