with all respect, i would actually disagree with the above post...of course it is important to tell her she is beautiful from the inside out, but too much focus on ur niece's appearance, symptoms, etc, could make her feel very self-concious about it and less willing to keep on opening up to u...she needs to feel like she has an identity beyond her disorder...secondly, i don't believe that eating disorders have much to do with weight or physical appearance at all...that may sound strange, but they're things used to mask up the real problem. i used to be anorexic and believe it or not, i thought i was attractive prior to the disorder and knew that i was thin already...it is about control (the irony is that u completely lose that in ur search for it...). there are much bigger problems, insecurities and fears going on inside ur head and that is what is really worrying her, not whether she is fat or not.