06:56 PM CST on Tuesday, December 28, 2004

By Janice Williamson / 11 News

It's the time of the year when most people are trying to cut back and eat less, yet millions of young people are in a food fight every day.

They practice self-starvation as a way to stay thin.

Each note Shannon Cutts plays, each song she sings, is a testament to her strength. "I used to fall asleep each night counting calories in my head. It was soothing to me," says Cutts, an anorexia bulimia survivor.

The singer was anorexic from the age of 11 . Shannon dieted to be accepted by her middle school peers.

"I went from130 to 90 pounds. I was an overachiever," she says.

For 15 years the disease took over her life.

What concerns her now is where young anorexics are turning to find support for what they call " a lifestyle."

"Problem is we're helping people die here," she says as she calls up a Web site.

The Web sites are called "Pro ana", "Pro mia, and "Pro ed". They are online support for anorexia, bulimia and eating disorders, as indicated by the second part of their names.

"It's almost like digitally someone has taken a beautiful woman's face and put it on a concentration camp victim's body. They're so glamorizing killing your body," Cutts says as she views a photo on one of the sites.

Many of the sites contain pictures described as "thinsperation". Runway models and super thin celebrities have become the body type which some with eating disorders aspire.

Dietician Karen Brewton finds the trend disturbing.

---------- (()) 11:25:46 "Most of the celebrity pictures in the magazines of beautiful models are doctored," Karen Brewton, clinical dietician.

It worries her that teens are aspiring to something that isn't even real.

"They're consuming such a small amount of calories that they're losing body fat, and when there's no body fat left, they're losing muscle and that's what's becoming life threatening," says Brewton.

A serious aversion to be putting on the pounds isn't a stage, it's a mental illness. Experts say without treatment, 25 percent of people with a serious eating disorder will die.

Detailed instructions on how to do just that are just a mouse click away.

"They're getting support. They're getting information. They may learn things they haven't thought of. They support each other in how to deceive their parents, and how to hide," says Peggy Vincent, a behaviorist at The Methodist Hospital.

Shannon Cutts has launched a counter Web site. She counsels young people about the dangers of eating disorders and how to beat the urge to abuse themselves.

"I don't want anyone else to give away 15 years or five minutes to this disease. It doesn't deserve it it's not worth it," Cutts says.

The Shannon Cutts of today till has a tough time coming to terms with the girl she used to be.

"I don't know who she was. I have tremendous compassion for her. I will never forget her, and I will use her story to bring hope and healing to anyone who needs it. But she is not me. I'm a new creation, Cutts says proudly.

At 33, she is finally hitting all the right notes.