- The Pressure To Be Thin
- January 2012
- Is society putting too much 'body image' related pressure on children?
In recent years*: - - Two hundred 5-9 year olds have been hospitalised and treated for
- eating disorders.
- - Since 2003 there has been an 80% rise in the numbers of girls, aged
- 16 and under, diagnosed with bulimia.
- 600 children under 13 have been referred to a specialist with a - suspected eating disorder.
Last Thursday's Tonight programme 'Dying To Be Thin' on TV1 challenged its viewing audience with
the following question. “Are we raising an anorexic generation”?
What made the question even more thought provoking was the statistics that the
programme had acquired via an exclusive survey of
1,500 7 to 18 years.
- The survey* found:
- More than 60% were worried about their weight
- Over 30% admitted to skipping a meal in order to lose weight
- 10% went on at least 5 diets in the last 12 months
- Over 30% of 7-10 year olds stated that they are influenced by the- attitude of others to thinness.
- 30% of 11-13 year olds wanted to be thinner.
- 33% weighted themselves at least once a week
- 13% were on a constant diet
- Almost 20% are depressed because of their size.
Why are we seeing an alarming rise in eating disorders and body image issues among children?
Eating disorder specialist Dr Dee Dawson told Tonight, “we are seeing more and more children and at a younger and younger age. Children are being told constantly that they shouldn’t be eating this or that, because it will make them fat. At the same time they are being sent the message that it is possible to be too fat, but it is not possible to be too thin”.
On Thursday we saw 7 year old girls clearly illustrating that they were very aware of their body shape. They used the terms "chubby", "porky" and "sad" to describe being overweight and voiced fears that being fat could result in others calling them names. Clearly, they perceived being overweight as something bad, something to be avoided.
- Sadly the fear of being fat is very real for some children. This fact is unmistakeable when reviewing the emotions that a group of 12 year olds consciously (and subconsciously) linked to their body size and shape.
When looking a digital photos that made them bigger or smaller than their real size, all the girls wanted to look like the thinnest picture of themselves. Why? They thought the image “looked happier”, “more attractive” , appeared to have "more confidence” and that they would be happier, because “people will want to look like you”.
Conversely, no one wanted to look like the largest picture of themselves. They said they would “feel insecure” about their weight and wouldn’t feel that they “fit in” and that “it doesn’t look appealing to people”. When asked if the someone with the larger body size could be happy the response was unequivocal. Perhaps the person in the image “could be happy with herself, but I wouldn’t be happy”. In their eyes thinner ... thinnest is clearly best.
Who are the culprits of this worrying phenomenon?
Society at large says Dr Dee Dawson. “Children are not born like this. We live in a society that values thinness
so much, we talk about it constantly and it washes of on very young children. It
makes them feel guilty, it makes them think that they should be dieting, and
that’s what they do”.
I believe that the upsurge in the visibility and importance of popular culture bares some of the responsibility, for the rise in childhood body related issues. The media’s use of airbrushed images, the beauty, weight loss and cosmetic surgery industries idealisation of ‘perfection’, the use of thin models by the fashion world; all send the very strong message that thin is not only good but, necessary for success and happiness.
As a mother of a 9 year old (girl) who has already complained that she is the “fattest" in her group of friends, I am also concerned about where the immense pressure to be thin is leading.
* Onepoll survey, commissioned by ITV1 for the Tonight programme ‘Dying To Be Thin'