CSIs Are Too Skinny

Did you think Catherine Willows and Sara Sidle look like two healthy women? Think again: according to the official CSI web site, they might both be suffering from anorexia nervosa.

At least, that's what Canadian clinical psychologist Barbara Virley discovered when she was browsing the site. "Among information listed on the personnel profiles page, each fictitious agent's height and weight is posted," Virley wrote to the Ottawa Citizen. "I was saddened to note that, according to this information, the bright, successful women characters (presumably not the actual actors) on the CSI show are also grossly underweight."

Virley used the height and weight information indicated for each character to calculate their body mass index, a measurement used by health experts to determine whether someone is in a healthy weight range. The BMI is defined as someone's weight in kilograms divided by their height in metres squared, with a healthy BMI being somewhere between 20 and 25. The male characters on CSI: Crime Scene Investigation all were of a healthy weight, but both female agents on the show only had a BMI of around 16.

For medical experts, this low weight is one of the diagnostic criteria for anorexia nervosa. "Among other symptoms related to being underweight, the women could be experiencing extreme and chronic fatigue and a marked inability to concentrate," Virley wrote. "And they certainly would not be functioning as the hard-working and capable women that the show portrays them as until they received treatment to achieve and maintain a healthy weight."

The characters on CSI: Miami fare better than those on CSI. According to the data on spin-off's official site, all men have a wealthy body mass index. The fictional Emily Procter has a BMI of 18.6, while Alexx Woods can boast to have the healthiest weight of all the female CSIs with a 19.7, still falling somewhat under the healthy weight range, but much closer than her CSI counterparts. But for Virley, that likely won't be enough to mollify her - until CBS changed their web site, she announced she "won't be watching CSI anymore."

The original letter from Barbara Virley can be found here on the Ottawa Citizen site. Thanks go out to Elyse's for this.

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