I think this boy is the answer to America's obesity epidemic.

In the Coptic religion, fasting consists of following a vegan diet, not abstaining from food completely. So "fasting" for more than half the days of the year - including a two month long Lenten season - doesn't mean inevitable starvation. After all, many people do fine on long-term or permanent vegan diets.

In this boy's case, the host family may have been stingy with the lentils and rice, or simply had no idea of how much food an adolescent boy needs. Or, maybe he has a legume intolerance so he wasn't able to get adequate nutrition from the "fasting" food.

The vast majority of devout Copts - including teenagers - are not on the brink of starvation, though, as the 200 days of fasting might suggest. BTW, young children and pregnant women do not fast.

Rhymeswithlibrarian

PS I lived in Egypt for a year, also on a youth exchange program, and participated in the local Coptic church - though I was responsible for my own food.

I don't know the whole story, but based I what I've heard, the kid is a bit dumb and the host parents are criminally negligent, regardless of their fucking religion.

Uh...but yeah, I can't think of any religion that calls for complete abstenance from food. I mean, in Jewish and Muslim fasts, you eat between sundown and sunup (which is why my husband doesn't do Ramadan anymore).

But its true, he might have had an absorption problem, or maybe was getting ill from the fasting food. I always drop weight when I travel because it takes me a while to even LOOK at other foods.