tonight on "nightline" -- too young to diet? should kids barely old enough to tie their shoes be worrying about their weight, even when doctors say no to name calling? the obsession with their bodies starts on the playground for kids as young as 6. we take a look. flamethrower. as wildfires rage in arizona, senator john mccain gets blowback for saying illegal immigrants are to blame. >> there's substantial evidence that some of these fires are caused by people who have crossed our border illegally. >> thousands are fleeing and almost a million acres are burned. we've got the latest. and the super extra. recognize this guy? chances are, you've seen him before more than once. many times, actually. he's the most prolific extra in movie history. but who is he?

good evening, i'm terry moran. one reason eating disorders are so difficult to treat is that patients' troubled feelings about their bodies can be so hard to unravel. and it's all the more difficult when the patient is not an adult or even a high schooler but a young child. and yet a government study covering the years 1999 to 2006 revealed the shocking fact that hospitalizations for eating disorders increased most sharply, by 119%, for children younger than 12 years old. here's andrea canning. >> reporter: this is taylor call, an active 6-year-old pre-k student who lives outside houston.

a year ago taylor came home from school and said something that shocked her mother, tonya. >> we were at home and she just out of the blue just said, "mommy, why is my tummy so fat?" and it took me back. and i asked her, well, why are you asking me this? and she said because a girl in the bathroom at school asked me why i was fat. >> reporter: do you think sometimes your tummy is too big? >> sometimes. sometimes. >> reporter: and you want to lose weight in your tummy? >> yeah. >> reporter: why do you want to lose weight? >> because i don't like to be like my weight, and my teacher always tells me that i have to run so i can be really -- really not like this size. >> reporter: just 6 and already feeling bad about the way she looks. >> okay, let's go see how much you weigh. >> reporter: we went with taylor for a visit to her pediatrician, dr. rachel bray, to check

whether or not taylor is even overweight. >> we'll use her height and weight to calculate her body mass index. it's completely normal. she's not considered overweight at this time. >> you're silly. >> reporter: tonya says they try not to focus on weight but the messages taylor gets from her peers definitely have an impact. at a recent birthday party a young boy called taylor fat girl. tonya confronted him and explained it was unkind to speak to people that way. >> i think that was a good way of showing her how to handle something like that. i'm sorry. >> reporter: what's alarming is that increasingly younger children are beginning to form unhealthy body images of themselves, which can lead to trouble. a recent study by the university of central florida found almost half of 3 to 6-year-old girls who participated said they worried about being fat. >> there's no question we're hearing from families with younger and younger kids who are struggling with disordered eating or formal eating disorders.

>> reporter: dr. evelyn attia runs eating disorders programs at columbia and cornell hospitals. >> in a recent study, we found much higher rates of hospitalizations are utilized by our youngest patients, ages 10 to 12. this is a change. this isn't what we've always been seeing. >> reporter: she points out that while there's no direct link between playground teasing and the development of an eating disorder her patients often have painful memories about their bodies and their weight that date back to early childhood. >> those with eating disorders will often have a narrative of their life that does describe the high value placed, the high salience placed on some early experiences in which someone may have said something, in which someone may have called them fat or identified something that might have been wrong with their body. >> reporter: karen is one of dr. attia's patients who's been struggling with anorexia since she was a child. she remembers her thin older cousins bringing her clothes she

couldn't fit into. >> they'd laugh. and they'd say, oh, the oldest one wore that when she was 18 and you're 10. isn't that something? isn't that funny? and it made me feel bad. and i just never felt normal or thin. and i think part of that does trace back to that kind of incident. >> reporter: we gathered a group of girls ranging in ages from 5 to 8 years old to get their perspective. why do you want to eat healthy? >> because we can get strong. >> so you don't get fat. [ laughter ] >> reporter: how do you feel about people who are overweight? >> i feel sad. >> reporter: you feel sad if someone's overweight? >> yeah. >> reporter: how come? >> because they're so heavy. >> reporter: do you ever hear your moms talk about their weight? >> mom, she says she needs to go to the gym because she thinks she's overweight. >> reporter: what do you think when you hear that about your

mom? >> i don't think it's true. >> reporter: why do you want to eat healthy? >> so we don't get heavy so my dad could carry me. >> when you eat more and your tummy's sore, you're going to pop. >> reporter: we showed the girls some photographs. the first picture is a little girl we met in texas. and she thinks she needs to lose weight. do you all think she needs to lose weight? >> no. >> no. >> reporter: do you think she looks good? >> yeah. >> yeah. >> reporter: but they were not always as kind. >> what do you think about this girl? >> oh. >> she has to lose weight. >> yeah. she needs to lose weight. >> do you think someone like her might be teased at school? >> kind of. sometimes. >> four girls here. do any one of these girls stick out to you? which one sticks out? the girl in the blue? why? >> her tummy.

>> her tummy's heavy. >> her tummy? >> the girl in the blue shirt is really chubby. >> reporter: their reaction may seem lighthearted enough. but this is the age where a lifelong struggle with body image begins to take hold. >> with taylor worrying at such a young age about her body, are you worried that this is going to develop into an eating disorder when she gets a little older? >> i'm not going to say that it won't or it can't. but i feel if we deal with these issues head on it won't. or i'm hoping it won't. >> reporter: and by often repeating how healthy and pretty taylor is, her mom hopes that she will grow to have a positive image of herself, despite all the pressures around her. for "nightline" i'm andrea canning in katy, texas. >> our children at risk there. thanks to andrea canning for that important report. well, just ahead, john mccain's highly controversial comments on the arizona wildfires.

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they can be every bit as destructive as tornadoes and hurricanes but unlike those natural disasters, wildfires can be started by humans. that's just how some of the fires that have burned three quarters of a million acres in arizona have started, authorities have determined. the question of who exactly those humans were, well, that question is itself combustible. here's ryan owens. >> reporter: as the largest fire in arizona history tears through the state, its senior senator john mccain started a firestorm of his own. this weekend, he said this. >> there's substantial evidence that some of these fires are caused by people who have crossed our border illegally. >> reporter: with thousands forced to evacuate and nearly three quarters of a million acres scorched, some are accusing mccain of using this devastation to fuel intolerance. >> the sad thing is the

intention was pretty clear. and it was to demonize ingrants and to demonize latinos. >> reporter: today, senator mccain defended his statements in an interview with abc news. >> this is an old issue. the fire service testified in 2006 before congress there were fires that were set by illegal immigrants. >> reporter: and he repeated his belief that the so-called monument fire was, in fact, started by illegal immigrants. >> the forest was closed. the -- everything was closed. circumstantialally, it's very likely it was. >> both the horseshoe and monument fires are currently under investigation. we know that they're human cause but it's premature to speculate about who it actually was who started those fires. the best thing to do is wait till we complete the investigation. >> reporter: while that political battle smolders, a very real firefight rages across much the south and southwest. tonight, there are wildfires burning from the mountains of

arizona to the coast of florida. here in texas, it was nearly 100 degrees again today. 30-mile-an-hour winds whipped flames dangerously close to the interstate that connects houston and dallas. >> the biggest problem is the strong wind and it's so dry, it's so dry. so that's the biggest problem. >> reporter: right now, 98% of texas is suffering through a drought. nearly two-thirds of the lone star state is so dry it's classify classified as exceptional. the last eight months here are the driest ever recorded. at this cattle auction in huntsville, ranchers are forced to sell cows they can no longer afford to feed. their grass is burned up. their water supply dried up. how does it feel to have to do this? >> it hurts. it really does. >> reporter: rancher charles sold 20% of his herd in just the

last few weeks. >> i don't have much choice. but to start liquidating the herd. >> reporter: it hasn't rained here in more than a month. the auction's owner says you can see it in these animals. >> it's starting to take a toll on them now. >> reporter: how so? >> well, they're just thinner. they just -- you can tell, they're just kind of running out of something to eat. >> reporter: the drought isn't just wreaking havoc on the ranch but in the city. in san antonio, residents can only turn on their sprinklers once a week. the city is considering making that once every two weeks. west of austin, the community of llano, population 18,000 or so, could run out of water altogether. the llano river its only source and it's been reduced to a trickle. >> this is the worst i've seen it. we've already had 15 days well over 100 here. and there's no real relief in

sight. >> reporter: rain is finally in the forecast for much of texas later this week. but it won't be enough to reverse this historic drought. or enough to put out the political controversy that's now raging as hot as the fires. i'm ryan owens for "nightline" in huntsville, texas. thing...cap, do you even have a name? well, it doesn't matter. because it's about to change. there's a cheaper, cleaner way to fuel up now. the volt plugs into any socket, and fuels up at home. sure it could use gas, but for most commutes you won't need much, if any. so from now on, fuel tube... we'll just call you...plan b. the 2011 chevrolet volt. it's more car than electric.

they are the unsung heroes of the movie world. those anonymous volunteers

populating crowd scenes. making an art of just blending in. but not all movie extras are created equal. there's one in particular who stands out from the crowd. here's nick watt with the most prolific extra of all time. >> reporter: at home in l.a., jesse haimen can drink a latte unmolested by adoring ladies and go to a store without guys begging him for his secret. yet jesse is one of hollywood's more prolific actors. here he is in "old school." and again. >> "old school." "american pie 2." "austin powers gold member." "spider-man." "catch me if you can." there's so many, it's like -- it takes a while to percolate back to my memory. >> reporter: jesse is an extra. there he is in "the social network." he's a full-time super-extra. but he's still just part of the scenery. until, that is some guy in

sweden compiled a "where's waldo-style" reel of jesse's greatest hits. >> my number one fan from sweden. i didn't even know i had any fans in sweden. >> reporter: type cast but talented, jesse has a burgeoning cut following built up over 50 tv shows like "my name is earl" and "the o.c." and 40 movies including "van wilder." he came to l.a. to get into the entertainment game and he has. >> my parents gave me like a 30-day ultimatum. find a job or come back to texas. so i went and signed up for the extra work and i was working that night on a movie called "rat race." >> reporter: now, we've watched "rat race" a bunch of times. paused. rewound. we just can't find him. but the first to spot jesse in this "cougar club" clip will win this signed photo. tweet me. watch it between on our site.

you can pause and stuff. anyway, jesse's been working flatout for 11 years. he was even on "glee." >> got a long wait. >> reporter: right there. he kind of worked with larry david. his imdb credits include, nerd, nerd number one, nerdy guy, geek and third ufo enthusiast. >> i've done my fair share of speaking parts. just not many people have screen them. >> reporter: here's one of those moments on "monk." >> he was going like this. what do you think it means? >> reporter: but what will life be like as a background artist? >> most shows, they're pretty nice and they'll give you -- they'll let you get some food or something. some shows, they treat you very nicely on set. when you're an extra, they treat you like you're just cattle or cheap or something. they don't treat you well or humanely. >> reporter: anyway, let's talk. apparently kevin dylan earns 200

grand an episode for "entourage." what does jesse earn most days? >> i've made $100 a day doing it, plus overtime. it's not the greatest salary but i've survived so far. >> reporter: now, after all those years on the big screen, recognition from the tiny screen of youtube just might be his big break. >> i'm not making big bucks yet but, you know, it's getting, you know, looking like it could be on its way, you know. >> reporter: he was zac efron's background in "17 again." maybe next time they'll get equal billing in a buddy movie. any producers out there can have that idea for free. i'm nick watt for "nightline" in london. >> jesse, movie star, sort of. go to the "nightline" page at abcnews.com to hunt for jesse in those video clips and tweet nick watt with your answers it thanks for watching abc news. we hope you check