'Fattest Teenager' Now Deathly Ill With Anorexia
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}A British woman whose struggle with being overweight led to her being the youngest person in the world to have a stomach bypass is now at the other extreme, with her life threatened by anorexia, according to UK media reports Tuesday.
Malissa Jones, dropped from 448 pounds to just 112 pounds following the operation in January 2008.
Accompanied by revealing photographs showing folds of skin hanging from her body, the Daily Mail reported doctors have warned the young woman, from Selby in North Yorkshire, that she could die in six months unless she increases her food intake.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}In an interview with British magazine Closer, the 21-year-old said she would urge anyone who wanted to lose weight to do it without surgery.
Clinical psychologist Dr. Funke Baffour said there may have been psychological reasons for Jones' obesity that had not been dealt with before the operation.
"It's not surprising she's swapped one emotional relationship with food for another," Baffour said. "Perhaps subconsciously Malissa is so afraid of becoming obese again, she's stopping herself from eating."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}