Christina Ricci: I was a teenage anorexic

Former child star Christina Ricci has spoken out about struggling with anorexia as a teenager.

Anorexia nervosa, one of the most prevalent eating disorders amongst young people today, affects around one percent of the population.

Star of the new movie Speed Racer, Ricci talked to Independent.ie about her former illness.

“I was a teenager going through adolescence and at one point, I had an anorexia phase and then I kind of ballooned,” she said.

It may be too obvious to point out that spending her formative years in the Hollywood film industry could have affected this, but the majority of young sufferers have no contact with this kind of world. Hopefully, more celebrities will speak out about eating disorders and discourage the trend for extreme eating habits.

Christina Ricci added: “Vanity is unnecessary. I’m the vainest person but I have found a way to let that go so I can have fun. You have to make a decision that you’re not going to be crippled by insecurities.

“I feel my body now is the adult Christina and it’s what I should have come to a long time ago, if I hadn’t been screwing around with my body so much.”

Source: Indepedent.ie