Tony delphine1939@videotron

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Tony delphine1939@videotron.ca

6 avril 2008

Thin isn’t necessarily in

Article By: Katherine Griggs

Young girls are being bombarded with images of thin models. How do we teach them to love what’s on the inside and out?

If only 'it's what's on the inside that counts' was a successful way to market products.

Beauty and sex sell everything from cars and soft drinks to vodka. This is the image of 'success' the media portrays to the public, and it is this type of advertising that influences younger generations to associate thinness with beauty – often to the point where they actually believe you can't be beautiful if you're not thin.

Young girls going on 'low carb diets'
Even as childhood obesity is a concern for some youth, for others, it's an obsession for thinness and potential eating disorders.

Even young girls are now going on 'low carb diets' because they don't like the way they look in shorts. Emulating the models and celebrities who seem to keep getting thinner (and wearing less clothing), many young people embark on what begins a lifetime obsession with being thin, whatever the cost. Because of the media's depiction, it becomes even more important to convince young women, and even older women, that in order to be beautiful, you do not need to be a size 0.

More, now than ever, it is important to pass on to our children and grandchildren the legacy of what true beauty is all about. It is not Hollywood's idea of 'beauty', but the idea that we are all unique and beautiful in our own way.

The average woman
Reality check: the average model is taller and weighs about 23 per cent less than the average woman who is 5"4" and weighs 148 pounds. The fact of the matter is that models spend a vast majority of their time during the day engaged in activities that manipulate the shape of their bodies. Even the photographs they take are usually manipulated in some way before they hit the cover.

Marylyn Monroe was a size 14. She would be considered a 'plus size,' or 'full figured,' model by today's standards. Sixty years ago the ideal women was one of curves and shape. Now, the ideal woman is being portrayed as scary thin, and this is the image that young girls look up to.

Where does it end?
'In a recent study, 27 per cent of Ontario girls 12-18 years old were reported to be engaged in severely problematic food and weight behaviour.' – National Eating Disorder Information Centre

Another startling fact is that although eating disorders usually occur in women aged 14-25, they are now more than ever occurring in girls as young as 10-years-old.

Here are a few more facts to consider*:
- 81 per cent of 10-year-olds restrict eating (diet). At least 46 per cent of 9-year-olds restricted eating.
- 52 per cent of girls begin dieting before age 14.
- 71 per cent of adolescent girls want to be thinner despite only a small proportion being over a healthy weight.
- Health Canada found that almost one in every two girls and almost one in every five boys of grade 10 either were on a diet or wanted to lose weight.
- A survey of parents found that one in 10 would abort a child if they knew it had a genetic tendency to be fat.
- 70 per cent of women are dieting and 40 per cent are continually gaining and losing weight. A staggering 80 per cent -90 per cent of women dislike the size and shape of their bodies.
- The diet industry reports an excess of $32 billion sales.

So, what do we do?
It is very important to reinforce to our children and grandchildren the rather old-fashioned notion of being comfortable with ourselves and loving ourselves for who we are, not what we weigh.

The good news is that companies like Dove are taking a stand with their 'Campaign for real beauty.' They even have commercials showing semi-nude woman over 50 who are quite comfortable in their own, beautiful skin.

The Dove Self Esteem Fund was developed to make a change throughout the world on the way women and young girls perceive and embrace beauty. The fun focuses its efforts to foster positive image-related self-esteem. Learn more at campaignforrealbeauty.ca.