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Journalism of Courage
Diet companies are preying on teens’ worries over their body image with quick-fix weight-loss plans,according to a new study. And,what’s worse is that many a times these do not work!
According to the new study by Central YMCA research,about a half of girls and a third of boys,with an average age of 14,have taken to such diets to alter their body shape,while about one in 10 resort to pills to alter their appearance.
An influential all-party group of MPs is all set to begin a landmark inquiry into body image in the UK this week,including the problems of anorexia,obesity and self-harm. They will grill diet companies,psychologists,advertisers and ministers on how to tackle the problem.
Jo Swinson,the Lib Dem MP who will chair the inquiry,claimed that conflicting messages prompt people to resort to extreme methods in often-misguided attempts to match computer-enhanced images.
Experts blame a society fixated on appearance,with airbrushing,celebrities and the fashion industry all in the line of fire.
In the past 15 years,eating disorders have more than doubled. There is a view that we should tell people they should be really thin because we are getting an obesity problem. But starving ourselves is not a healthy way to lose weight,the Independent quoted Swinson as saying.
Between 2009-10,30 under-10s were admitted to hospital with eating disorders,up from 21 the year before,and nearly a quarter of British women were obese in 2008-09,the highest rate in Europe.
One-fifth of British men were overweight,second only to Malta among European countries.
There is very strong evidence that diets dont work. Crucial to the diet industrys ongoing success is people wanting to lose weight and wanting quick fixes. So diet firms rely on people having that lack of body confidence. It will be interesting to find out what proportion of people on Weight Watchers are not clinically obese, she added.
