- Valeria Levitin, 39, developed the eating disorder as a teenager after years of her mother weighing her as a child
- Taunted at school about her weight and told she was ‘too fat’ to be a model
- Says she is horrified by the letters she receives from girls wanting weight loss tips – and that her emaciated figure should be a severe warning about the dangers of extreme dieting
- Describes being anorexic as ‘lonely, unattractive and repulsive for the people around me’
This is the desperately sad story of the thinnest woman in the world who weighs just four stone after years of extreme dieting.
But rather than feel sorry for herself, Valeria Levitin says her emaciated figure should be a severe wake-up call for girls wanting matchstick-thin figures.
At 5ft 8in, she should weigh between 9st and 12st, according to NHS advice. Instead, she is a tiny 4st 3lbs, less than half of what her lightest healthy weight should be.
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Valeria Levitin is a walking skeleton after years of anorexia reduced her weight to just four stone
Valeria aged 19, on holiday in Mexico. She developed the eating disorder as a teenager and has now chosen to speak out about how the illness has ruined her life
What is most worrying is that Valeria, originally from Russia but who now lives in Monaco, says she gets fan mail from girls desperate to copy her skeletal look.
The 39-year-old told The Sun: ‘I have received emails from young girls who want me to teach them how to be like me.
‘All the letters I’ve had are from women, mainly in their twenties, who see me as some kind of inspiration.’
As a result, she has taken the brave step to speak out about her condition and campaign against anorexia – and says she refuses to teach young girls how to die.
She says she wants to share her story to prevent other people falling victim to the same fate, saying anorexia has made her ‘lonely, unattractive and repulsive for the people around me’
Valeria, pictured as she is today, was banned from ballet at the age of 24 over concerns she would injure herself as she weighed just six stone
Valeria, who developed her eating disorder as a teenager, has chosen to speak out about how the illness has ruined her life.
She says she wants to share her story to prevent other people falling victim to the same fate, saying anorexia has made her ‘lonely, unattractive and repulsive for the people around me’.
Valeria, here aged 11, believes the roots of her condition lie with her mother, who was terrified she would grow up obese like her relatives
She believes the roots of her condition lie with her mother, who was terrified Valeria would grow up obese like her relatives. Even as a young child, her diet was curtailed.
ONE EXAMPLE OF HER ‘FAN MAIL’
Hello dear Valeria,
I am 23 and weigh 8½st and I do not like myself this way. I want to look skinny like Thumbelina. Nobody can persuade me not to diet, even though I acquired gastritis and pancreatitis.
I have tried all kinds of diets but they all yielded only temporary results. On my present diet I do not feel hungry… I cannot return to my old way of eating because I fear I will gain weight.
All my relatives are telling me it will hurt me, that I will be a victim of anorexia. I am a little worried that one day I will be faced with a problem of critically low weight and I want to know when to get worried. When did it happen to you?
Valeria was weighed often to ensure she hadn’t gained any weight, such was her mother’s drive for perfection.
At 16, and weighing 10st, Valeria moved to Chicago with her parents. Desperate to fit in at a new school, she thought that if she lost weight, she would be accepted and liked.
As a result, she restricted her diet even further, cutting out sugar or carbohydrates.
The irony today is that, having cut out certain foods for so long, her body is intolerant to them and could not process them even if she wanted to.
When a classmate made a cruel comment about Valeria’s figure, she became even more determined to lose weight.
She said: ‘We were playing football and during the game a man said, “I know how we can win. We need to put Valeria’s big ar*e in the goal”. It shattered my whole world.’
By the time she was 23, Valeria’s dress size had plummeted from a healthy size 12 to a tiny size six.
Deciding to become a model made the situation even worse, as she was told she was still too fat to succeed. As her weight continued to plummet, by the age of 24 and weighing just six stone, she was banned from dancing over concerns she would injure herself.
It has been so long since Valeria ate bread that she can no longer remember what it tastes like
For the next ten years she saw more than 30 health specialists, though once dipped to a dangerously low 3st 10lbs. Today, even if she wanted to eat certain foods, she would be unable to.
Many foods have to be avoided because they don’t agree with her body any more. It has been so long since she ate bread that she can no longer remember what it tastes like.
Her illness has also made her life a very lonely one. Single for a decade, she says relationships are difficult as she is unable to do the normal things that couples do, as going to restaurants.
Now, she believes she cannot be cured simply by going to a doctor, having never gained weight after seeing a specialist.
Aged 23, she decided to become a model, but suffered further set-backs after being told she was too big
Rather, she says the problem is more about a ‘lack of harmony between body and soul’.
Today Valeria takes supplements to counter the risk of bruising and avoids situations where she could fall.
And she believes the solution could lie in moving back to Moscow – where she feels more at ease with herself – and trying to fulfill her lifelong dream of becoming a mother via a surrogate.
For the incentive of wanting a child could be a trigger to get healthy again, she says. It is something she feels she can do if she can get herself healthy.
Now 39, Valeria says she is desperate to get better and fulfill her dream of becoming a mother. She also wants to serve as a warning to others about the dangers of extreme dieting
She said: ‘I would love to have a family because I feel I have so much to give. But obviously it wouldn’t be right to have a baby when I am ill. It wouldn’t be fair on the child.
‘I want to stand up to anorexia. I’ve never given up on anything in my life and I’m not about to give up now.’
Valeria would like people suffering from eating disorders like hers to get help. You can find support by going to b-eat.co.uk