CELEB CHITCHAT

When you are 5-foot-1 and your weight has been the subject of media scrunity for the past couple of years every ounce counts. When Nicole Richie learned that she had gained six pounds in six months she was very happy with herself. Richie constantly denies that she has an eating disorder and that she is seeking treatment for one. However, the exact state of Richie’s health remains a mystery and caused enough concern that her rep recently announced that the size-0 actress, whose weight slipped to an estimated 87 pounds this summer was undergoing treatment for her weight issues. Though Richie won’t confirm the nature of her treatment is has been reported that she is seeing a doctor in California.

The one person that is most relieved is her father Lionel who has been linked to an intervention that got Richie started on this whole kick. The day before the announcement, the elder Richie spotted comforting his crying daughter at lunch at the Beverly Hills Hilton. A close pal once linked romantically to Richie has said that if she wants to gain weight she will, she can do anything she puts her mind too. We just hope that’s the case.

Is the celeb obsession with weight loss out of control? Well look in any magazine and you might have to say yes. It seems that today more than ever celebs are shrinking by what seems like that minute. This fad is rubbing off on their fans.

The question that is on everyone mind is: What is healthy and what is sexy cut to the heart of a renewed debate that is currently raging everywhere from message boards to movie sets to modeling agencies. What makes this controversy new is that for the first time both designers and stars have been put on the defensive: In Hollywood, style makers like Kate Bosworth, 23, and Nicole Richie, 25, are setting troubling new standards for thinness. Today is seems as though whoever is thinner gets the job and the competition is enormous.

Today the scrutiny of thin stars is more than ever. Nicole Richie was so fed up with the constant examination of her frailness that on Sept. 25 she issued a statement on her Myspace.com page. So how long is this thin trend going to last?? It could be awhile because thin seems to be go no where.