Transcriber: Trinh Ha Reviewer: Rhonda Jacobs
"Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels."
This is a quote from famous model Kate Moss.
When you hear that, how does that make you feel?
"Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels."
This is a very influential woman making this statement,
and she is implying
that being skinny is one of the most important things in life.
And regardless of this controversial statement,
she still has influence over thousands of people.
And lots of people with anorexia or bulimia live by this quote,
using it to justify their actions and as an excuse not to get help.
This is a very serious problem.
For example, did you know
that 42 percent of first and third graders reported
"I wanted to be skinnier"?
And 81 percent of 10- to 11-year-olds are afraid of being fat.
95 percent of people with these disorders
are between the ages of 12 and 25,
and half of teenage girls have unhealthy eating habits,
such as skipping meals and voluntary vomiting.
And the body image portrayed as ideal by the media
is only naturally possessed by five percent of women.
Why is this happening?
Why are kids as young as first and third graders having these concerns?
One of the main reasons I believe this is happening
is because in the media, kids are being shown unrealistic body images as ideal.
They are being told that their bodies aren't beautiful.
As Jean Kilbourne so eloquently said,
"It's not just that we see these images once or twice or even hundreds of times.
It's that they stay with us and we process them mostly subconsciously.
They create an environment that surrounds us with unhealthy images
and that constantly sacrifices our heath and our sense of well-being
for the sake of profit.
Ads sell more than products.
They sell values. They sell ideas.
They sell concepts of love, of sexuality, of success,
and perhaps most important, of normalcy.
To a great extent, they tell us who we are and who we should be.”
With kids ages 6 to 11 watching 28 hours of TV a week on average,
kids are being exposed to a lot of unhealthy images.
And what about men?
Many people do not realize or acknowledge the fact
that men have these problems as well.
For example, one third of teenage boys have unhealthy eating habits,
such as skipping meals.
And 22 percent of 10-year-old boys
say how their bodies look is their number one worry.
And 16 percent of high school boys suffer from disordered eating.
One man, Matt Wetsel, a disordered eating survivor and activist,
wrote in a February 2015 blog post about the struggles
of finding recovery programs and helpful literature as a male.
Wetsel wrote, "I got turned away initially from the group therapy
which played an integral role in my recovery -
the only one my school offered -
because I wasn't a woman."
Although this is a very serious problem, some of the world is starting to wake up.
Recently, laws have been passed in France saying models have a doctor's note
that states they are a healthy weight.
This can help make sure that kids aren't being shown
men and women being advertised as beautiful
when in reality, they're leading unhealthy lifestyles.
More progress has also shown up in the new Barbies by Mattel:
the new Barbies are all different heights, shapes, and skin tones.
This is great news
because Barbie has long been a very influential figure in many kids' lives.
And we all know how unrealistic her body dimensions traditionally have been.
But I'm not just here to tell you about this problem,
I'm also here to tell you how you can help.
Honestly, it's quite easy.
Some of the simple things you can do to help are limit TV time,
so kids aren't being exposed to as much advertisement.
You can make sure you're eating healthy as well as embracing healthy habits,
and just making sure that the kids around you know
that it doesn't matter what shape or size you are
as long as you are a healthy, happy, and confident human being.
Thank you.