No one can tell by looking at someone if they have an eating disorder, or if they do not have normal menses, of if they have bone thinning or other health issues.
I 100% agree with your comment.
I've said in other threads before, but this statement applied to me when I was a teenager at my figure skating peak. When I quit skating at 18 years old, I was about 5'4" and weighed 94 lbs. I ate whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted - Tim Hortons donuts and cappuccinos for breakfast before early morning practice, McDonalds or pizza after school but before practice started, big meat-filled dinners at home, evening snacks with Coke to drink...
I also ate big lunches at school, which is where the issue came in. I would eat a big lunch, then go to the washroom to wash my hands before class. Well apparently all people saw was a skinny girl who ate a lot then went to the washroom, and assumed that of course I couldn't naturally be skinny like that, I must be bulimic. The school guidance counsellor got involved and started pulling my friends into her office to ask them about my eating habits and health.
The accusations made me incredibly self-conscious. I couldn't help being skinny, and I wasn't doing anything to make myself skinnier, but my peers and teachers were judging me for my body. Some people are just built differently, and assuming someone has an eating disorder just by looking at them is extremely harmful.
All that said, I do not condone micro-management of athletes eating, or public weigh-ins (luckily, though my coach and I had our differences, she never focused on my eating, and any weighing I did was on my own at home, and only a few times a year.)
