Airbrushing models ‘glamorise’ anorexia: Psychiatrists

In order to stop this,the RCPsych psychiatrists have sought a complete ban on digitally altered photographs of underweight models.

Instead,advertisers and publishers should use images of people with more varied figures to help the public feel more comfortable with their own bodies,they were quoted as saying by the Telegraph.

Dr Adrienne Key,a consultant psychiatrist at the RCPsych,said: “Eating disorders are serious mental illnesses.

Although biological and genetic factors play an important role in the development of these disorders,psychological and social factors are also significant.

“There is a growing body of research that shows the media plays a part in the development of eating disorder symptoms ¿ particularly in adolescents and young people.

“For people who already have eating disorders,it stops them seeking help due to shame or guilt,and it also makes them very resistant to the treatment they are having.” The college also called for warning symbols to be placed on pictures of celebrities and models that have been airbrushed to remove blemishes or stretched to make models appear thinner.

A Kitemark should be added to alert readers where more than a certain percentage of the picture has been digitally altered,they said.

They also called on the government to introduce a forum which would aim to tackle the “harmful” effects these images can have on people’s self-esteem.

The comments came as new study by Cambridge University claimed that half of the country’s six-year-olds say they would like to be skinnier,while most of the country’s 12-year-olds think they are too fat.

The trend is more or less same in other countries also.