Product Details

• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, NTSC
• Language: English
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Wgbh Boston
• VHS Release Date: March 20, 2001
• Run Time: 60 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000059HIW
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #195,902 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

A 14-year-old looks at her image and says, "I see somebody that is fat and ugly and a disappointment." She is like a growing number of young American girls afflicted with such eating disorders as anorexia nervosa and bulimia. Tormented by an irrational fear of being fat, an estimated eight million young women are torturing themselves—sometimes to death.

It’s no wonder eighty percent of women are dissatisfied with their bodies. Driven by the waif-like images flooding the media of popular actresses, models, dancers and celebrities—who can weigh nearly twenty-five percent less than the average American woman—young girls are obsessed with an unattainable image of perfection.

Dying To Be Thin introduces you to students, ballet dancers, fashion models and other young women who are seeking recovery or have conquered their disease. Plus, you’ll discover how leading eating disorder specialists are making dramatic advances in the diagnosis and treatment of these two devastating diseases. Go behind the scenes with NOVA for a courageous and candid look at America’s body obsession.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Realistic Portrayal of Eating Disorders, Their Causes and Treatment (Compared to THIN), April 7, 2007

By 

Elaina - See all my reviews

This review is from: NOVA: Dying to Be Thin (DVD)

As a former anorexic, and after watching Thin by Lauren Greenfield, I was pleasantly surprised by this documentary. While perhaps not as visually artistic and with subjects not as shockingly thin as Greenfield's, this piece is ultimately much more even and balanced. It gives a little bit of the history of anorexia and hulimia, briefly discusses the biology of people prone to eating disorders, touches on the trigger points that lead to eating disorders (familial and cultural), shows treatment options and portraits of women who've recovered or are recovering (though not all in this order).

Unlike Greenfield's work, it does not show the drawbacks to treatment facilities (bad influences, competition, learning tricks from fellow patients) nor does it show the difficulty of recovery. It does, however, depict many of the underlying reasons why people develop eating disorders and some of the consequences of eating disorders. By far, the highlight of Dying to Be Thin was the interview with plus-size model (and former anorexic) Kate Dillon--who was, herself, one of my inspirations for recovery. Back in the late nineties, Kate helped me realize that beauty comes in all shapes and sizes, but we Westerners try to package beauty in a one-size-fits-all mold, which just isn't real or realistic. In a previous article, Kate said, "We all have different bodies, so why are we trying to make them all look the same." Go Kate!

If you want to watch Thin, definitely watch Dying to Be Thin with it. For more information on what it's like to be trapped in the hell of an eating disorder, read Lauren Greenfield's companion book to the DVD, also titled Thin. And for information on what causes eating disorders and how people deal with life after them, read Gaining: The Truth About Life After Eating Disorders.

17 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very well done., January 2, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Nova - Dying to Be Thin [VHS] (VHS Tape)

I had first watched it on the Internet when it first came out, but than saw it again in an eating disorder unit. I found it to be very straight forward. It speaks of the facts concerning eating disorders without any of the other garbage. It gave me a better persepective of what was down the road for me and what the eating disorder had already done.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Interesting and informative., January 22, 2004

By 

botti fan "Gloria" (MI, United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Nova - Dying to Be Thin [VHS] (VHS Tape)

This video shows exactly what it's like to have an eating disorder. I now have a better understanding. I'm not a sufferer of anorexia or bulimia, but I do know that this shows what can happen if you are a sufferer and effective ways to treat the disorders. I watched this because psychology is my area of interest, but I would recommend this. It could be a very valuable teaching tool.