Profiles of Passion: Part I

For many sophomores, thinking of an idea for their Passion Project – an idea about which they will have to write a paper, make a presentation, and do a service project, all for a grade – is difficult. For sophomore Casey Robinson, however, it was simple.

“I, like a lot of other people I know, hear about dieting all the time,” Robinson said. “I hear about unhealthy dieting… just as often as I hear about healthy dieting, and when unhealthy dieting – like crash diets – are thought to be totally harmless, it encourages others to try them as well,” Robinson said.

Robinson defines crash dieting as “extreme nutritional deprivation, often through low calorie intake, or the cutting out of food groups as an attempt for weight loss.”

“The dangers involved with crash dieting are extensive,” Robinson said. “Physically, crash diets put a lot of strain on your heart and damage your blood vessels, increasing the risk of several heart diseases… They also greatly affect your emotional health, often making you irritable when you’re hungry and guilty or ashamed when you’ve broken the diet. [Another] major danger of crash dieting is that they are often the gateway to a full blown eating disorder.”

An important component of the passion project is the service component, where students must contribute to their community by working to solve the issue they’re researching. For her service component, Robinson plans to increase awareness about crash dieting. “Teaching younger grades about the dangers of crash dieting is what I’m looking towards doing. Being aware of the effects of crash dieting has the most impact on keeping from trying them,” she said.

But is crash dieting really an issue in Edina? According to Robinson, the answer is a firm yes. “Dieting at any high school is a common phenomenon. I don’t think anyone at Edina has ever gone, ‘I’m going to go on a crash diet!’ but I think all too often dieters’ ‘healthy diets’ end up being very restrictive and limiting, like… crash diet[s]. Especially in high schools, because we are less educated on exactly what a ‘healthy diet’ consists of,” Robinson said.