Eating Disorders: Health Story

Aired on Lifetime Television
Sunday, February 11 and March 25
Show 406

"Gymnastics was all I ever wanted to do, but even though I was small, they wanted me to lose weight," says Cathy Rigby McCoy who was a 1968 Olympic participant at the age of 16. Cathy went on to have a successful acting career, but kept a terrible secret. She had developed an eating disorder. Almost 10 million females and one million males in the U.S. have an eating disorder. "Most eating disorders begin innocently as symptoms of something else. It's a way of coping with stress or anger or sadness," says Lynn S. Grefe, chief executive officer of the National Eating Disorder Association. Early diagnosis and intervention with psychotherapy and medical attention enhance recovery. Cathy sought treatment and overcame her eating disorder. "You start talking about the problems in your life and the less importance they take. There are more important things in my life now," says Cathy.