How thin is too thin?

This blog is based on theories of media exposure and impact: 

I start this blog with the results from a survey that was conducted by the National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders, Inc. This is a non-profit dedicated to the prevention and alleviation of eating disorders since 1976.

The results are as follows:

Students:

“• 91% of women surveyed on a college campus had attempted to control their weight through dieting. 22% dieted “often” or “always.”5
• 86% report onset of eating disorder by age 20; 43% report onset between ages of 16 and 20.6
• Anorexia is the third most common chronic illness among adolescents.7
• 95% of those who have eating disorders are between the ages of 12 and 25.8
• 25% of college-aged women engage in bingeing and purging as a weight-management technique.3
• The mortality rate associated with anorexia nervosa is 12 times higher than the death rate associated with all causes of death for females 15-24 years old.4
• Over one-half of teenage girls and nearly one-third of teenage boys use unhealthy weight control behaviors such as skipping meals, fasting, smoking cigarettes, vomiting, and taking laxatives.17
• In a survey of 185 female students on a college campus, 58% felt pressure to be a certain weight, and of the 83% that dieted for weight loss, 44% were of normal weight.16”

("Eating disorders statistics ," ).

Though these results are from a college campus, these women would not be in the position that they are in if it weren’t for the media portraying thin women in front of them since they were younger. The numbers in this survey read 86 percent, 95 percent.. Those numbers seem shockingly high to me.

The media targets young girls by using celebrities in magazines, characters on television and even song lyrics on the radio. The media has begun to bombard children at such a crucial point in their young lives. Toothpick thin women are plastered on our television screen and all over the internet in order to make a sale. There comes a point in time when we have to stop and ask ourselves what is more important here? Making a sale or young lives?

Continuing on about the media and how they use toothpick thin women as role models for children I ran across a few quotes from celebrities. Instead of telling young girls to embrace their bodies these were the remarks that were made instead.

“Nothing taste as good as skinny feels.” –Kate Moss

Marisa Miller one of the Victoria’s Secret Model quoted that you should “eat nachos naked”. She was implying that it is hard to sit and eat a plate of nachos and still feel okay about your body. I have tried this, it is hard.

Many parents worry about obesity but should be worried about the pressure that society is putting on teens to be skinny. They have taken thin women and have made young girls believe that these are the role models that they should be looking up to. Personally, I want to look up to someone who is confident in their body and respects themselves enough to take care of themselves instead of starving themselves for society.

More girls are dieting and it is starting at a much younger age. An increase in eating disorders as well mental illnesses are increasing in young girls.

I have been conducting research by checking out different sites to see how many organizations and what steps are being taken by the media to change the outlook of women being thin to be in. I will post more of that in my next blog.

I close with a question: How thin is too thin?

Word Count: 615

Source:

Eating disorders statistics . (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.anad.org/get-information/about-eating-disorders/eating-disorders-statistics/