Today marks the 40th anniversary of the premiere of the classic sitcom “Growing Pains,” and many of us remember all of the media attention that actress Tracey Gold received as she sought treatment for anorexia nervosa toward the end of the show’s run. She is known as the first actress to “go public” with an eating disorder. In 2003, she told her story in “Room to Grow: An Appetite for Life.”

“My illness was never a troubled Hollywood teen actor thing,” she wrote. “They were the same pressures that are faced by every girl in America.” She said she takes full responsibility for her behavior; however, constant prodding from the show’s producers, as well as “fat jokes” from her TV brothers being a regular part of the storyline, did not help. After a doctor put her on a 500-calorie-a-day diet, she went on a downward spiral, at one point even refusing to take cough syrup when she had a cold because she considered it “eating.”

She does talk a little about growing up as a child actress, life on the set of “Growing Pains,” etc., but she does a good job of sticking to her main purpose for writing for the book. And many of us know her happy ending: In very atypical Hollywood fashion, she married the first man she dated (and yes, they’re still together) and is now a proud mom of four grown sons. Becoming a mother, in fact, is how she found true healing.

“It wasn’t about me anymore. Anorexia is a very selfish disease,” she wrote. Although she would have loved to have a girl, she wrote, “A mother’s issues about her weight will transmit to her daughter. Coming from a family of five girls, I would worry about a girl so much more. Kids learn by example, and I want to project the healthiest image I can.”

Although this book was written 22 years ago, she continues to advocate for eating disorder awareness and prevention. Her message is still just as relevant today–in fact, more so, as eating disorders increase despite “body positivity” and “body neutrality” movements.

“It was a long, hard road I traveled, a journey I wouldn’t wish on anyone,” she wrote.