Valeria Levitin, known as the world’s thinnest woman, shares a moving story about her difficult road to overcome anorexia and the worrying trend of people trying to mimic her skeleton appearance.
The 39-year-old, who was born in Russia but now resides in Monaco, opens up about getting disturbing fan mail from young girls who want to look like her since she is so skinny. In an interview with The Sun, she bravely takes a stance against anorexia and declines to unintentionally serve as an inspiration for a dangerous course.
Valeria’s mother’s worries about possible obesity throughout her adolescence led to restrictive diets from a young age, which set the stage for Valeria’s turbulent relationship with her body. Her teenage years of stringent dietary restrictions—eliminating sweets and carbohydrates—were motivated by her desire for approval.
Entering the modeling world compounded her problems, as she was met with comments that she was still ‘too overweight.’ At twenty-four, her weight of just six stone, made dancing unsafe for her because of possible injuries.
Over the next ten years, Valeria’s weight fell to a dangerous low of 3 stone 10 pounds, despite seeing over thirty medical professionals. Her body continues to be intolerant to some foods, so she cannot eat them, and she has been so long without bread that she no longer remembers the taste.
Valeria has been single for ten years and finds it difficult to form relationships as a result of her illness. She argues that traditional medical treatments have not resulted in weight growth and attributes the underlying cause to an alleged “discordance between the body and the soul.”
Valeria now relies on supplements to reduce her chance of bruises and carefully steers clear of circumstances that could cause her to trip and fall. She is thinking about going back to Moscow, where she feels more attuned to herself, and she has always wanted to become a mother through surrogacy.
Valeria says she wants a family, but she also says she has to be well enough to think about having children first. She declares, “I’ve never given up on anything in my life, and I’m not about to give up now,” standing firm against anorexia. Her experience serves as a potent wake-up call to exercise caution and awareness in the face of the unsettling attraction of excessive thinness.
