I recently wrote a Facebook post asking about sexual abuse and the link to obesity. I thought I might get a few messages, but was surprised when more than 150 people — including a few men — shared their stories.
“I was sexually abused by a babysitter at age 5, and by my cousin from ages 8 to 13,” said Sarah Fitzsimons, 38, from Colorado. “I always felt like my parents didn’t do anything to protect me.”
Fitzsimons says the focus in her family was the way she looked. She recalls being referred to as “the thin, pretty one” out of five siblings. After the abuse started, she used food as a coping mechanism, she said. “It’s what comforts me. It was the one thing I could control.”
[For more on this story by James Fell, go to http://www.chicagotribune.com/...sity-1114-story.html]
Comments (0)