Jazz Jennings is opening up about an eating disorder that has caused her to gain a significant amount of weight over the past two years.
The I Am Jazz star posted a current photo of herself to Instagram on Friday, along with a photo of what fans of her show know her to look like. In the photo caption, Jazz confessed that she has been struggling with a binge-eating disorder that has caused her to gain nearly 100 pounds since 2019.
“As many of you have noticed, over the past few years, I have gained a substantial amount of weight,” Jazz wrote. “I suffer from binge-eating disorder, a disease in which I’m not only addicted to food, but I eat it in large quantities. My binging, along with an increased appetite I experience from some of the meds I’m on, has caused me to gain almost 100 pounds in a little less than 2 years.”
View this post on Instagram
She stated that she was posting the side-by-side comparison photos in hopes that making her struggle public would keep her accountable in her battle to lose the weight.
“I’m posting this photo because it’s time for me to address my weight gain and hold myself accountable,” Jazz wrote. “I’m ready to change my ways; I’ve been saying I’m ready to turn over a new leaf, but I’m running out of trees now. I’m ready to take the initiative and create positive changes when it comes to my health and body.”
‘I Am Jazz’ fans watched as Jazz struggled to lose 30 lbs. in order to undergo her 2018 gender confirmation surgery. Jazz lost the weight and had the surgery, later telling People that she felt she had overcome her binge-eating habits.
“I had to look at food as something different than what I was looking at it as,” she told the magazine in February 2019. “Because I used food as a comfort for my emotional struggles. I was a binge-eater. It was really bad. I would go to McDonald’s, get 20 chicken nuggets, three chocolate chip cookies and a large fries.”
This time around, Jazz says she’s working with a team made up of professionals, as well as her friends and family.
“I know I have the power in me to lose the weight, and I intend on sharing my progress with all of you,” she wrote. “Love you all, and thanks for understanding the battle I’m fighting to win.”
Jazz’s brother, Sander, expressed his support in the comment section of Jazz’s post.
“You are so resilient and can do anything you put your mind too,” he wrote. “I believe in you and will be by your side every step of the way.”
Later, Jazz posted some throwback photos of herself, as well as some current ones, to Instagram Stories.
She thanked her fans for their support following her post.
“Thank you all for the positivity and love,” she wrote. “I’m so touched by all of the support.”
In recent months, Jazz has not posted many photos to Instagram that show her full body. In April, though, she posted a video showing herself running and received plenty of hateful comments and remarks about her weight gain.
“Please Jazz, don’t get fat!” someone wrote. “That’s sad.”
“How’d you gain so much weight?” Another person commented.
Earlier this month, Jazz announced that ‘I Am Jazz’ will return to TLC for a seventh season.
(Photos: Instagram; TLC)
37 Responses
I LOVE Jazz and all the positivity she’s put into the world!
Her friends and family are so supportive and show how families should be with their children!
I know she’s had her struggles but let’s give her some credit for confronting them and trying to better herself!
We all have setbacks, all you can do is take each day as it comes and reset when you need to!
Go Jazz!
I know she said she had to walk away for a while due to her depression and anxiety. This has to go along with that and it’s a bit concerning. I’m glad she’s got a team helping her this time. Mental health is no joke.
Does she have PCOS like Hulk? Is that why she is heavy?
stay lit
So, changing the sex she was born with surgically, didn’t fix all her problems. Imagine that!
Imagine being so bitter that you have to comment on someone’s mental health struggles, Karen.
You’re a fine one to talk about calling others a “Karen”, lol.
Calm yourself Karen.
Now is definitely the time to start taking care of your body. Twenty, thirty-plus years down the road, you’ll be glad you did.
I wonder if a lot of this is meds. Chaz Bono gained significantly amount of weight after surgery , before he slimmed down. Heartbreaking ?
This is really sad, I hope she’s ok. She always seemed like a good person, and I hate to see her struggling.
Wow. This is not what happy people do. The photo in the article of Jazz’s bare tummy shows significant stretch marks, like you can get in pregnancy due to fast skin expansion. She has gained all this weight in a short amount of time! I hope that she has a therapist to talk to about what is driving her weight gain. Is she still attending college at Harvard?
The cynical part of me is wondering if this is an old photo, and that she’s done/doing a weight loss dvd, out in time for the start of a new season ??♀️ That aside, it’s very brave to continue to put herself out there, and share images where she’s feeling low. I just hope it’s not a ratings thing and she’s getting proper help with fitness and nutrition from experts- not her weird brother, over the top mother, or frozen faced grandma…
???
Bother me.
I don’t think many of us would post a photo of significant weight gain, I will absolutely credit her for posting herself and trying to increase awareness of her disorder.
Multiple symtomps of the same problem. Poor boy.
She’s not a boy, don’t disrespect her
DNA has entered the chat
DNA has nothing to do with gender. feel free to google that.
Your spelling is a symptom of your problems.
Live up to your profile name.
You can criticize somebody without misgendering or body shaming them. It’s not fun to gain a bunch of weight, and she is holding herself accountable for her weight gain and also working hard to try to get herself healthy again. What have you done lately to be a better person?
Ellen please change your name. I don’t want to be associated with you.
My poor grandmother would turn over in her grave to know another person named Ellen believed this way about a child. Especially a child with issues, she’s trying to help herself but with people like you who are small minded has to be a rough life her. Sadly she is braver than you.
Really really sad. They never addressed why she wanted to be a girl at a young age. Most likely it was a phase. But now, she’s struggling with her identity and its manifesting through an eating disorder. So sorry her parents failed her…?
Parents failed by not addressing the issue AND by doing a TV show.
Aww girl- you will find your way. Be gentle on yourself and give yourself time.
You mean lobbing off your penis didn’t fix all your issues? Imagine that,…now what?
Well, that was pretty mean. Keep in mind she was also a child when she made that decision.
Yes, a CHILD. Why in the world are people advocating for children to have the “right” to do this to themselves?
There is a world of difference between honoring exploration and flat-out exploitation. My heart hurts for Jazz; the adults in her life have failed her miserably.
We can’t be so open-minded that our brains fall out!
I am empathetic to anyone who feels mis-gendered; IMO one deserves the right of taking time to explore and examine before being encouraged to make such big life decisions.
ok, so you get my point….she was a kid who made that decision, and her parents are responsible for allowing a child to make a permanent decision on (possibly) temporary feelings. Not only is reading fundamental, but so is comprehension.
I also think letting children make these decisions that will change their body irreversibly is absolute madness.
Stay in your lane, Lexii, I *was* agreeing with you! Reading comprehension, indeed…
That’s a crude and unkind way to put it, but I agree that surgically changing your body won’t help if you are, at your core, unhappy and running from who you really are. Changing your outward appearance won’t fix it. I say we teach kids to be happy in their own skin, whatever it might look like, and don’t tell them that if they don’t conform to particular gender stereotypes then they must be in the wrong body. They don’t get these ideas from thin air, and teaching kids if they like pink they should cut their penis off to ‘make them a girl’ is just wrong. Imo.
I mean, yes.
This person has numerous of unanswered issues and its always going to be one quick fix after another.
I have a binge eating disorder too. Overeaters Anonymous, Eating Disorders Anonymous, and other twelve-step programs can help. Binge eating disorder is deadly, just like bulimia and anorexia.
Sad,that must be a real tough time right now, hope they can make themselves happier and healthier soon