This needs to be addressed because there are lots of people who think the same way as Kim K, she just got more criticism because she's a celebrity. I am going to use this moment of celebrity ignorance as a platform to educate the masses. Firstly, I think this article needs to be written for the shocked, not the directly offended, so excuse me ED community as I use this painful moment to raise awareness.
I will start with the obvious rebuttal, NO ONE HAS TO LOOK LIKE THEY HAVE AN EATING DISORDER TO HAVE AN EATING DISORDER!
That is the most stupid assumption! But, for people who don't have an ED, they would assume that all anorexics are skeletons with skin and I don't even know what they think bulimics look like. There are plenty of different body types that get admitted into eating disorder treatment centers because they all have the same dangerous mindset. What makes EDs even more fatal is when the sufferer tries to get help but no one believes they have a problem because they don't "look" like they have an ED. It would be like telling the kid that cuts that he doesn't need help because he's just doing it for attention, so the kid feels the need to do more drastic self-harm to prove a point and deal with this compacted pain.

De-legitimizing someone's mental illness has dire consequences as a culture and the likelihood of the person with mental health issues seeking more dangerous coping mechanisms. Because, if the medical community and people that are close to you won't help you or won't recognize you need help, what are you supposed to do?
Either you lose hope and eventually kill yourself (intentionally or unintentionally) or you try to get people to admit you need help so you can find a cure. Nobody wants to die of a mental illness, and there's already so much stigma around getting help. Insurance companies won't cover it until it's grave enough, literature and TV shows dramatize and romanticize it and the medical community treats it like your using your symptoms to fish for drugs.
I cannot emphasizes how frustrating it is to have to convince your family, friends and doctors that you are sick and need help, like c'mon guys this isn't something I'm proud of, I just don't want to die from an eating disorder and waste all the pain I went through as a cosmically meaningless experience.

Is it that hard to get help for an ED? Yes, it's ridiculously expensive and there is no guaranteed cure.
Most of us (who want to recover) just want to be "normal" again. After three years of active recovery, I for one, know I will never be able to eat food normally, but, by approaching it like a chronic, deadly illness I can manage the symptoms. After intensive inpatient and intensive outpatient and many realizations from God and my loved ones I finally do not feel like I am in immediate danger of relapsing. 2018 has been entirely bulimia behavior free (no binging and purging) but I still restrict and emotionally eat. I'm hoping to remove all anorexic tendencies and exercise abuse out of my life by 2019, but who knows? I'm strong for getting help and smart for knowing how weak I am and how serious eating disorders are. They have a very strong hold over your happiness, mind and life choices by using your body as a means to control you.

So,perhaps, one of the worst things about Kim K's comment was that she took it like a compliment, I guess she assumes most models are anorexic and models are the ideal female body shape so looking "anorexic" means you look enviable. But that comment also reveals she has never had the tormenting ED mindset that drives the sickness. Most people get into anorexia as a means to an end but then catch a lifelong mental illness. Or they use it to cope with trauma or other mental afflictions.
Anorexia promises you to be skinny but it also takes away your happiness with your weight.

What was even stranger about Kim K's comment is that it's not even accurate. Like, anorexics don't even want to look anorexic! They want to look thin, slim and skinny.If the disease progresses enough to the point where they are at a life-threatening weight, the very last thing you should do is say something like, "wow you're so skinny you look anorexic, what's your diet trick?" The "diet trick" for anorexia is debilitating self-hate,perfectionism, exaggerated insecurities, fear of disappointing others and excruciating anxiety followed by phases of depression.

So, what should you say to someone who "looks anorexic"? Absolutely NOTHING that has to do with their physical appearance. If you say, "you've lost weight" you will be encouraging them to try to better themselves through starvation. If you say, "you look sick at that body weight" you will just make them feel hopelessly ugly and like a problem. As a former anorexic I can tell you, we certainly don't want any attention drawn to our bodies because we hate our bodies so much, in fact I remember spending a lot of time wishing I could disappear.

This leads us to the question, "what should you say to someone that you are concerned about having an eating disorder?" You should try to not let them isolate and try to get them to talk about what they're going through. Eating disorders thrive in isolation and secrecy. But, realistically, most people don't have to knowledge to help someone afflicted with an eating disorder so it's really best to get the person you care about into professional help like a therapist. You should certainly never accuse them of bringing an eating disorder upon themselves or manipulate them into force feeding because, although, the solution would seem to be eating, it's not a sickness of the stomach but one of the mind. It's a trick to focus on the body when the root problem is in the mind. Your body just gets really damaged in the battle between the mind and the heart, who you want to be and the expectations of others.

Even though I've gained 30 lbs and don't "look like I have an eating disorder" anymore, I can't get rid of the mentality, it's a constant battle but I'm not the only one. I see tons of people struggling with eating disorders and I can't do anything because they're in denial or they can't afford treatment. I feel like an idiot telling someone recovery is possible and then finding out they can't afford it. I feel like a hypocrite for telling someone with an eating disorder that they deserve to eat and then battling the same restrictive impulses at dinner.
Eating disorders do not have a look, they have a death rate.It's time to stop passively aggressively glorifying disordered eating and profiting off of insecurities and it's time to start treating the mind with the same respect we give the body. Mental illness IS a real illness!
With eating disorders, what you see is not as dangerous as what you cannot see.

Sincerely, 10 years of dealing with EDs.