Source: http://www.nzherald.co.nz
Diet firms are exploiting young people's insecurity to sell quick-fix weight-loss plans that do not work, it was claimed yesterday.
Half of girls and a third of boys, with an average age of 14, have dieted to change their body shape. More than one in 10 would take pills to alter their appearance, according to Central YMCA research.
An influential all-party group of MPs will begin a landmark inquiry this week into body image in Britain, 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 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.
Swinson said: "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."
...Continue reading here.
***************************************************
In your opinion, what role does the diet industry play in the development of eating disorders? How can the epidemic of eating disorders be best addressed?
No comments:
Post a Comment