British columnist Victoria Coren takes aim this week at celebrities who discuss the details of their diets, and the media which insists on asking for the details of their diets, and how this creates a culture that only enforces dietary panic:

You or I might read about a Hollywood star explaining: "I kick off the day with an egg-white omelette, a banana for elevenses, a salad for lunch and a piece of grilled fish in the evening" and think that the lady is advertising a strict regime. But no. That is a film star trying to convince us that she lives life to the full, stuffing herself constantly with delicious treats.

Coren contends that celebrities are functionally anorexic, which of course makes a person obsessed with food. "If a supermodel tells you she eats sushi, that is because it's the most fattening thing she can think of." (Note: I am drawing a distinction between "functionally anorexic" and "clinically anorexic," although I admit that there may not be one. In my mind, someone who is "functionally anorexic" is a normal person who has decided to never eat anything. Whereas someone who is "clinically anorexic" is suffering from a psychological disorder which compels them (against their own will and better judgment) to shun food. ) Seen in this light, the functionally anorexic actress is treating the media like her concerned parents. Which is to say, she lies to them about what she eats, boosting her caloric intake to a realistic (if not normal) level. She knows that her parental surrogate will be upset and angry at her if she confesses that she ate nothing for breakfast, nothing for lunch, and a grape for dinner. But she has to explain away her dry hair and visible throat cartilage, so she can't just say she ate steak and a baked potato. So she concocts a plausible fake meal plan. People often wonder why the parents of anorexic children allow themselves to be fooled so easily. Shouldn't it be obvious that their child is lying about their food intake? But it turns out that we ourselves are similarly being fooled by Hollywood. And considering the level of attention we pay to celebrities' weights - just check the stands at any grocery store for dozens of comments on celebrity weight, positive and negative - we have to take the blame for this. We insist that our actors and actresses be slim and free of body fat, and we don't care how they get there. Maybe we feel like that's why they make all that money - that the money and fame is their compensation for starving themselves while running on a treadmill for four hours every day. The problem, of course, is that by telling this to Hollywood, we are also telling it to our children. Put down that Oreo if you want to be pretty like Jennifer Aniston! I'm convinced that Coren is dead on with her assessment of celebrity caloric consumption, but I think she gets it wrong when she blames the media. If we weren't already obsessed with food and cellulite, we would never have created the demand for a physique so thin it can only be maintained by functional anorexia. I wish we would stop talking about it, but I don't think we CAN, and I'm pretty sure that's our own damned fault.