October the 18th was Love Your Body Day — it was a chance to celebrate the fact that all women are beautiful. It is a celebration of women and their bodies no matter the size, shape or colour.
We live in a world where the focus on obesity has saturated our thoughts, and yes, obesity is a serious health problem, but the constant message that we need to lose weight encourages many of us to feel dissatisfied with our body or guilty about the food we eat.
This is compounded by being bombarded with media advertising promoting glamorous models who look flawless. Unfortunately many people do not realise that many of these images present women of unrealistic appearance, a look almost impossible to achieve in a real world. Only 5% of us could hope to have a body like those of the models we see in magazines.
Not only do the models have a body size that few of us can attain, they have also had the expertise of extensive technology in the form of air brushing which can include whitening of teeth, removal of blemishes, deepening of eye colour, smoothing of skin, tweaking of curves and so on.
Here are some interesting facts provided by the Eating Difficulties Education Network, a team specialising in eating disorders in Auckland:
If Barbie was real her waist would only be 18 inches, she would be so thin she would not be able to menstruate as she would be too underweight to maintain this normal bodily function
Twenty years ago the average fashion model weighed 8% less than the average American woman. Today the average model weighs 23% less than the average American woman.
New Zealand research with 15 year olds indicated that although 75% were within ‘healthy weight limits’ 68% of all girls wanted to weigh less.
New Zealand research found that 54% of girls reported dieting – most started prior to the age of 13 years.
Love your body day is a great concept that we should all embrace. How easy it is for us to think of things that we dislike about our bodies – it takes most of us no time at all to think about something we dislike about our bodies or image, and unfortunately it may be all too easy to list more than one thing.
On the other hand how long does it take us to think of two things that we really like about bodies and how easy is it for us to actually vocalise what it is we like about body? We all have good attributes regardless of the size of our body.
It is bit of conundrum really – on one hand we are constantly focusing on body weight for health – but on the other hand it is also unhealthy to have unrealistic aims in regards to body size. Unrealistic goals can set us up for yoyo dieting or feelings of guilt if we eat something we deem as inappropriate, all leading to poorer self esteem because we have failed to achieve the goal we set.
Health is not just measured by body weight there are many other ways to determine a persons health status. Some people can be heavier than the ideal but still be fitter than a person who appears to be an appropriate weight. Being fit and active is a very important health goal.
In my practice when I first meet many of my clients their eating patterns can be erratic and their food choices poor. Even if they do not drastically alter their weight they are going to be healthier if they change to a regular eating pattern with healthier food choices, and they will feel more in control of their eating. They are also going to have better energy levels with these changes. So just because they don’t weigh a certain amount does not mean that they have failed.
As parents we need to emphasise the positives and this starts at home with ourselves. So concentrate on the positives and make a point of sharing these thoughts with your family. Take the time to compliment your children (both girls and boys) so they know they have many great points and encourage them to have a fantastic self image.
Although Love Your Body day has a main focus on women – don’t forget the males in our lives – men are not immune to media pressure to have the perfect body either. Over the last five years there has been a 20% increase in the usage of cosmetic surgery for men and a 37% increase in the purchase of grooming products by men.
The more positive we feel about ourselves the easier it is to have a positive outlook about so many other things.
