When Katie Green appeared on a billboard in central London, she thought her modeling career was really taking off. But just a few weeks later, the agency representing her told her she'd have to lose about 30 pounds if she wanted to continue working with them.

"She immediately began trying to slim down her 5'10", [145 lb.] frame, going to the gym every day and cutting out carbohydrates... 'I lost seven pounds in just a few days but I became desperately unhappy... It was not worth sacrificing my health permanently.'"

Green left the modeling agency and gave an interview to a national newspaper in which she spoke out against the "size zero culture." She was quickly hired by another agency and is now the face of Ultimo underwear in the UK. Thankful that she didn't compromise her health in order to "make it", Katie has launched a "Say No to Size Zero" campaign aimed at helping young girls develop healthy body image not based on size or weight. Source: The Portsmouth (UK) News

Labels: awareness, modeling, pressures

The National Organization for Women has named Oct. 15 as National Love Your Body Day. The day was created to bring attention to the negative and harmful pressure women and young girls are under to be ultra-thin and ultra-beautiful.

"On Oct. 15, NOW chapters and campus and community activists across the country are celebrating Love Your Body Day with actions and events... Some communities are holding mentoring workshops promoting self-esteem among women and girls, while several campuses are organizing 'Girls Night In' events to discuss safety on and off campus."

Though many of the events took place on college campuses, women everywhere were encouraged to participate simply by getting together and encouraging one another to love the bodies they're in, rather than idolize the unrealistic bodies portrayed by the media and fashion industry. Source: National Organization for Women

Labels: awareness, pressures, society

The British Department of Health reported yesterday that an increasing number of young people are being hospitalized for eating disorders.

"Research by the Children's Society said children are becoming fixated on their appearance, with seven out of 10 reporting they dieted because of the intense pressure to be thin, the British newspaper [The Daily Telegraph] said."

Over the past four years, nearly 400 young people under the age of the 10 have been admitted to hospitals due to eating disorders. Source: Daily India.

Labels: body_image, pressures, young_girls

Scientists at the Oregon Research Institute have developed a program that will help young women resist being influenced by the "ultra-thin" ideal portrayed in the media and fashion industries.

"The eating disorder prevention program, called the Body Project, consists of four one-hour weekly sessions in which participants critique the thin ideal espoused for women in our culture and learn how to challenge current and future pressures to be thin."

The program has not only helped young women overcome societal pressures, but it has also improved body image and reduced eating disorder symptoms among participants. Source: Psych Central News

Labels: media_influences, pressures, prevention

In a recent survey of 29,000 young women, 35 percent of them admitted that body image in their biggest concern. They worry more about body image than they do about family conflict, alcohol problems or even the environment.

"But what are the sacrifices that young women are making to attain the unobtainable, and what dangers lie in their obsession with body image?... 'Young women do compare themselves to images they see in the media - but only 1 percent of people could actually look like that,' [Queensland University of Technology psychologist Dr. Evonne] Miller says."

Some experts believe the eating disorder and obesity epidemics are closely tied together. When the body is deprived of nutrition, it begins storing more and more food at fat. When a person then begins to eat more "normally" the body is still storing an increased amount of fat and excessive weight gain is more likely. Read more at News.com.au.

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Labels: body_image, media_influences, pressures

White adolescent girls still lead all other groups for eating disorders, but a new study indicates that more boys are increasingly over-dieting and using techniques like purging for weight control.

Dr. May Chao of Wesleyan University in Connecticut studied trends in adolescent weight control over a ten-year period, from 1995 to 2005. White adolescent girls are more likely to diet, purge, over-exercise, take diet pills and suffer from bulimia and anorexia than other groups. However, Dr. Chao found that a steady increase in the number of boys, especially Hispanics, participating in such weight control behaviors.

She believes that social pressure to achieve unrealistic body ideals is increasing, and that puts males at risk for being dissatisfied with their bodies and developing eating disorders.

This study appears in the International Journal of Eating Disorders.

Labels: body image, influences, pressures

Most talk of eating disorders centers around anorexia, bulimia, and other disorders that cause extreme weight loss. But emotional eating disorders that cause someone to overeat can be just as dangerous and pose just as many health risks. Researchers at the Miriam Hospital's Weight Control & Diabetes Research Center recently conducted a study which sought to better understand the triggers of emotional eating disorders.

"We found that the more people report eating in response to thoughts and feelings, such as 'when I feel lonely, I console myself by eating,' the less weight they lost in a behavioral weight loss program... In addition, amongst successful weight losers, those who report emotional eating are more likely to regain..."

The team focused on an aspect of eating behavior called "disinhibition" which evaluates eating in response to emotional, social, or cognitive cues. There are two types of disinhibition - external and internal. External refers to things like social settings, while internal refers to feelings and thoughts. Overall, the team found that internal disinhibitions were a significant predictor of someone's weight loss or gain over time.

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Labels: behaviors, emotions, pressures

Teasing children about their weights is a factor that creates both over- and underweight teenagers, according to a new study from the University of Minnesota.

Children who were teased about their weights were later more likely to become to become overweight and/or participate in extreme weight control habits such as vomiting or taking diet pills.

Researchers led by Dr. Diane Neumark-Sztainer surveyed 2,516 teenagers and found several other factors also put them at risk for extreme weight control measures including having a dieting mother, being preoccupied with weight, being teased by peers about weight issues, and reading diet magazines. However, teasing by family members was the biggest risk factor.

"It points to a need for extreme sensitivity when dealing with overweight kids," Dr. Neumark-Sztainer said. "My message is talk less, do more. If you put healthy food on the table, kids will eat it."

This study appears in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine

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Labels: influences, pressures, relationships

Websites that ask users to rate the attractiveness of pictures of participants may contribute to girls obsessing about their appearance, according to a study of adolescent females in Great Britain.

This summer the Schools Health Education Unit, a British research service associated with the University of Exeter, found that the biggest concern of girls ages 12 to 15 years old was their appearance. Half believe they needed to reduce their weight.

Researchers pointed to pressure from websites such as Myspace, Facebook, Assess My Breasts, and others that encourage girls to post pictures of themselves for strangers to rate on "attractiveness scales" of one to ten.

"There's so much pressure on young girls that many aspire to an ideal that is impossible for most of us to attain," said Dr. Natasha Bijlani. "They want to be famous, and some are so preoccupied by their looks that they miss out on academic opportunities, normal relationships, and veer dangerously towards eating disorders. When girls go online asking others to rate their looks and seek approval from people they have never met, the root cause is low self-esteem."

Labels: body_image, pressures, self-esteem

Growing up, Gary Grahl was a popular kid. He had an active social life, excelled athletically and academically and was often asked out on dates. But he began to feel pressure to live up to other people's expectations, and that pressure eventually expressed itself as a full-blown eating disorder.

"I was afraid to gain weight,' he said, 'even though it was necessary to look like [famous movie stars and athletes]. So I started to lose weight when exercising and it got to be an addiction. I liked the control of losing weight.' He said therapy eventually forced him to recognize his three biggest fears: fear of growing up, fear of failure and a fear of his own emotions."

It took 17 years, but Grahl overcame his eating disorder. Now, he's published a book titled "Skinny Boy" that chronicles his battle with anorexia. Grahl is also a consultant for the National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Eating Disorders and a guidance counselor at Sturgeon Bay High School where he speaks to the kids about nutrition and healthy living.

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Labels: awareness, manorexia, pressures