Richard Quinn / Special to The Star Dawn Theodore speaks at a candlelight vigil at Grant Park in Ventura to kick off National Eating Disorders Awareness Week. Theodore is a specialist in the treatment of eating disorders. About 11 million people suffer from eating disorders in the U.S., estimates show.

Jennifer Russo stood under a cross high above downtown Ventura on Sunday afternoon and recalled her 15-year struggle with eating disorders. It's a battle that left her weighing 75 pounds and near death.

Though she eventually found solace in religion and the support of family and friends, Russo said she was unwilling to change until she learned she was pregnant.

"I'm here only by the grace of God," Russo told a crowd of a couple dozen people gathered at the Grant Park cross to mark the beginning of the annual National Eating Disorders Awareness Week, which runs through March 1.

About 11 million people, mostly women and girls, suffer from eating disorders in the United States, estimates show.

Eating disorders include anorexia (self-starvation and excessive weight loss), bulimia (bingeing followed by purging in the form of vomiting, fasting, overexercising or using laxatives, diuretics, insulin or other drugs) and compulsive overeating or some combination of the conditions.

Up to 20 percent of those with serious eating disorders will die without treatment, according to Anorexia Nervosa and Related Eating Disorders Inc., a nonprofit organization.

Russo said her pregnancy was a miracle given the stress her body was under. She has now been healthy for 10 years.

The health problem comes as millions of people are obsessed with their looks and bombarded with messages about how important it is to be svelte, speakers said.

Such messages are absorbed even by children in first-, second- and third-grade, said Tamie Gangloff, who like Russo, also is recovering from an eating disorder.

"Estimates are that 42 percent of first- through third-graders want to be thinner," Gangloff said at the candlelight vigil at the park. The event is one of several being held in Ventura County this week to focus attention on eating disorders.

While many people think that someone has to be extremely thin to die from an eating disorder, those with such disorders are in danger of dying no matter what they weigh, Gangloff said.

Fashion models, who are held up as paragons of beauty, typically weigh less than 98 percent of American women, Gangloff said.

No wonder that so many people, especially women, suffer from eating disorders, she said.

Many people with eating disorders also have low self-esteem and depression.

Despite the seriousness of the disorders, they can be overcome, the speakers said.

Gangloff said there is plenty of help available.

The National Eating Disorders Association can be reached at 800-931-2237 or on the Web at http://www.NationalEatingDisorders.org.